All About Wyoming
Wyoming is a constituent state of the United States of America. It is the ninth largest state, with an area of 97,809 square miles (253,326 square kilometres). It shares boundaries with six other Great Plains and Mountain states: South Dakota and Nebraska on the east, Colorado on the south, Utah on the southwest, Idaho on the west, and Montana on the northwest and north. Cheyenne, the state capital, is located in the state's southeastern corner. Wyoming was admitted to the Union as the 44th state on July 10, 1890. The state's name is derived from a Delaware Indian word meaning ''land of vast plains,'' an apt description of its spacious natural environment, which is home to nearly as many pronghorn as people. The state's residents are spread across the land in small ranching and farming towns, in mining settlements, and in communities offering unparalleled outdoor recreational opportunities. Each year millions of people visit Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks.
Wyoming's topography is dominated by several large basins and the mountain ranges of the Rockies that border them. The broad basins are synclines, while the mountains dominating Wyoming's horizon were formed during a period of mountain-building activity known as the Laramide orogeny, which affected the region from 70,000,000 to 40,000,000 years ago. The land surface of Wyoming has a mean elevation of 6,700 feet (2,040 metres) above sea level, the highest in the United States after Colorado. Three-quarters of the state lies more than a mile (1,609 metres) high, and 40 percent exceeds 7,000 feet (2,100 metres) in elevation. Wyoming's lowest point of 3,125 feet (953 metres) lies in the channel of the Bell Fourche River as it flows from the state into South Dakota, and its highest point is Gannett Peak (13,804 feet [4,207 metres]) of the Wind River Range in west central Wyoming.
The state's constitution was approved by a vote of the territorial population on Nov. 5, 1889, although Wyoming was not admitted to the Union until 1890. Wyoming's constitution was the first in the world to grant full voting rights to women. Wyoming was also the first state to elect a woman governor when Nellie Tayloe Ross won the position in 1924. Because of these developments Wyoming has been called the Equality State. In the years preceding statehood Wyoming developed its thriving cattle industry. The state's immense rangelands fostered the initiation of the cowboy era that was chronicled in Owen Wister's The Virginian (1902), based on his experience in turn-of-the-century Wyoming. Although frequently exaggerated by Hollywood, this era was marked by violence on the range between cattlemen, homesteaders, and sheepherders that continued well after 1900.
Although Wyoming retains its Western heritage and personality, employment in the state is now more characterized by mining than by the cowboy life. The state's reliance on the energy industries of coal, oil, natural gas, and uranium has made Wyoming subject to ''boom-and-bust'' cycles that depend on world prices for its products. During the energy boom of the 1970s, for example, the state's population grew at nearly four times the national rate and had one of the highest incomes per capita in the country. The world oil supply glut of the 1980s, on the other hand, caused a substantial downturn in the state's economy that led to significant population out-migration. The state is making an effort to diversify its economy in such areas as tourism, but there is little doubt that Wyoming's long-term economic future is tied to mining.
Wyoming's economy is heavily tied to mining and agriculture (primarily the marketing of beef cattle and sheep). The state also has an important and growing tourist industry, serving the hundreds of thousands of visitors to the state's parks and historic sites. Manufacturing is of only minor importance.
Tourism and recreation are major growth industries in Wyoming. They make a substantial contribution to the state's economy and account for approximately 10 percent of the total employment. The state government has increased its advertising of Wyoming's spectacular scenery and recreational opportunities. Among the principal sites for tourists are the state's parks and historic sites, Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks and such attractions as Big Horn Canyon National Recreation Area, Fort Laramie National Historic Site, and Devil's Tower and Fossil Buttes national monuments.
The original path of the transcontinental railroad still serves as one of Wyoming's major transportation corridors. The tracks of the Union Pacific Railroad, which continue to carry substantial quantities of freight across the state, now share the corridor with Interstate 80, one of the country's most important east–west highways. A second east–west transportation corridor is Interstate 90. Wyoming's primary north–south transportation corridor is Interstate 25. The state is served by a network of paved highways and roads that include the scenic Yellowstone Highway, which connects Wyoming's largest city, Casper, with Yellowstone National Park. There is no passenger rail service in Wyoming, but commuter air carriers serve the state's major cities and recreational destinations, such as Cheyenne, Laramie, Casper, Cody, and Jackson Hole. Most commuter air service operations originate in Denver, Colo., or Salt Lake City, Utah. Additional flights are scheduled during the winter to serve skiing destinations such as Jackson Hole.
