22 Fun Facts About Wyoming You Might Not Know!
- Wyoming officially became the 44th state of the United States on July 10, 1890.
- By area, Wyoming is the 10th largest state in the US.
- Wyoming’s population consists of 581,813 inhabitants.
- Wyoming is the least populated state in the US.
- Cheyenne was named for the Cheyenne Indians, the indigenous people of the Great Plains.
- Bison is the state animal of Wyoming, which is represented on the Wyoming State Flag. The flag also symbolized virility, fidelity and justice.
7. Cheyenne is the largest city of Wyoming, with a population of 65,435.
8. Nearly half of the land of Wyoming is owned by the US Government.
9. The Crow people, Arapaho, Lakota, and Shoshone (Native American tribes) are the original inhabitants of the state.
10. Wyoming’s motto is ‘Equal Rights.’ Wyoming was the first state to give women the right to vote.
11. Wyoming was the first state to have a female governor, Nellie Tayloe Ross.
12. Equality State, Cowboy State, and Big Wyoming are the state nicknames of Wyoming.
13. The Spanish Empire once claimed southwestern Wyoming until it was ceded to the United States in 1848 at the end of the Mexican-American War.
14. On April 30, 2015 Laramie, Wyoming was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for the largest swing dance. There were more than 1,000 swing dancers that gathered to dance together at the University of Wyoming.
15. The highest peak in Wyoming at 4,210 meters is Gannett Peak, located in the Wind River Range within the Bridger Wilderness of the Bridger-Teton National Forest.
16. There are 32 islands within the borders of Wyoming. Most of these islands are found in Yellowstone Lake, Jackson Lake and Green River.
17. Rodeo is its official State Sport, and Cheyenne Frontier Days is the largest outdoor rodeo in the world.
18. People from Wyoming are called Wyomingites.
19. Some of the most famous Wyomingites include: Matthew Fox (Jack Shepard in the TV series Lost), Isabel Jewell (actress), Jackson Pollock (painter), and Curt Gowdy (sportscaster).
20. In 1872, Yellowstone was designated as the first National Park in the nation. Not only was Yellowstone National Park the first park in the US, but it was also the first in the world.
21. Wyoming was the first state to have a county public library.
22. Devils Tower was designated as the first National Monument in 1906. Devils Tower was also featured in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind in 1977.
