Wyoming History

History

Pierre Verendrye was probably the first European to explore Wyoming in 1743, when he visited the Bighorn Mountains. It was not until after Lewis and Clark?s famous 1805 expedition through Montana, to the north, that trappers, traders and explorers began to enter the state. Fort Laramie, at the gateway to the Rockies had started as a fur trading post in 1834, but with the increasingly hostile Sioux Indians, it grew to be a large military complex.

Once the gold rush to the west started in 1849, the Oregon Trail brought thousands of people across what is now Wyoming. The trail followed the Platte River from Nebraska in the east, crossing the river, first by ferry and later by a bridge, at Casper. It then followed the Sweetwater River and eventually crossed the continental divide at South Pass. From Fort Bridger the trail heads north along the mighty Snake River and on into Oregon. Remnants of the deeply rutted trail can be seen today.

In the late 1860?s Indian hostility grew as the Union Pacific Railway crossed the south of the State and increasing numbers of settlers moved in, to claim what had been tribal lands. The ?Wild West? lived up to its name as cowboys and huge herds of animals had good times and bad. The stock ever multiplied but in the terrible winter of 1886/87 one sixth of the herds were lost. Cattle rustling became a major problem and conflicts continued into the 20th, century until 1910, when oil and coal were discovered.

Wyoming is a land of firsts. Yellowstone was the first national park and the basaltic columns of Devils Tower became the first national monument. The Shoshone National Forest became the first timberland designated a reserve and led the way to the National Forest System.

Today, the economy of the state is still dependent on the land. Agriculture, petroleum and minerals are all important, as is tourism, taking advantage of the magnificent countryside.