A Few of FR's Finest...Every Day...03-30-04...Wyoming ~ Like No Place On Earth

Mama_Bear

[Mama_Bear]

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day

Free Republic made its debut in September, 1996, and the forum was added in early 1997. Over 100,000 people have registered for posting privileges on Free Republic, and the forum is read daily by tens of thousands of concerned citizens and patriots from all around the country and the world.

A Few of FR's Finest....Every Day was introduced on June 24, 2002. It's only a small room in JimRob's house where we can get to know one another a little better; salute and support our military and our leaders; pray for those in need; and congratulate those deserving. We strive to keep our threads entertaining, fun, and pleasing to look at, and often have guest writers contribute an essay or a profile of another FReeper.

On Mondays please visit us to see photos of A FEW OF FR'S VETERANS AND ACTIVE MILITARY

If you have a suggestion, or an idea, or if there's a FReeper you would like to see featured, please drop one of us a note in FR mail.

We're having fun and hope you are!
~ Billie, Mama_Bear, dansangel, dutchess, Aquamarine ~

Please join us as we make a cyber-visit to another great state in this Union of ours.

Over the past several months each "Finest" hostess has profiled her home state and I will be presenting the other states in random order. Please FReepMail me if you would like to participate in spotlighting your state. I would love to have your input on what you would like to see highlighted.

Today we are visiting the beautiful state of Wyoming. Saddle up and come on along.

These are the states we have presented to date:

05-23-03 Alabama 06-27-03 Maryland 07-11-03 Vermont 07-25-03 Utah 08-05-03 Texas 08-22-03 Nevada 08-26-03 Wash DC 09-05-03 Tennessee 09-17-03 Florida 09-19-03 Minnesota

10-03-03 New Mexico 10-14-03 Georgia 10-17-03 Louisiana 10-22-03 Michigan 11-04-03 South Dakota 11-14-03 California 01-09-04 South Carolina 02-06-04 West Virginia 02-20-04 Oregon 03-09-04 Pennsylvania

The "Equality State",
The "Cowboy State"

Since long before the area known as Wyoming became a state in 1890, civilization has been using the Southern corridor of this state for transportation, creating a rich heritage to be shared with visitors.

From dinosaur tracks to wagon tracks to railroad tracks to modern interstate highways, join us for a tour of an area rich in history called "the corridor".

What is the "Wyoming Corridor?"

The corridor is a significant historic transportation route containing rich resources from Wyoming's past. Prehistoric animals roamed the expanse, the mountain men explored the region and historic trails (Oregon, Overland, Mormon and Pony Express) crossed the landscape. Fossils, stage stops, railroad depots, roundhouses, seven National Register downtown areas, mining and timber camps and historic ranches all tell the story of the exploration and settlement of the state. The Old Lincoln Highway, Route 30, and today's Interstate 80 connect the resources of the auto age. Present day mines, oil fields, commercial areas, modern public facilities, and our people continue the saga.

The first tracks across Wyoming were American Indian trails connecting villages with hunting grounds. In the early 1800s, fur trappers and mountainmen refined these dim trails into a travel network between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River, then the western boundary of the United States.

In 1841, the first of the great Covered Wagon Trains ventured west along the fur trade route. Mountainman Jim Bridger built his trading post beside the wagon road in 1843. During the next 25 years some 500,000 Americans would "go westering" along the famed Oregon, California and Mormon trails.

Other tracks would follow. Members of the Cherokee Nation joined the 1849 California Gold Rush, pioneering a new route across southern Wyoming. Their Cherokee Trail would become the Overland Stagecoach Trail in the late 1850s. The Pony Express thundered its legendary track across Wyoming in 1860-61.

In 1868-69, the tracks of the Union Pacific Railroad replaced the covered wagon trails. The 2,000-mile journey to the west coast could now be made in days instead of months. In 1913, the Lincoln Highway made transcontinental automobile travel a reality along a route that would become US-30 and, finally, I-80, completing Wyoming's long and rich transportation history.

Click here for a brief account
of Wyoming's Rip-Roaring Past....
Railroads and Outlaws.

Evidence of all the old Trails can be found in Tracks Across Wyoming country. Visit historic Fort Bridger and the museums in every city or town. Or simply stop at any of the countless road-side historic sites to contemplate the wonder-filled past. Sometimes you can almost hear the rumble, shout and bawl of a distant wagon train.

Wyoming's southwestern desert country was once a vast inland sea. Lake Gosiute was the home of a great variety of fish, amphibians, birds reptiles and mammals that are now perfectly fossilized in the shale layers of the ancient sea bed. Fossil Butte National Monument west of Kemmerer explores and presents the flora and fauna of this long gone semi-tropical wonderland.

Wyoming boasts the first major find of dinosaur fossils at Como Bluff near Medicine Bow. Como Bluff bone quarries supplied dinosaur displays to most of the worlds museums during the late 1800s. New discoveries are being made every year. Visitors can experience Wyoming's Jurassic Park at the University of Wyoming Geology Museum in Laramie, the Wyoming State Museum in Cheyenne and at Western Wyoming Community College in Rock Springs.

Sparsely populated Wyoming has the smallest population of any state, and almost two thirds of the residents live in urban areas.

"Wyoming" and "Cowboy" are synonymous. You can't have one without the other. Cowboys drove their great herds of cattle north along the old Texas Trail to the grass-rich prairies of eastern Wyoming in the 1860s. Flocks of sheep were not far behind, heading for the high, semi-desert country of south-central Wyoming.

Huge ranching operations were established, with land holdings measured in thousands of sections, not acres. The Swan Land and Cattle Company, headquartered in Cheyenne and Chugwater, once ran cattle from central Wyoming to west-central Nebraska. Sheep ranches prospered near Rawlins and Rock Springs. At one time, more sheep were sheared at the Wolcott pens than anywhere else in the United States.

Rodeo is Wyoming's favorite pastime. All along the corridor, communities celebrate the heritage of the cowboy with rodeos of all sizes. Leading the list is Cheyenne Frontier Days, "The Daddy of 'em All." The world's largest outdoor rodeo has been happening for ten days every July for over 100 years. You'll find smaller, "up close and personal" rodeos in places like Pine Bluffs, Laramie, Encampment, Rawlins, Rock Springs, Kemmerer and Evanston, to name a few.

America's First National Park

Long before any recorded human history in Yellowstone, a massive volcanic eruption spewed an immense volume of ash that covered all of the western U.S., much of the Midwest, northern Mexico and some areas of the eastern Pacific. The eruption dwarfed that of Mt. St. Helens in 1980 and left a caldera 30 miles wide by 45 miles long.

That climactic event occurred about 640,000 years ago, and was one of many processes that shaped Yellowstone National Park--a region once rumored to be "the place where hell bubbles up." Geothermal wonders, such as Old Faithful, are evidence of one of the world's largest active volcanoes. These spectacular features bemused and befuddled the park's earliest visitors, and helped lead to the creation of the world's first national park.

Fur trappers' fantastic tales of cauldrons of bubbling mud and roaring geysers sending steaming plumes skyward made their way back east. Several expeditions were sent to investigate, opening the West to further exploration and exploitation. In 1871, Ferdinand Hayden led an expedition that included artist Thomas Moran and photographer William H. Jackson. They brought back images that helped convince Congress that the area known as Yellowstone needed to be protected and preserved.

In 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed a law declaring that Yellowstone would forever be "dedicated and set apart as a public park or pleasuring ground for the benefit and enjoyment of the people."

Old Faithful, the most famous of all geysers, erupts more frequently than any of the other big geysers, although it is not the largest or most regular geyser in the park. Its average interval between eruptions is about 91 minutes, varying from 65 - 92 minutes. An eruption lasts 1 1/2 to 5 minutes, expels 3,700 - 8,400 gallons (14,000 - 32,000 liters) of boiling water, and reaches heights of 106 - 184 feet (30 - 55m).

The largest active geyser in the world is Steamboat Geyser in the Norris Geyser Basin.

Old Faithful WebCam

Other Interesting Wyoming Links

Wyoming Ghost Towns
Ridin', Ropin', Ranchin' Cowboy School
Wyoming Pony Express Stations



And lastly, a few important
facts about our featured state....

Wyoming is known as the "Equality State" because of the rights women have traditionally enjoyed there. Wyoming women were the first in the nation to vote, serve on juries and hold public office.

In 1869, Wyoming's territorial legislature became the first government in the world to grant "female suffrage" by enacting a bill granting Wyoming women the right to vote. The act was signed into law on December 10 of that year by Governor A.J. Campbell.

Capital. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cheyenne
Nickname. . . . . Big Wyoming, Equality State, Cowboy State
Motto. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ."Equal Rights"
Admitted To Union. . . . . . . . . . . . July 10, 1890-44th State
Size. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97,914 square miles, 9th largest state
Highest Point. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Gannett Peak, 13,804 feet
Lowest Point. . . . . . . . . . . . .3,100 feet Belle Fourche River
Average Annual Precipitation. . . . . . . . . . . . . 14.5 inches
Population (2000 Census). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 493,782



The following websites provided information
and graphics for this presentation...

Tracks Across Wyoming
United States Resources: Wyoming
Wyoming, General Information

THIS WEEK'S THREADS 03-29-04...Military Monday

Opinions by our own 'King of Ping' The guy's good, folks!

Thanks, Mixer!

1) Click on the graphic to open the Calendar.
2) Once there you can click on any month and even click to the right to go into next year. Once you are in the month that you joined FR you will need to click on the number in the calendar and then an add item screen will come up.
3) In the next box enter your name in the "Calendar Text" field and then click on submit.
4) If any of the screens fail to load simply click on refresh in your browser and that will usually fix it.
5) If all else fails or simply if you want me to do this for you send me a FReepmail and I will gladly do it for you. ~Mixer

[visualops]

Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam
Where the deer and the antelope play,
Where seldom is heard, a discouraging word
And the skies are not cloudy all day.

Home, home on the Range;
Where the deer and the antelope play;
Where seldom is heard, a discouraging word,
And the skies are not cloudy all day.

Where the air is so pure and the zephyrs so free
And the breezes so balmy and light
That I would not exchange my home on the range
For all of the cities so bright

Home, home on the Range;
Where the deer and the antelope play;
Where seldom is heard, a discouraging word,
And the skies are not cloudy all day.

How often at night when the heavens are bright
With the light of the glittering stars
I stand there amazed and I ask as I gaze
Does their glory exceed that of ours?

Home, home on the Range;
Where the deer and the antelope play;
Where seldom is heard, a discouraging word,
And the skies are not cloudy all day.

[Mama_Bear]

Radio Free Republic will be moving its facilities to WYOMING! We bought a ranch outside Jackson Hole on 36 acres (Dio will finally be getting the pony of her dreams........) and 1000 ft of the Salt River on the property for fishing.

Wow! Lucky you. This is wonderful! It sounds like a great place to live. I love the wide open spaces. Don't know if I could handle the winters though. I've become such a wimp.....but it does look lovely. :-)

[Mama_Bear]

I had forgotten that one of my favorite people, Dick Cheney, comes from Wyoming.

[LadyX]

BOTTOM LINE:

*NOTHING* can compare with the wonders of God's magnificent Creations !!

I've been blessed that He all my life has flung me hither and yon to experience so many of them.

Man's cold canyons and towers hold no appeal for me....

[jwfiv]

Good morning, Mrs. Bear...and good day to all Freepers...)

A lovely tour of Wyoming you offer us today...the gray back and borders are really nice...pics and info, too, of course.

Never been to Wyoming except in movies.

Saw the classic Shane when I was little, filmed at the foot of the Tetons...the landscape impressed me even then.

Thinking about it, Dubya has a little Shane in him...the stranger who happens along just at the right time, to battle the bad guys and protect the families...and freedom.

[MEG33]

Hi,jw,That's a nice picture of Dubya and his little fan.Great sentiment about our President,too.Hope we can keep our "Shane" 4 more years.

[Mama_Bear]

Good morning, JW. Thanks for your sweet compliments.

Wyoming is my kind of state....except, as dansy said, unfortunately, it has no ocean. But I think the magnificent Grand Tetons almost make up for it. :-)

[Mama_Bear]

I need to run my MIL to her hair appointment, then take her to lunch. I'll be back soon to pick up where I left off.

[jwfiv]

Hi Meg...yes, I hope so, too.

"Come back, Shane. Four more years. Stay the course, Shane. Come back."

[Molly Pitcher]

Good afternoon, and thank you, thank you for this wonderful thread!

I looooooove Wyoming...was there last summer for another drive thru the Snowy range, s.w. of Laramie, and one of my favorite drives.

Another favorite scene: the rolling plains in the eastern part of the state: they remind me of the vast sea...

Will be in Wyoming again this summer, and am looking forward to it so much!

[MeekOneGOP]

I have been crash free for almost three hours. That's encouraging. Do computer problems fix themselves? LOL

haha !

hmm ?? Not usually, unless the computer fairy came by to visit ya ! ;^)

The last time I was having trouble (a couple of weeks ago), it was a simple matter of changing some settings on my computer through the Control Panel. I was getting some paging file errors.

Maybe a family member or friend that knows a bit about computers can help ya figure out which driver is driving ya round and round ? I hope so, else $75 or so to have a tech fix it up for ya. ;^(

[surely_you_jest]

In the early 80s, I was stationed at the Air Base in Cheyenne, Francis E. Warren AFB, and was there for about 18 months before heading over to Europe. For an East Coast guy, it was quite an experience. When strangers you would encounter on the street asked how you were doing, they were just being nice, and not trying to distract you so someone else could pick your pocket! Amazing, to this city boy.

Dick Cheney, IIRC, was the Congressman (WY only had one) representing Wyoming.

Other fun stuff that I recall, and that I found kind of interesting -

Cheyenne is over a thousand feet higher in altitude than Denver. This meant several things - one was that a three martini man at sea level, suddenly became a one martini man upon arrival there. This was a source of great mirth for the nurses assigned to the hospital at FEW AFB, as they drank these new arrivals under the table at the club on base.

Another oddity is that there are practically no insects in the area. I never found out whether that was because of the altitude, or the severity of the winter (gets pretty darned cold there in winter - the dashboard of my car contracted so much that it actually split).

F.E. Warren, or, as we called it, Frankie Warren's Rocket Ranch, is to a great extent a historical monument. It used to be a cavalry fort built to protect the terminus of the Union Pacific Railroad, which was headquartered in Cheyenne. In those days, it had a different name - Fort D.A. Russell. You sometimes see references to Ft DA Russell in western movies. Same place.

And, of all things, Gen Black Jack Pershing is buried there, on base. He was married to the daughter of a prominent Wyoming politician of the time.

There was still a parade field there, designed to be used by a regiment of mounted cavalry. When I was there, folks played polo on it. Assuming that they could dodge the prarie dog holes.

At the time I was there, FE Warren was one of the few AF bases operating that had no runway, and no flightline. There were a few helicopters, but mostly it was in the missile business, controlling a number of missile silos scattered across about three states.

Frontier Days, as noted by other posters, is a real hoot. It must be seen to be believed.

The other thing that comes to mind at the moment is the splendor of Yellowstone National Park. Cheyenne is in the SE corner of the state; Yellowstone is at the NW corner. Takes nearly a full day to drive from one to the other. The thing that surprised me about Yellowstone, however, is how wonderful it is in the winter, when practically no one goes, assuming, I guess, that it is closed.

Well, anyway, thanks for providing me the opportunity to take a trip down memory lane. Neat place. Gonna have to go back and visit.

[FreeTheHostages]

Photos of Cheyenee's Frontier days free pancake breakfast can be found here.

On this website, the pancake breakfast is described as follows by one who had it as follows:

The morning we went they served over 10,000 people a free pancake breakfast within two hours. As the line rounded the last corner it split into four lines. Some one would hand us a plate, the next gal would hand us a fork, the next guy handed us a napkin, then a stack of pancakes and another served us some ham. Then someone was pouring syrup and another person for each type of drink, coffee, juice or milk for the kids. They also had benches set up to seat about 800 to 1,000 people. They were all having a lot of fun and there were pancakes flying everywhere. They even had a cowboy band serenading us all as we ate.

Hmm, Maggie, do you think this could help The Thin Man with his weight problem issue?

[FreeTheHostages]

Correx: photos of pancake breakfast can be found here.

[68-69TonkinGulfYachtClub]

Thank You Pippin!

[jkphoto]

That web cam of Old Faithful is really neat.

Beautiful page as usual. I know that you did an especially good job knowing that Dad was from Wyoming. :-)

[landerwy]

Thanks for the Wyoming thread!

[LadyX]

STOP, T MAN !!
Do NOT fall for Freezie's pathetic maneuver !!

First, she led us to a blind alley page to wear us out - -
Then she takes us to a description with a warning:
"This is very long"

THEN, WAAAAY down it tells of a line for the breakfast
snake backing five times and then around a corner.

T Man, she knew full well you would be so drained
from the effort you would shrink down to this:

I'm ***SHOCKED*** at such a diabolical plan, Freezie,
even from you...:((

[FreeTheHostages]

First, I thought he already HAD shrunken down to "this."

Second, it's only a 20-minute wait, and you're serenaded with music.

Third, as to "this is very long," hee hee, um, well, how do I say this politely? Um, let's see. Ah yes. Ahem. It would be fair to say that The Thin Man has expended more calories reading your various posts -- not that we don't love them, mind you -- then he would in this pancake line.

Hee hee hee. Ball's in your court.

[TexasCowboy]

"I've been blessed that He all my life has flung me hither and yon to experience so many of them."

Yeah, God has "flung" me around a lot of places, too, but He saw fit to let me see more of the world than of America.
I, too, was always much more interested in things created by God than things created by man.

As far as Wyoming goes, I worked out of Rocksprings for a couple of winters.
I'll pass on that place, but the Rockies are beautiful.