Annette Hein

Annette Hein is a geology student at Casper College and lives near Casper, Wyo. She recently took third place in the essay competition New Frontiers in Astronomy and Cosmology sponsored by the University of Chicago. Her writing has appeared in the Casper Star-Tribune and Casper Journal.

Alcova Dam and Reservoir

Alcova Dam, a Bureau of Reclamation project, was completed in 1937. The reservoir opened in 1938 and a power plant was completed in 1955. The $20 million dam project didn’t achieve the high expectations of immense wealth that were forecast at the time of its inception, but continues to provide irrigation water for farmers and ranchers and generates hydropower for the area. Alcova Reservoir offers fishing, boating, camping and swimming opportunities for visitors.

Encyclopedia : April 29, 2013 - 12:14am

Flaming Gorge Dam and Reservoir

In 1869, explorer John Wesley Powell named the red-walled canyon on the Green River in Wyoming Territory “Flaming Gorge.” The Flaming Gorge Dam, completed in 1964, helps regulate water flows and its power plant generates electricity. The dam is located in Utah, but the reservoir stretches north into Wyoming near the town of Green River. In 1968, the U.S. Congress created the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, which is located in the states of Utah and Wyoming and draws visitors from around the world.

Encyclopedia : April 7, 2013 - 11:04pm

Hot Springs County, Wyoming

As its name suggests, Hot Springs County, Wyo., draws many visitors to the world-famous thermal mineral waters located in Thermopolis, the county seat. But the area also provides stunning scenic views for those who travel through the Wind River Canyon and gives fascinating glimpses into prehistoric times at the Legend Rock petroglyphs and the Wyoming Dinosaur Center.

Encyclopedia : December 12, 2012 - 10:32am

Washakie County, Wyoming

Washakie County, formed in 1911 and named for the Shoshone Chief Washakie, continues to rely upon energy and agriculture as its main industries.

Encyclopedia : October 4, 2012 - 2:26pm

The Martin’s Cove Controversy

In 1992, officials from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints placed monuments commemorating the ill-fated, 1856 journey of the Willie and Martin handcart companies at Martin’s Cove, on public land leased for livestock grazing by the Sun Ranch near Devil’s Gate in central Wyoming. In 1997, the LDS church bought the ranch, and in subsequent years tried to get a bill through Congress to allow church purchase of the cove as well. The bill was opposed by some Wyoming citizens, however, and by Wyoming’s U.S. senator, Craig Thomas. Instead, a compromise 25-year lease was negotiated between the church and the Bureau of Land Management, guaranteeing public access to the public.

Encyclopedia : July 27, 2012 - 12:59pm

Journey to Martin’s Cove: The Mormon Handcart Tragedy of 1856

In August 1856, more than 1,000 Mormon emigrants in the Willie and Martin handcart companies left Florence, Nebraska Territory, with plans of reaching Salt Lake City and the headquarters of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints before winter. Their late start, substandard equipment and lack of sufficient supplies had disastrous consequences when they were hit by winter storms. Hundreds died on the journey across what’s now Wyoming and into Utah. Images of emigrant families pulling handcarts have since become an LDS Church icon of the triumph of faith over adversity.

Encyclopedia : July 27, 2012 - 12:34pm

The Establishment of Grand Teton National Park

Largely forgotten today is the stiff local resistance that arose in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, to the creation and later the expansion of a national park there. The story covers 31 years of controversy, and includes a Rockefeller, a movie actor and a group of armed ranchers trailing cattle illegally across a national monument, and some of the most beautiful scenery in North America.

Encyclopedia : March 12, 2012 - 2:01pm

Fossil Butte National Monument

The abundant vertebrate fossils of the Green River formation in western Wyoming have been known to science since the 1860s. Most are fish, buried in lime-rich mud at the bottom of freshwater lakes about 50 million years ago. Fossil Butte National Monument, west of Kemmerer, Wyo. was created by Congress in 1973 to protect a site extremely rich in these fossils.

Encyclopedia : December 8, 2011 - 6:15pm

Wyoming’s Dinosaurs (and one Columbian Mammoth)

Wyoming's fossils have been important to science since the 1870s and continue to be useful today. Remains of Triceratops, Diplodocus, Tyrannosaurus and others have helped answer—and raise—many questions about the ancient history of the planet and have captured popular imagination with their size or fierce appearance. The scientific value of these fossils and the public interest in them has brought collectors who excavate fossils and ship them to museums all over the country for further study and display. Only a few major finds from Wyoming have remained in the state.

Essay : September 18, 2011 - 2:17pm

Bessemer, Wyoming

Bessemer, Wyo., on the North Platte River west of Casper, was founded in 1888 but disappeared after failing to win the status of county seat of the brand-new Natrona County in 1890.

Encyclopedia : June 30, 2011 - 9:55pm

This Date in Wyoming History