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Washakie County, Wyoming

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

The Oil Business in Wyoming

Encyclopedia | Oil seeps were reported often in the early 19th century in what later became Wyoming; it was sold, for example to Oregon Trail travelers for wagon lubricant. The first producing well in Wyoming Territory was drilled in 1883 at Dallas Dome southeast Lander. Perhaps the state’s best-known... Read More »

The Teapot Dome Scandal

Encyclopedia | Although the Teapot Dome Scandal of the 1920s was named for a Wyoming rock formation resembling a teapot, the wrongdoers were not from the state. During the administration of President Warren G. Harding, oilmen Harry Sinclair and Edward Doheny bribed Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall to gain... Read More »

Carbon, Wyoming

Encyclopedia | Founded in 1868, the short-lived town of Carbon provided crucial coal supplies for the Union Pacific Railroad. Its rough reputation was boosted in 1881, when a mob of miners pulled Dutch Charley Burris, accused of the murder of a popular lawman, from a train and hanged him from a telegraph pole.... Read More »