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Copyright 2001. The Lazy 'C' - All rights reserved.
history
The Wyoming State Flag, designed by Mrs. A.C. Keyes of Casper (formerly Miss Verna Keays of Buffalo), was adopted by the fourteenth legislature on January 31, 1917.
The Great Seal of Wyoming is the heart of the flag. On the bison, once the monarch of the plains, is the seal representing the custom of branding. The colours of the State Flag are the same as those of the National Flag. The red border represents the Indian; also the blood of the pioneers who gave their lives reclaiming the soil. White is the emblem of purity and uprightness over Wyoming. Blue, the colour of the sky and mountains, is symbolic of fidelity, justice and virility.
The Great Seal of Wyoming is the heart of the flag. On the bison, once the monarch of the plains, is the seal representing the custom of branding. The colours of the State Flag are the same as those of the National Flag. The red border represents the Indian; also the blood of the pioneers who gave their lives reclaiming the soil. White is the emblem of purity and uprightness over Wyoming. Blue, the colour of the sky and mountains, is symbolic of fidelity, justice and virility.
Nickname: Equality and Cowboy State.
Capital: Cheyenne.
Constitution: The 44th State.
Statehood: July 10th 1890.
Motto: Equal Rights
History:
American Indians lived in the Wyoming region at least 11,000 years ago. French trappers may have entered the region in the mid-1700's. The United States acquired most of the area from France in 1803, as part of the Louisiana Purchase. In 1812, a fur-trading party crossed the mountains through South Pass.
Wyoming's first permanent trading post, Fort William (later Fort Laramie), was established in 1834. In 1872, Yellowstone became the first U.S. national park. The region's first oil well was drilled in Dallas Field, near Lander, in 1883.
In the 1950's, major uranium deposits were found in the state. The first U.S. operational intercontinental ballistic missile base opened near Cheyenne in 1960. During the 1980's, decreased demands for uranium, coal, and oil caused declines in the state's economy.
Bird:
Meadowlark (Sturnella Neglecta) Adopted: February 5, 1927.
Economy:
Agriculture: Cattle, sugar beets, sheep, hay, wheat.
Industry: Mining, chemical products, lumber and wood products, printing and publishing, machinery, tourism.
Flower:
Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja linariaefolia) Adopted: January 31, 1917.
Origin of state's name:
Based on an Algonquin or Delaware Indian word meaning "large prairie place".
Seal:
The Great Seal of the State of Wyoming was adopted by the second legislature in 1893, revised by the sixteenth legislature in 1921.
The two dates on the Great Seal, 1869 and 1890 commemorate the organization of the Territorial government and Wyoming's admission to the Union. The draped figure in the centre holds a staff from which flows a banner bearing the words, "Equal Rights," and symbolizes the political status women have always enjoyed in Wyoming. The male figures typify the livestock and mining industries of the state. The number 44 on the five-pointed star signifies that Wyoming was the 44th state admitted to the Union. On top of the pillars rest lamps from which burn the Light of Knowledge. Scrolls encircling the two pillars bear the words, Oil, Mines, Livestock, and Grain, four of Wyoming's major industries.
Tree:
Plains Cottonwood (Populus sargentii) Adopted: February 1, 1947.
Other:
One of the earliest explorers of Wyoming was John Colter in 1807. While exploring the Rocky Mountains, he discovered a region of steaming geysers and towering water falls so unusual that his written reports nicknamed the area "Colter's Hell." The same area, in 1872, was set aside forever as a place to be enjoyed by everyone. It became known as Yellowstone, the world's first National Park.
Wyoming owes its early settlement in part to the gentlemen of Europe. Their fondness of beaver top hats sent early-day trappers to the Rocky Mountains in search of the prized pelts. Famous mountain men such as Kit Carson, Jim Bridger, Davey Jackson and Jedediah Smith were among the trappers, explorers and traders to first roam the Wyoming territory.
Gold in California and the lure of rich land in Oregon brought increasing numbers of pioneer wagon trains rolling over the Oregon Trails through Wyoming. Pony soldiers came to protect the wagon trains from hostile Indians, and the soldiers established forts along the trails.
The most important of the western military posts was Ft. Laramie in southeastern Wyoming. Ft. Laramie became a haven for gold seekers and weary emigrants. It was also an important station for the Pony Express and the Overland stagecoaches, and it served as a vital military post in the wars with the Plains Indians. Ft. Laramie witnessed the growth of the open range cattle industry, the coming of homesteaders and the building of towns which marked the final closing of the wild, western frontier in 1890.
Wyoming was the scene of the end of the great Indian battles. Ft. Phil Kearny in northern Wyoming had the bloodiest history of any fort in the West. Thousands of well organized Indians from the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Sioux tribes fought battle after battle with the U.S. Cavalry. A famous battle took place in 1866 when 81 soldiers set out from Ft. Kearny and were drawn into a classic military ambush by Indians led by Crazy Horse and Red Cloud. None of the "blue coats" survived.
Great herds of buffalo once grazed on the rolling hills of Wyoming, giving rise to one of the state's best known citizens, William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody. Today in the town he founded, Cody, near Yellowstone National Park, is an enormous museum dedicated to Buffalo Bill and the West he loved and helped settle. Near the turn of the century, Buffalo Bill took his Wild West Show to Great Britain and the European continent to give audiences a brief glimpse of the cowboys, Indians and other characters who lived in America's west during Wyoming's early days.
American Indians lived in the Wyoming region at least 11,000 years ago. French trappers may have entered the region in the mid-1700's. The United States acquired most of the area from France in 1803, as part of the Louisiana Purchase. In 1812, a fur-trading party crossed the mountains through South Pass.
Wyoming's first permanent trading post, Fort William (later Fort Laramie), was established in 1834. In 1872, Yellowstone became the first U.S. national park. The region's first oil well was drilled in Dallas Field, near Lander, in 1883.
In the 1950's, major uranium deposits were found in the state. The first U.S. operational intercontinental ballistic missile base opened near Cheyenne in 1960. During the 1980's, decreased demands for uranium, coal, and oil caused declines in the state's economy.
Bird:
Meadowlark (Sturnella Neglecta) Adopted: February 5, 1927.
Economy:
Agriculture: Cattle, sugar beets, sheep, hay, wheat.
Industry: Mining, chemical products, lumber and wood products, printing and publishing, machinery, tourism.
Flower:
Indian Paintbrush (Castilleja linariaefolia) Adopted: January 31, 1917.
Origin of state's name:
Based on an Algonquin or Delaware Indian word meaning "large prairie place".
Seal:
The Great Seal of the State of Wyoming was adopted by the second legislature in 1893, revised by the sixteenth legislature in 1921.
The two dates on the Great Seal, 1869 and 1890 commemorate the organization of the Territorial government and Wyoming's admission to the Union. The draped figure in the centre holds a staff from which flows a banner bearing the words, "Equal Rights," and symbolizes the political status women have always enjoyed in Wyoming. The male figures typify the livestock and mining industries of the state. The number 44 on the five-pointed star signifies that Wyoming was the 44th state admitted to the Union. On top of the pillars rest lamps from which burn the Light of Knowledge. Scrolls encircling the two pillars bear the words, Oil, Mines, Livestock, and Grain, four of Wyoming's major industries.
Tree:
Plains Cottonwood (Populus sargentii) Adopted: February 1, 1947.
Other:
One of the earliest explorers of Wyoming was John Colter in 1807. While exploring the Rocky Mountains, he discovered a region of steaming geysers and towering water falls so unusual that his written reports nicknamed the area "Colter's Hell." The same area, in 1872, was set aside forever as a place to be enjoyed by everyone. It became known as Yellowstone, the world's first National Park.
Wyoming owes its early settlement in part to the gentlemen of Europe. Their fondness of beaver top hats sent early-day trappers to the Rocky Mountains in search of the prized pelts. Famous mountain men such as Kit Carson, Jim Bridger, Davey Jackson and Jedediah Smith were among the trappers, explorers and traders to first roam the Wyoming territory.
Gold in California and the lure of rich land in Oregon brought increasing numbers of pioneer wagon trains rolling over the Oregon Trails through Wyoming. Pony soldiers came to protect the wagon trains from hostile Indians, and the soldiers established forts along the trails.
The most important of the western military posts was Ft. Laramie in southeastern Wyoming. Ft. Laramie became a haven for gold seekers and weary emigrants. It was also an important station for the Pony Express and the Overland stagecoaches, and it served as a vital military post in the wars with the Plains Indians. Ft. Laramie witnessed the growth of the open range cattle industry, the coming of homesteaders and the building of towns which marked the final closing of the wild, western frontier in 1890.
Wyoming was the scene of the end of the great Indian battles. Ft. Phil Kearny in northern Wyoming had the bloodiest history of any fort in the West. Thousands of well organized Indians from the Cheyenne, Arapaho and Sioux tribes fought battle after battle with the U.S. Cavalry. A famous battle took place in 1866 when 81 soldiers set out from Ft. Kearny and were drawn into a classic military ambush by Indians led by Crazy Horse and Red Cloud. None of the "blue coats" survived.
Great herds of buffalo once grazed on the rolling hills of Wyoming, giving rise to one of the state's best known citizens, William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody. Today in the town he founded, Cody, near Yellowstone National Park, is an enormous museum dedicated to Buffalo Bill and the West he loved and helped settle. Near the turn of the century, Buffalo Bill took his Wild West Show to Great Britain and the European continent to give audiences a brief glimpse of the cowboys, Indians and other characters who lived in America's west during Wyoming's early days.