Cheyenne, WY

We traveled north on I-25 out of Colorado and arrived in Wyoming on Monday evening.  Cheyenne, the state Capital, is located just a few miles over the border in southeastern Wyoming at the intersection of I-25 and I-80.

This section of the state resembles the Great Plains and is covered by vast rolling grasslands and huge blue skies, with snow-capped mountains rising on the far western horizon.  The huge metal-sculpted bison stands guard on a hilltop just as you cross the WY border.

 

After crossing the border, Monday evening we visited one of the most magnificent rest area/visitors centers (nearly a museum) we've yet encountered on our trip, complete with wind power, modern Western architecture, and a free dump station.

Tuesday we took care of some errands around town, and took the opportunity to do a thorough inside-and-out cleaning of the van which took over 3 hours.  After spending almost 2 months in hot, often windy, desert conditions, there was dust and dirt in nearly every conceivable nook and crevice of the van.

On Wednesday we hit up downtown Cheyenne, with a visit to the State Capitol building and the Wyoming State Museum.

The Wyoming State Capitol, very small by many state's Capitol standards, boasts a thoroughly western motif, with the rotunda and stained glass window in the photos below emblematic of the late nineteenth century western-US period when Wyoming achieved statehood.  The Governor's office, which is apparently very accessible, is virtually just inside the door of the building on the first floor.




The Wyoming State Senate Chambers below, and the stained glass skylight ceiling.




And the House Chamber, with its stained glass skylight ceiling.

Similar to other cities around the US with their mascots or decorated objects, all over Cheyenne are decorated boots, with the one below covered in vintage WY license plates outside the State Museum.

Inside the museum, which has displays on many facets of WY history, was what was perhaps one of the "first RV's," the customized covered wagon below used by sheep herders which has many of the same utilities and systems as our van.  Heating and cooking stove, crude water tank and plumbing, sleeping bench, etc.

Vast amounts of dinosaur fossils have been located in WY, with perhaps the greatest concentration of prehistoric remnants discovered in any state in the US.

After visiting the State Museum, we also visited Wyoming's Historic Governor's Mansion.  The home below, which has never had a fence nor an on-site security detail, is located just a few block from the Capitol and was used as Wyoming gubernatorial residence from 1904 to 1977.

Below is the official state visitor's bedroom; dignitaries such as Richard Nixon stayed here when he was VP during the late 1950's.

Master bedroom of the Governor's residence.

Upstairs hallway of the mansion.

Entrance foyer from the staircase.

Formal state dining room

Living room

The small Governor's den, the Governor's only office on premises.

Kitchen restored to 1930's period with stainless countertops and metal cabinets.

Cheyenne owes its existence largely to the Union Pacific railroad, which steamed across the plains in the late 1800's with an important depot at Cheyenne.  A large railyard still exists right beside downtown Cheyenne, with a "rail traffic control tower" shown below.

Just one portion of the vast Cheyenne rail yard.

The grand Cheyenne Depot dating to the late nineteenth century now houses several restaurants, small shops, a visitor's center, and a Cheyenne railroad history museum.  Cheyenne was a major "cattle baron" center of the late 1800's and early 1900's, and the fancy rail depot, boutique shops and establishments directly opposite the station in downtown Cheyenne largely catered to (and often were owned by) the very wealthy cattle ranch owners and their friends who controlled the capital city during this period.