Wyoming (WY).

• Region: Rocky Mountains
• Population: 581,381 (ranked 50th; 2022 estimate)
• Capital: Cheyenne (pop. 64,610) (2022 estimate)
• Largest city: Cheyenne (pop. 64,610) (2022 estimate)
• Number of counties: 23
• State nickname: Equality State
• State motto: Equal Rights
• State flag: Blue field with border of white and red with white silhouette of bison bearing the state seal in blue

Wyoming, part of the Rocky Mountain region, entered the Union on July 10, 1890, as the forty-fourth state. The nickname "Cowboy State" reveals the state's historic connection to the Old West as well as its modern economy. Rectangular in shape, Wyoming is bordered by Montana (north), Utah, Idaho, and Montana (west), Colorado and Utah (south), and South Dakota and Nebraska (east). Wyoming, the nation's tenth-largest state in land area, has the lowest population of any state. In addition to ranching and farming, Wyoming's economy is heavily based on mining and tourism. The state has major deposits of coal, oil, and uranium. Tourists have been traveling to Wyoming since the late nineteenth century, in order to see natural wonders such as Yellowstone National Park.

State Name: The state's name derives from the Delaware Indian phrase "Mecheweami-Ing," which means "at the big plains." In 1865, Congressman James M. Ashley of Ohio proposed legislation to create a "Wyoming Territory" out of the Dakota, Idaho, and Utah Territories. Ashley was a native of Pennsylvania, home of the Wyoming Valley, and this may have influenced his choice of name for the new territory.

Known as the "Equality State" because of its commitment to women's rights since territorial days, Wyoming is also nicknamed the "Cowboy State" because of its long heritage of cattle-raising.

Capital: Cheyenne, built by the Union Pacific Railroad, has served as the capital since the Wyoming Territory was established in 1869.

Flag: The Wyoming flag was adopted by the state legislature in 1917. The union or background is blue, with an inner white border and outer red border. In the center of the flag is a bison (depicted in white), on which is branded the Great Seal of Wyoming. On the seal are two male figures, representing ranching and mining, and a female figure representing women's rights. A scroll reading "Equal Rights" flies above the woman's head. The pillars on either side of the female figure bear scrolls that respectively read "Oil," "Mines," "Livestock," and "Grain," to represent some of the most important Wyoming industries. Beneath the figures are two national symbols, the US national shield and eagle. The Great Seal also bears two dates: 1869 is when Wyoming became a territory, and 1890 is when it became a state.

Official Symbols

• Flower: Indian paintbrush
• Bird: Meadowlark
• Tree: Plains cottonwood
• Fish: Cutthroat trout
• Song: "Wyoming" by C. E. Winter and G. E. Knapp; "Wyoming Where I Belong" by Annie and Amy Smith

State and National Historic Sites

• Connor Battlefield Historic Site (Ranchester)
• Devils Tower National Monument (Devils Tower)
• Fort Bridger Historic Site (Evanston)
• Fort Fetterman Historic Site (Douglas)
• Fort Laramie National Historic Site (Fort Laramie)
• Fort Phil Kearny Historic Site (Story)
• Historic Governors' Mansion (Cheyenne)
• Independence Rock History Site (Evansville)
• Medicine Lodge Archaeological Site (Hyattville)
• South Pass City Historic Site (South Pass)
• Trail End Historic Site (Sheridan)
• Wyoming Pioneer Museum (Douglas)
• Wyoming Territorial Prison (Laramie)

State-Specific Holidays

• Martin Luther King Jr. Day/Wyoming Equality Day, third Monday in January

DEMOGRAPHICS

• Population: 581,381 (ranked 50th; 2022 estimate)
• Population density: 5.9/sq mi (2020 estimate)
• Urban population: 62.0% (2020 estimate)
• Rural population: 38.0% (2020 estimate)
• Population under 18: 22.4% (2022 estimate)
• Population over 65: 18.6% (2022 estimate)
• White alone: 92.3% (2022 estimate)
• Black or African American alone: 1.2% (2022 estimate)
• Hispanic or Latino: 10.8% (2022 estimate)
• American Indian and Alaska Native alone: 2.8% (2022 estimate)
• Asian alone: 1.1% (2022 estimate)
• Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander alone: 0.1% (2022 estimate)
• Two or More Races: 2.4% (2022 estimate)
• Per capita income: $36,288 (ranked 22nd; 2022 estimate)
• Unemployment: 3.6% (2022 estimate)

American Indians: Wyoming's American Indians belong to the Plains Indians cultures. Among these were the Arapaho, Blackfeet, Cheyenne, Crow, Dakota Sioux, Nez Perce, and Shoshone. They fought extensively against the US Army during the nineteenth century to preserve their traditional lands. By the end of the century, however, all the tribes had been moved to reservations.

The state has one American Indian reservation, known as the Wind River Reservation. Based at Fort Washakie, the reservation encompasses more than 2.2 million acres and is inhabited by thousands of Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho people.

ENVIRONMENT AND GEOGRAPHY

• Total area: 97,813 sq mi (ranked 10th)
• Land area: 97,093 sq mi (99.3% of total area)
• Water area: 720 sq mi (0.7% of total area)
• National parks: 7
• Highest point: Gannett Peak (13,804 feet)
• Lowest point: Belle Fourche River (3,099 feet)
• Highest temperature: 115° F (Basin; Diversion Dam, August 8, 1983; July 15, 1988)
• Lowest temperature: –66° F (Riverside Ranger Station, February 9, 1933)

Topography: Wyoming is home to the Continental Divide—the place where the Great Plains end and the Rocky Mountains begin. The divide runs northwest to southeast, creating several major regions: the plains region of the east, the central "tablelands" or plateau, and the mountains of the west. In the northeastern corner of Wyoming are the Black Hills, low mountains that extend into neighboring South Dakota. Wyoming is part of several major river basins. Rivers east of the Continental Divide, including the Platte and Yellowstone, drain into the Atlantic via the Missouri River Basin. Western rivers such as the Snake drain into the Pacific via the Columbia River Basin.

Major Lakes

• Brooks Lake
• Cook Lake
• Fremont Lake
• Gray Reef Reservoir
• Island Lake
• Jackson Lake
• Lake Cameahwait
• Lake DeSmet
• Meeks Cabin Reservoir
• Pilot Butte Reservoir
• Ralston Reservoir
• Worthen Meadows Reservoir

Major Rivers

• Bear River
• Belle Fourche River
• Bighorn River
• Green River
• Laramie River
• Platte River
• Powder River
• Salt River
• Snake River
• Tongue River
• Wind River

State and National Parks: State parks in Wyoming include some of the state’s most beautiful scenery, bird watching, and access to fishing, hiking, and boating. These include Buffalo Bill State Park in Cody and Hawk Springs State Recreation Area in Goshen County. One of the most famous national parks is Yellowstone (the nation's first), founded in 1872 and home to the geyser "Old Faithful." Another well-known park is Devils Tower National Monument, an immense butte. Wyoming also contains several historic trails, including the California, Oregon, Mormon Pioneer, and Pony Express National Historic Trails.

Natural Resources: Wyoming is a major source of numerous minerals and fuels, including the fossil fuels coal, crude oil, and natural gas. Reserves of uranium, used in nuclear weapons and nuclear-power plants, were discovered following World War II. The state also possesses large reserves of the industrial minerals bentonite and trona. Bentonite has important uses within the oil-drilling industry, but is also used to make various consumer products. Trona is used in commercial products such as soap and baking soda, but is used primarily to make glass. According to the Department of Workforce Services, mines in the state produced over 18 million tons of trona and more than 4.5 million tons of bentonite in 2022. A deposit containing some of the continent's purest rare-earth elements was located in Wyoming as well; such elements are crucial to the manufacture of many high-tech devices. Wyoming's semiarid plains are good for ranching but make poor farmland.

Plants and Animals: The eastern third of Wyoming is part of the Great Plains, covered with short grasses but few trees. Prior to European settlement, the grass species included needlegrass and bluestem. By 2020, there were 10.5 million acres of forested land in Wyoming, including major national forests like Bighorn, Black Hills, Bridger-Teton Shoshone, and Medicine Bow. The forested regions contain many evergreens, including lodgepole pine, Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, and spruce.

Wyoming is home to numerous wild species, including large mammals not common in other parts of the nation. These include the largest herds of elk and antelope in the United States. Other common species are mule deer, white-tailed deer, and moose. Bear are often found in Yellowstone National Park, but only rarely in other parts of the state. The immense bison herds of the nineteenth century no longer exist, but numerous bison still inhabit Wyoming: there are herds in Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks and at several state parks, as well as private herds. Wyoming also possesses numerous small species such as beaver, jackrabbits, coyotes, and bobcats. Bird species include the meadowlark (the state bird), the sage grouse, swans, and geese. There are more than twenty-five species of game fish, including the cutthroat trout (the state fish), the bluegill, the channel catfish, and the largemouth bass.

Climate: Wyoming has historically had a semiarid climate, with little rainfall. Due to climate change, by the 2020s the state was experiencing warming and more intense droughts, raising the risk of wildfires. In 2020, the Mullen Fire burned more than 175,000 acres in Wyoming and Colorado. Though the climate is generally cool, winters are usually cold and harsh. Snow is heavy in the mountains, but relatively light in the rest of the state. Snowmelt has caused spring flooding. In lower elevations, summers can be extremely hot but often have temperatures around the 50s or 60s Fahrenheit. Summer thunderstorms often bring hail.

EDUCATION AND CULTURE

Major Colleges and Universities

• University of Wyoming (Laramie)

Major Museums

• Buffalo Bill Center of the West (Cody)
• Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum (Cheyenne)
• Fort Caspar Museum (Casper)
• Grand Encampment Museum (Encampment)
• Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum (Jackson)
• Jim Gatchell Memorial Museum (Buffalo)
• National Museum of Wildlife Art (Jackson)
• Stagecoach Museum (Lusk)
• Trail End State Historic Site (Sheridan)
• Wyoming Pioneer Memorial Museum (Douglas)
• Wyoming State Museum (Cheyenne)

Major Libraries

• George William Hopper Law Library, University of Wyoming (Laramie)
• William Robertson Coe Library, University of Wyoming (Laramie)
• Wyoming State Law Library (Cheyenne)
• Wyoming State Library (Cheyenne)

Media

Wyoming has several major daily newspapers, as well as numerous weeklies. Dailies include the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle in state capital Cheyenne, the Laramie Boomerang, and the Casper Star Tribune. Specialty weeklies include Wyoming Livestock Roundup, published in Casper, and the Warren Sentinel, published at F. E. Warren Air Force Base (near Cheyenne). Wyoming PBS is based at Central Wyoming College in Riverton and provides coverage to most of the state. Wyoming Public Radio (KUWR) is based at the University of Wyoming in Laramie.

ECONOMY AND INFRASTRUCTURE

• Gross domestic product (in millions $USD): 47,432.5 (ranked 49th; 2022 estimate)
• GDP percent change: -0.1%

Major Industries: Wyoming's economy has historically depended on mining, agriculture, and tourism. Mining, quarrying, and oil and gas extraction remain important economic activities. In 2022, that industry accounted for 18.1 percent of the state's gross domestic product, the largest economic sector in Wyoming. Government was the second largest economic sector at 14.8 percent, followed by the financial sector at 12.9 percent. Agriculture nonetheless remains a significant economic activity as well: approximately 28.5 million acres of the state's land were used for farming and ranching in 2022. The federal government was the largest landowner, controlling nearly half of the state's land.

Tourism: Tourism is an important part of Wyoming's economy, focusing on the state's natural beauty and Old West heritage. Some 9.2 million overnight visitors came to the state in 2019, spending $3.9 billion, according to the Wyoming Office of Tourism. While those numbers declined some in 2020 due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic's impact on travel, the impact on Wyoming versus other states was not as great, with travel spending at $3.05 billion and overnight visitor volume at 6.9 million. By 2022, that figure had improved to 7.5 million overnight visitors. Popular sites include Yellowstone National Park and the National Historic Trails.

Energy Production: Coal is the state's primary source of energy for its own power needs. Renewable energy, natural gas, and hydroelectric power are other important sources for electricity generation. Home heating is provided mostly by natural gas. There are no nuclear power plants, even though Wyoming possesses large deposits of uranium, a material necessary to create nuclear reactions.

Wyoming is one of the United States' major producers of coal, petroleum, and natural gas. Crude oil production accounted for a little over 2 percent of the nation's total in 2022. Wyoming also produced just under 40 percent of all coal in the United States in 2022 and held close to two-fifths of the nation's reserves.

Agriculture: Wyoming is a heavily agricultural state. About one-third of the state's land area is used for farming and ranching. The state's semiarid climate has fostered large farms and ranches. Livestock are a primary focus, especially cattle, hogs, and sheep. The most important crops include hay, sugar beets, barley, corn, and wheat.

Airports: Wyoming has a number of regional airports as well as small municipal facilities. These include Cheyenne Regional Airport, Yellowstone Regional Airport (Cody), and Jackson Hole Airport.

GOVERNMENT

• Governor: Mark Gordon (Republican)
• Present constitution date: March 3, 1905
• Electoral votes: 3
• Number of counties: 23
• Violent crime rate: 234.2 (per 100,000 residents)
• Death penalty: Yes

Constitution: Wyoming adopted its constitution in 1890, when it entered the Union.

Branches of Government

Executive: Wyoming's chief executive officer is the governor, who is elected to a four-year term. Duties include the proposal and approval of legislation, oversight of the state's executive agencies, appointment of judges, and service as commander in chief of the state's military forces. There is no lieutenant governor; the secretary of state serves as acting governor in case of the governor's absence, removal, or death. Other state officers include the auditor, the treasurer, and the superintendent of public instruction.

Legislative: The Wyoming Legislature has two chambers—the Senate (thirty members) and House of Representatives (sixty members). The legislature meets in general session in odd-numbered years and in budgetary sessions in even-numbered years. All state legislators have term limits. Senators, who are elected to four-year terms, may serve three terms in a twenty-four-year period. Representatives, who are elected to two-year terms, may serve twelve years out of a twenty-four-year period.

Judicial: Wyoming's judicial branch is headed by the five-member State Supreme Court; justices are appointed by the governor to an eight-year term, but then must run for reelection. Beneath the high court are the district courts, circuit courts, and municipal courts.

HISTORY

1742–43 French explorer Francois Louis Verendrye becomes the first known European to enter what is now Wyoming.

1807John Colter, a Virginia-born trapper and guide who served in Lewis and Clark's expedition, enters what is now Wyoming while on a trapping expedition. He is reputedly the first White man to enter the region.

1811 The Wilson Price Hunt party crosses through what is now Wyoming on its way to the Pacific Coast fur-trading post of Astoria (now in Oregon). This is the first organized expedition through the region.

1812 Robert Stuart and his party, looking for a secure trade route for the Oregon-based American Fur Company, discover the South Pass through the Rocky Mountains. The pass is rediscovered in 1824 by William H. Ashley's party.

1832 Captain B. L. E. Bonneville of the US Army leads the first wagon train through South Pass. He constructs Fort Bonneville near the site of present-day Daniel.

1834Fort Laramie is established as Wyoming's first permanent trading post. It is purchased in 1849 by the US Army.

1842 Captain John C. Frémont of the US Army leads an expedition into the Wyoming country.

1843 Fort Bridger is established by fur trapper Jim Bridger and his partner Louis Vasquez along the Oregon Trail. Wyoming's second permanent settlement, the fort serves as a US Army post from 1858 to 1890.

1847 The Mormons begin their migration to Utah. They establish a ferry on the North Platte River, in present-day Wyoming.

1849 Fort Laramie is purchased by the US Army. The fort serves as an Army post until 1890.

1853 Mormons establish Fort Supply, the first agricultural settlement in Wyoming. Located near Fort Bridger, the community is abandoned in 1857.

1860s The United States Army builds a chain of fortifications in Wyoming to increase protection against American Indian attack. These are often built along the major trails, such as the Overland and Bozeman Trails. The new forts include Fort Halleck in 1862; Fort Reno in 1865; Fort Phil Kearny and Fort Sanders in 1866; and Fort D. A. Russell, Fort Fetterman, and Camp Carlin in 1867.

1860–61 The Pony Express operates as a transcontinental message service. Couriers, many of them extremely young, brave the elements and the threat of American Indian attack to carry messages from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California. Despite the initial success of the venture, the Pony Express ultimately fails due to competition from the transcontinental telegraph (completed in 1861).

1861–65 The Civil War. Conflicts continue between Wyoming's American Indian tribes and the arriving White settlers and bison hunters. The opening of the Bozeman Trail in 1864 makes matters worse.

1867 Gold is discovered at South Pass. This brings the first large wave of White settlement to what later becomes Wyoming.

1868 Congress creates the Wyoming Territory on July 25, out of portions of the neighboring Dakota, Utah, and Idaho Territories. Cheyenne, founded by the Union Pacific Railroad, is established as the territorial capital. That same year, the Wyoming section of the Union Pacific is completed.

1869 Wyoming's territorial government formally takes office, with John A. Campbell as territorial governor. That same year, it becomes the world's first government to grant women the right to vote.

1870 Esther Hobart Morris, a resident of South Pass City, is chosen to complete the term of the justice of the peace, who had resigned. This makes her the first woman in the United States to hold a judicial post.

1872 The US government establishes Yellowstone as the first national park.

1873 Ranchers form the Wyoming Stock Growers Association to prevent cattle rustling.

1885 Anti-Chinese sentiment leads to the Rock Springs massacre in the coal-mining town of Rock Springs. In the massacre, White miners kill fifteen Chinese people and injure fifteen more because they believed that the Chinese, who were willing to work for low pay, kept the miners’ wages low. The governor uses federal troops to stop the violence.

1887 Construction begins on the State Capitol building in Cheyenne, and is completed the following year. The University of Wyoming opens at Laramie.

1890 On July 10, Wyoming enters the Union as the forty-fourth state. Francis E. Warren, a Massachusetts-born farmer and Civil War veteran, is elected first governor. He resigns a few months later to become one of the new state's US senators.

1891 The University of Wyoming becomes the state's land-grant school under the Morrill Act, opening an agricultural college and experiment station. Today, it is the only four-year school in the state.

1892 The Johnson County War breaks out. A severe wave of cattle rustling leads to a "cattle war" in Johnson County.

1894 Congress passes the Carey Act, which promotes land reclamation and settlement, as well as water conservation.

1902 James Cash ("J. C.") Penney opens his first department store, in the town of Kemmerer.

1910 President William Howard Taft appoints Wyoming attorney Willis Van Devanter to the US Supreme Court. Mary G. Bellamy becomes the first woman elected to the state legislature.

1912 Governor Joseph M. Carey helps former president Theodore Roosevelt organize the Progressive Party for the 1912 presidential campaign.

1914–18 World War I. Wyoming's oil reserves help to fuel the US war effort.

1915 Wyoming's political progressives defeat big-business interests (including the railroads) and establish a reform agenda. Specific measures include establishment of a state utilities commission.

1922–23 Congress investigates several Harding administration officials over the Teapot Dome scandal, which involves the Interior Department's improper leasing of federal oil reserves. The reserves are located at Teapot Dome, Wyoming, and Elk Hills, California. A Senate investigation discovers that Secretary of the Interior Albert B. Fall had leased the reserves noncompetitively to two petroleum operators—Harry F. Sinclair and Edward L. Doheny. Fall is convicted of bribery and is sentenced to a year in prison. The oil fields do not return to federal control until 1927.

1924Nellie Tayloe Ross is elected governor of Wyoming. She is the first woman in the nation to be elected governor.

1930 Army post Fort D. A. Russell, near Cheyenne, is renamed Fort Francis E. Warren in honor of the state's US senator. In 1947, the post is transferred to the newly created US Air Force, as F. E. Warren Air Force Base.

1933 The University of Wyoming establishes the Wyoming Geological Survey.

1933–53 Nellie Tayloe Ross serves as director of the United States Mint.

1941–45 World War II. As in the First World War, the nation relies heavily on Wyoming for petroleum.

1954 The state gains its first television station, in Cheyenne.

1958 Warren Air Force Base becomes part of the Strategic Air Command (SAC). In 1960, the base becomes home to the first Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) installation.

1978 Alan K. Simpson, son of former governor and senator Milward Lee Simpson, is elected to the US Senate as a Republican and serves until 1997. An Army veteran, he eventually becomes chair of the Committee on Veterans Affairs.

1983 KCWC-TV, a public-television station, goes on the air at Central Wyoming College in Riverton. The station later becomes known as Wyoming Public Television.

1989 Wyoming Congressman Richard "Dick" Cheney is appointed by President George H. W. Bush as secretary of defense.

1990 Wyoming celebrates the 100th anniversary of its statehood.

1992 A term-limit initiative is approved by voters.

1995 The US government reintroduces wolves into Yellowstone National Park.

2000 Former secretary of defense Dick Cheney is elected vice president of the United States as the running mate of Texas governor George W. Bush, the Republican candidate.

2007 The state of Wyoming files suit against the state of Montana in the US Supreme Court over water rights to the Tongue and Powder Rivers. Montana officials claim that both rivers are running dry because of Wyoming’s overuse. At conflict is the Yellowstone River Compact of 1950.

2009 A 1,679-mile natural gas pipeline, connecting the state of Wyoming with customers in the Midwest and East, is completed.

2011 The US Environmental Protection Agency releases a report indicating that hydraulic fracturing, or “fracking,” for natural gas had contaminated groundwater supplies near Pavillion.

2012 The Northern Arapaho tribe is granted permission by the federal government to hunt and kill two federally protected bald eagles for religious purposes.

2016 The US Fish and Wildlife Service considers removing the grizzly bear from the endangered species list. This prompts debate regarding whether the states surrounding Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana) should allow hunting to manage the bear population when they are delisted.

2019 The US Supreme Court rules that Crow treaty rights, including hunting rights, were not extinguished or superseded when the state of Wyoming was admitted to the Union.

2021 The governor signs a controversial bill passed by the legislature requiring the presentation of valid identification during the in-person voting process.

FAMOUS PEOPLE

Thurman Arnold, 1891–1969 (Laramie) , Lawyer; judge.

Vernon J. Baker, 1919–2010 (Cheyenne) , Military leader.

Black Elk, 1863–1950 (near Little Powder River) , Oglala Sioux religious leader.

Elsa Spear Byron, 1896–1992 (Big Horn) , Photographer.

Chief Washakie, c. 1804–1900 (Green River Valley, Utah-Wyoming) , Shoshone chief.

Robert Davis Carey, 1878–1937 (Cheyenne) , Governor; US senator.

Lynne Cheney, 1941– (Casper) , Writer; scholar; wife of US vice president Dick Cheney.

Mike Devereaux, 1963– (Casper) , Baseball player.

Sheridan Downey, 1884–1961 (Laramie) , US senator from California.

David Freudenthal, 1950– (Thermopolis) , Lawyer; governor.

Jesse Garcia, ca. 1982– (Rawlins) , Actor.

Curt Gowdy, 1919–2006 (Green River) , Sportscaster.

James Johnson, 1987– (Cheyenne) , Basketball player.

Patricia MacLachlan, 1938–2022 (Cheyenne) , Author of children's books.

Jackson Pollock, 1912–56 (Cody) , Painter.

Teno Roncalio, 1916–2003 (Rock Springs) , Lawyer; US representative.

Milward Lee Simpson, 1897–1993 (Jackson) , Governor; US senator.

Matthew Shepard, 1976–98 (Casper) , Murder victim and LGBTQ rights figure.

Gerry Spence, 1929– (Laramie) , Lawyer.

Craig Thomas, 1933–2007 (Cody) , US senator.

TRIVIA

• Wyoming is the least populous state in the United States.
• The J. C. Penney Department Store chain got its start in Wyoming. James Cash Penney, the founder, opened his first store in the town of Kemmerer, in 1902.
• Yellowstone National Park was established in 1872 as the first national park in the United States.
• Almost half of Wyoming's land is owned by the federal government. This includes national parks and national forests.
• The bison, Wyoming's official state animal, still roams wild in Wyoming's Grand Teton and Yellowstone National Parks. There are also herds in state parks and on private ranches.
• On September 6, 1970, Louisa Ann Swain cast her ballot in Laramie, Wyoming, becoming the first woman in the United States to vote in an open and public general election.

Bibliography

"2022 State Agriculture Overview: Wyoming." US Department of Agriculture, 11 Sept. 2023, www.nass.usda.gov/Quick‗Stats/Ag‗Overview/stateOverview.php?state=WYOMING. Accessed 11 Sept. 2023.

Annual Report of the State Inspector of Mines of Wyoming. Office of Mine Inspector, Department of Workforce Services, 31 Dec. 2022, drive.google.com/file/d/10k8DenaAx8TGPA1SSAqHS-xSW4Y6Bqnz/view?usp=drive‗link. Accessed 12 Sept. 2023.

Davis, John W. Wyoming Range War: The Infamous Invasion of Johnson County. U of Oklahoma P, 2012.

"Economic Profile for Wyoming." Bureau of Economic Analysis, US Department of Commerce, 31 Mar. 2023, apps.bea.gov/regional/bearfacts/. Accessed 11 Sept. 2023.

"The Mineral Industry of Wyoming." National Minerals Information Center, USGS, US Dept. of the Interior, www.usgs.gov/centers/nmic/mineral-industry-wyoming. Accessed 30 Aug. 2019.

Murdock, Steve. "The Real World Comes to Wyoming." Nation, vol. 209, no. 17, 1969, pp. 535–37.

"Wyoming." Quick Facts, US Census Bureau, 1 July 2022, www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/WY/PST045222. Accessed 11 Sept. 2023.

"Wyoming: 2020 Census." US Census Bureau, 25 Aug. 2021, www.census.gov/library/stories/state-by-state/wyoming-population-change-between-census-decade.html. Accessed 6 Oct. 2022.

"Wyoming: State Profile and Energy Estimates." U.S. Energy Information Administration, 18 May 2023, www.eia.gov/state/?sid=WY. Accessed 11 Sept. 2023.

Eric Badertscher