This month, we feature a female homesteader and a dispute over placing a monument.

Wyoming summers, Chicago winters

Chicago native Florence Blake risked her life in a bull pasture; traveled to Devil’s Tower and Yellowstone Park; and attended lots of all-night dances—all part of her life as a single woman homesteader in Campbell County, Wyoming in the early 1920s. She lived in Wyoming seven months each year. Read more in Rebecca Hein’s article, “A Woman Alone on Her Claim.”

Who was right?

One summer morning in 1908, Sam Gibson rode horseback along Little Piney Creek near Sheridan County’s southern border. His companion, Charles Bezold, rode alongside, eager to hear the older man’s stories of an Indian Wars battle 40 years before. They knew they were near the site of the Wagon Box Fight. . . Read more in Kylie Louise McCormick’s article, “Locating the Past: Marking the Site of the Wagon Box Fight.”

Upcoming Events around Wyoming

For September calendar events, visit the Wyoming Historical Society’s new website. If you know of upcoming history-related events in Wyoming, send a note to editor@wyohistory.org.

View the Calendar

Latest from the Blog

How Green is Wyoming?
People all over the state keep commenting—this is the greenest year anyone can remember. Even in late August, grass on the prairie shows hints of green, when usually by now Wyoming lies flattened under that opaque tan you get many years as early as the Fourth of July.

William Henry Jackson’s Long Career
William Henry Jackson left Vermont in 1866 at age 23 to travel west as a bullwhacker. He had to endure a monotonous diet that eventually made him sick, watch oxen die of exhaustion and see one of his fellow teamsters killed by lightning near Independence Rock. This was the beginning of his long, active career centered on the American west.

Native American Education Conference, 2023
Last week we attended the annual Native American Education Conference, held this year at Central Wyoming College in Riverton.

Father De Smet Pets a Buffalo
“Never let the truth get in the way of a good story.” It’s an appealing idea, but if you want to know what really happened, you might have to prepare for some surprises. So it was with me and the tale that Father Pierre-Jean De Smet once approached a bison bull, laid his hand on its head—and wasn’t gored.