Happy 128th birthday Wyoming! You don’t look a day over 100. The Wyoming Territory became the country’s 44th state on July 10, 1890. We thought we’d give you a few fun facts about the area to commemorate this historical day.

  • We’ve got plenty of room here since we’re the 10th largest state in the country, yet the least populated.
  • The retail chain J.C. Penney was founded in Kemmerer and is named after one of the founders, James Cash Penney Jr.
  • President Theodore Roosevelt made Devils Tower the first official National Monument in 1906.
  • Women living in the Wyoming Territory were the first in the country to be given the right to vote in 1869.
  • Fourteen Native American tribes make up the Plains Indians. The tribes are: Arapaho, Arikara, Bannock, Blackfeet, Cheyenne, Crow, Gros Ventre, Kiowa, Nez Perce, Sheep Eater, Sioux, Shoshone and the Ute tribes.
  • Cody was named after Colonel William Frederik “Buffalo Bill” Cody.
  • Yellowstone became the first official National Park in 1872.
  • Grand Teton National Park masqueraded as the Soviet Union in “Rocky IV.” The farm where Rocky trained was in Jackson Hole.
  • Wagon traffic in the 19th century was so heavy that ruts still exist along the trail that traverses the state.
  • The town of Afton greets you with a 75-foot arch that spans the town’s main street and is made of 3,011 elk antlers.

Now that you’re a little more familiar with the Wyoming, come see it for yourself.