![\"Wyoming](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/10\/Wyoming-in-the-United-States-300x186.png\" "\\"\\"")
The state population was estimated at 586,107 in 2015, which is less than 31 of the most populous U.S. cities including neighboring Denver.\u00a0 Cheyenne<\/a> is the state capital and the most populous city, with an estimated population of 63,335 in 2015.<\/p>\n The western two-thirds of the state is covered mostly by the mountain ranges and range lands of the Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie called the High Plains<\/a>. \u00a0Almost half of the land in Wyoming is owned by the U.S. government.\u00a0 Federal lands include two national parks, Grand Teton<\/a> and Yellowstone<\/a>, as well as other public facilities.<\/p>\n Original inhabitants of the region include the Crow<\/a>, Arapaho<\/a>, Lakota<\/a>, and Shoshone<\/a>. \u00a0Southwestern Wyoming was in the Spanish Empire<\/a> and then Mexican territory until it was ceded to the United States in 1848 at the end of the Mexican\u2013American War<\/a>. \u00a0The region acquired the name Wyoming when a bill was introduced to the U.S. Congress in 1865 to provide a “temporary government for the territory of Wyoming”. \u00a0The name was used earlier for the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania<\/a>, and is derived from the Munsee<\/a> word xw\u00e9:wam\u0259nk, meaning “at the big river flat”.<\/p>\n The main drivers of Wyoming’s economy are mineral extraction\u2014mostly coal<\/a>, oil<\/a>, natural gas<\/a>, and trona<\/a>\u2014and tourism<\/a>. \u00a0Agricultural commodities include livestock (beef), hay, sugar beets, grain (wheat and barley), and wool. \u00a0The climate is semi-arid and continental, drier and windier than the rest of the U.S., with greater temperature extremes.<\/p>\n As specified in the designating legislation for the Territory of Wyoming, Wyoming’s borders are lines of latitude 41\u00b0N and 45\u00b0N, and longitude 104\u00b03’W and 111\u00b03’W, making the shape of the state a latitude-longitude quadrangle.\u00a0 Wyoming is one of only three states (along with Colorado and Utah) to have borders along only straight latitudinal and longitudinal lines, rather than being defined by natural landmarks. \u00a0Due to surveying inaccuracies during the 19th century, Wyoming’s legal border deviates from the true latitude and longitude lines by up to half of a mile (0.8 km) in some spots, especially in the mountainous region along the 45th parallel.<\/p>\n The Great Plains<\/a> meet the Rocky Mountains<\/a> in Wyoming. \u00a0The state is a great plateau broken by many mountain ranges. \u00a0Surface elevations range from the summit of Gannett Peak<\/a> in the Wind River Mountain Range<\/a>, at 13,804 feet, to the Belle Fourche River<\/a> valley in the state’s northeast corner, at 3,125 feet. \u00a0In the northwest are the Absaroka<\/a>, Owl Creek<\/a>, Gros Ventre<\/a>, Wind River, and the Teton<\/a> ranges. \u00a0In the north central are the Big Horn Mountains<\/a>; in the northeast, the Black Hills<\/a>; and in the southern region the Laramie<\/a>, Snowy<\/a>, and Sierra Madre<\/a> ranges.<\/p>\n The Snowy Range in the south central part of the state is an extension of the Colorado Rockies in both geology and appearance. \u00a0The Wind River Range in the west central part of the state is remote and includes more than 40 mountain peaks in excess of 13,000 ft tall in addition to Gannett Peak, the highest peak in the state. \u00a0The Big Horn Mountains in the north central portion are somewhat isolated from the bulk of the Rocky Mountains.<\/p>\n The Teton Range in the northwest extends for 50 miles, part of which is included in Grand Teton National Park. \u00a0The park includes the Grand Teton<\/a>, the second highest peak in the state.<\/p>\n The Continental Divide<\/a> spans north-south across the central portion of the state. \u00a0Rivers east of the divide drain into the Missouri River<\/a> Basin and eventually the Gulf of Mexico<\/a>. \u00a0They are the North Platte<\/a>, Wind<\/a>, Big Horn<\/a> and the Yellowstone<\/a> rivers. \u00a0The Snake River<\/a> in northwest Wyoming eventually drains into the Columbia River<\/a> and the Pacific Ocean<\/a>, as does the Green River<\/a> through the Colorado River Basin<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Continental Divide forks in the south central part of the state in an area known as the Great Divide Basin<\/a> where the waters that flow or precipitate into this area remain there and cannot flow to any ocean. \u00a0Instead, because of the overall aridity of Wyoming, water in the Great Divide Basin simply sinks into the soil or evaporates.<\/p>\n Several rivers begin in or flow through the state, including the Yellowstone River, Bighorn River, Green River, and the Snake River.<\/p>\n Several Native American groups originally inhabited the region now known as Wyoming. \u00a0The Crow, Arapaho, Lakota, and Shoshone were but a few of the original inhabitants encountered when white explorers first entered the region. \u00a0What is now southwestern Wyoming became a part of the Spanish Empire and later Mexican territory of Alta California<\/a>, until it was ceded to the United States in 1848 at the end of the Mexican\u2013American War. \u00a0French-Canadian trappers from Qu\u00e9bec and Montr\u00e9al went into the state in the late 18th century, leaving French toponyms such as T\u00e9ton and La Ramie. \u00a0John Colter<\/a>, a member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition<\/a>, itself guided by French Canadian Toussaint Charbonneau<\/a> and his young Shoshone wife, Sacagawea<\/a>, first described the region in 1807.<\/p>\n At the time, his reports of the Yellowstone area were considered to be fictional.\u00a0 Robert Stuart<\/a> and a party of five men returning from Astoria discovered South Pass<\/a> in 1812. \u00a0The Oregon Trail<\/a> later followed that route. \u00a0In 1850, Jim Bridger<\/a> located what is now known as Bridger Pass<\/a>, which the Union Pacific Railroad<\/a> used in 1868, as did Interstate 80<\/a>, 90 years later. \u00a0Bridger also explored Yellowstone and filed reports on the region that, like those of Colter, were largely regarded as tall tales at the time.<\/p>\n After the Union Pacific Railroad had reached the town of Cheyenne in 1867, the region’s population began to grow steadily, and the federal government established the Wyoming Territory<\/a> on July 25, 1868.\u00a0 Unlike mineral-rich Colorado, Wyoming lacked significant deposits of gold<\/a> and silver<\/a>, as well as Colorado’s subsequent population boom. \u00a0However, South Pass City<\/a> did experience a short-lived boom after the Carissa Mine<\/a> began producing gold in 1867.\u00a0 Furthermore, copper was mined in some areas between the Sierra Madre Mountains and the Snowy Range near Grand Encampment.<\/a><\/p>\n Once government-sponsored expeditions to the Yellowstone country began, reports by Colter and Bridger, previously believed to be apocryphal, were found to be true. \u00a0This led to the creation of Yellowstone National Park, which became the world’s first national park in 1872. \u00a0Nearly all of Yellowstone National Park lies within the far northwestern borders of Wyoming.<\/p>\n On December 10, 1869, territorial Governor John Allen Campbell<\/a> extended the right to vote to women, making Wyoming the first territory and then United States state to grant suffrage to women<\/a>. In addition, Wyoming was also a pioneer in welcoming women into politics.<\/p>\n Wyoming’s constitution included women’s suffrage and a pioneering article on water rights.\u00a0 Congress admitted Wyoming into the Union as the 44th state on July 10, 1890.<\/p>\n Wyoming was the location of the Johnson County War of 1892<\/a>, which erupted between competing groups of cattle ranchers. \u00a0The passage of the federal Homestead Act<\/a> led to an influx of small ranchers. \u00a0A range war broke out when either or both of the groups chose violent conflict over commercial competition in the use of the public land.<\/p>\n The composition of Wyoming’s economy differs significantly from that of other states with most activity in tourism, agriculture, and energy extraction, and little in anything else.<\/p>\n The mineral extraction industry and travel and tourism sector are the main drivers behind Wyoming’s economy. \u00a0The federal government owns about 50% of its landmass, while 6% is controlled by the state. \u00a0Total taxable values of mining production in Wyoming for 2001 was over $6.7 billion. \u00a0The tourism industry accounts for over $2 billion in revenue for the state.<\/p>\n In 2002, more than six million people visited Wyoming’s national parks and monuments. \u00a0The key tourist attractions in Wyoming include Grand Teton National Park, Yellowstone National Park, Devils Tower National Monument<\/a>, Independence Rock<\/a> and Fossil Butte National Monument<\/a>. \u00a0Each year Yellowstone National Park, the world’s first national park, receives three million visitors.<\/p>\n Historically, agriculture has been an important component of Wyoming’s economy. \u00a0Its overall importance to the performance of Wyoming’s economy has waned. \u00a0However, agriculture is still an essential part of Wyoming’s culture and lifestyle. \u00a0The main agricultural commodities produced in Wyoming include livestock (beef), hay, sugar beets, grain (wheat and barley), and wool. More than 91% of land in Wyoming is classified as rural.<\/p>\n Wyoming is the home of only a handful of companies with a regional or national presence. \u00a0Taco John’s<\/a> and Sierra Trading Post<\/a>, both in Cheyenne, are privately held. \u00a0Cloud Peak Energy<\/a> in Gillette<\/a> and U.S. Energy Corp.<\/a> (NASDAQ: USEG) in Riverton<\/a> are Wyoming’s only publicly traded companies.<\/p>\n Wyoming’s mineral commodities include coal, natural gas, coalbed methane<\/a>, crude oil, uranium<\/a>, and trona.<\/p>\n Interstate 25<\/a> enters the state south of Cheyenne and runs north, intersecting Interstate 80<\/a> immediately west of Cheyenne. \u00a0It passes through Casper<\/a> and ends at Interstate 90<\/a> near Buffalo<\/a>. Interstate 80<\/a> crosses the Utah border west of Evanston<\/a> and runs east through the southern third of the state, passing through Cheyenne before entering Nebraska near Pine Bluffs<\/a>. \u00a0Interstate 90 comes into Wyoming near Parkman<\/a> and cuts through the northeastern part of the state. It serves Gillette and enters South Dakota east of Sundance<\/a>.<\/p>\n There are a wide range of US Highways serving Wyoming as well.<\/p>\n The largest airport in Wyoming is Jackson Hole Airport<\/a>, with over 500 employees.<\/p>\n Other commercial airports in Wyoming, including those served through the Essential Air Service program<\/a>, are:<\/p>\n Casper\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 CPR\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Casper\/Natrona County International Airport<\/a><\/p>\n Cody\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 COD\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Yellowstone Regional Airport<\/a><\/p>\n Gillette\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 GCC\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Gillette-Campbell County Airport<\/a><\/p>\n Laramie\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 LAR\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Laramie Regional Airport<\/a><\/p>\n Rock Springs\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RKS\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Southwest Wyoming Regional Airport<\/a><\/p>\n Cheyenne\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0CYS\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cheyenne Regional Airport<\/a><\/p>\n Riverton\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RIW\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Riverton Regional Airport<\/a><\/p>\n Sheridan\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 SHR\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Sheridan County Airport<\/a><\/p>\n Wyoming is one of only two states, the other being South Dakota, in the 48 contiguous states not served by Amtrak<\/a>.<\/p>\n The flag of the state of Wyoming consists of the silhouette of an American bison<\/a>. \u00a0The red symbolizes the Native Americans and the blood of pioneers who gave their lives. \u00a0The white is a symbol of purity and uprightness. \u00a0The blue is the color of the skies and distant mountains. \u00a0It is also a symbol of fidelity, justice and virility. \u00a0The bison represents the local fauna, while the seal on it symbolizes the custom of branding livestock.<\/p>\n In 1916 the Wyoming Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR)<\/a> ran a contest inviting the public to submit possible designs for a Wyoming flag. \u00a0A prize of $20 was offered to the winner, and the DAR received a total of 37 entries. \u00a0They chose a drawing by Verna Keays<\/a>, a recent graduate of the Art Institute of Chicago<\/a>. \u00a0On January 31, 1917, Governor Robert D. Carey<\/a> signed the state flag bill into law and the bison flag was officially adopted.<\/p>\n DAR regent Grace Raymond Hebard<\/a>, a professor at the University of Wyoming<\/a> and noted suffragist and scholar, contributed suggestions for changes after the design had been accepted. \u00a0In Keays’ original design, the one approved by Wyoming’s legislature, the bison faces toward the fly, symbolizing its former freedom to roam the plains of Wyoming. \u00a0Hebard thought that if the bison were to face toward the hoist, the design would be more balanced, animals generally face the hoist on flags, as they would the wind. \u00a0In the end, all Wyoming flags from the first batch produced onward showed the bison facing the hoist, although this change was never officially adopted by the Wyoming legislature.<\/p>\n The nickname for Wyoming is The Equality State.\u00a0 Wyoming was the first state to grant women the right to vote in 1869. \u00a0More precisely, women were granted the right to vote so there would be enough voting citizens to meet the population requirement for statehood. \u00a0This action lead to the nickname The Suffrage State and then later The Equality State.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The flag of the state of Wyoming consists of the silhouette of an American bison. The red symbolizes the Native Americans and the blood of pioneers who gave their lives. The white is a symbol of purity and uprightness. The blue is the color of the skies and distant mountains. It is also a symbol of fidelity, justice and virility. The bison represents the local fauna, while the seal on it symbolizes the custom of branding livestock.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1682,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[5,6,7,41,43,40,42],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1662"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1662"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1662\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1682"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1662"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1662"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1662"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Cheyenne\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/10\/Cheyenne-300x225.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
![\"Trona\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/10\/Trona.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
Geography:<\/h2>\n
![\"Topographic](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/10\/Topographic-Map-of-Wyoming-300x234.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
![\"Wind](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/10\/Wind-River-Canyon-300x225.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
![\"Grand](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/10\/Grand-Teton-Range-300x58.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
![\"Continental](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/10\/Continental-Divide-282x300.gif\" "\\"\\"")
History:<\/h2>\n
![\"Lewis](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/01\/Lewis-and-Clark-Expedition-300x162.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
![\"Yellowstone](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/10\/Yellowstone-Prismatic-Spring-300x145.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
![\"Sierra](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/10\/Sierra-Madre-Mountains-Wyoming-300x224.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
![\"Yellowstone](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/10\/Yellowstone-National-Park-300x200.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
Economy:<\/h2>\n
![\"Map](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/10\/Map-of-National-Park-Service-Sites-300x257.gif\" "\\"\\"")
![\"Wyoming](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/10\/Wyoming-Sheep-Ranch-300x197.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
Transportation:<\/h2>\n
![\"Transportation](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/10\/Transportation-Map-of-Wyoming-300x229.png\" "\\"\\"")
![\"Jackson](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/10\/Jackson-Hole-Airport-300x190.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
![\"Laramie](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/10\/Laramie-Regional-Airport-300x168.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
Flag of Wyoming:<\/h2>\n
![\"Flag](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/10\/Flag-of-Wyoming-300x210.png\" "\\"\\"")
![\"Wyoming](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2018\/10\/Wyoming-Quarter.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
State Nickname:<\/h2>\n