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Indigenous People in Wyoming and the West

Women’s Suffrage and Women’s Rights

James W. Byrd: Wyoming’s Pioneering Police Chief

In January 1966, James W. “Jim” Byrd became the first Black police chief in Cheyenne—and in Wyoming. Over a 25-year career he helped modernize the Cheyenne Police Department and went on to serve as a Wyoming highway safety director and U.S. Marshal. Read more about this quiet trailblazer in Wyoming public life.

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The Life of Alan K. Simpson

On a freezing New Year’s Eve in 1978, a handful of friends gathered at Christ Episcopal Church in Cody, Wyoming, to watch Alan Simpson sworn into the U.S. Senate by candlelight. Only about twenty people attended the midnight service, but the moment vaulted Simpson ahead in seniority and launched a career that would make him one of the most recognizable—and quotable—political figures in Wyoming history.1

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“Little Switzerland:” Star Valley and its Dairies

A long, slender valley lies in western Wyoming along the Idaho border. Four to six miles wide and twenty-one miles long, Star Valley drew its first settlers, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, because it was hard to get to—and it wasn’t in Idaho.

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Wyoming and the Texas Ranching System

How did a subtropical cattle ranching practice make it into Wyoming? Wyoming’s cattle ranching industry has deep roots in the Tamaulipas area of Mexico, the Carolinas, and Texas. Read more about how this system got established in Wyoming, who profited from it, and what happened when it met the harsh reality of Wyoming winters.

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Roundups on Wyoming’s Open Range

In the 1870s and 1880s, the cattle ranching industry in Wyoming operated mostly on neglect with one exception: the roundups. For most of the year, cattle were left to roam and graze untended. But twice a year, they were rounded up—sometimes as far as 100 miles away from their home ranch. Read more about the roundups on Wyoming’s Open Range.

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James W. Byrd: Wyoming’s Pioneering Police Chief
The Life of Alan K. Simpson
Star Valley and its Dairy Business
Wyoming and the Texas Ranching System
Roundups on Wyoming’s Open Range

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Dave Kathka: A Remembrance

Dave Kathka devoted decades to Wyoming’s historical and cultural life as a college educator, State Historian, and the man who brought Wyoming History Day to thousands of students across the state. Historian Rick Ewig, who followed in his footsteps as History Day coordinator, remembers a tireless advocate for Wyoming history and the humanities.

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Dave Kathka

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