Atlas and Travel Encyclopedia
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The Ultimate Wyoming Atlas and Travel Encyclopedia Compiled, edited, and written by Michael Dougherty and Heidi Pfeil Dougherty and the Staff of Ultimate Press an Ultimate® Guide Book Copyright © 2007 Michael Dougherty Published by Riverbend Publishing, Helena, Montana ISBN 10: 1-931832-84-6 ISBN 13: 978-1-931832-84-7 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission of the publisher, except for brief excerpts for reviews. Printed in the U.S.A. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 MG 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 Writing and Compilation: Michael Dougherty and Heidi Pfeil Dougherty Layout: Rachel C. Jones Research and Editorial Assistance: Arianna Haines and Lauri Olsen Written, designed and produced by: Ultimate Press an imprint of Champions Publishing, Inc. 301 Evergreen, Suite 201D Bozeman, Montana 59715 Phone: 406-585-0237 Website: www.ultimatewyoming.com For advertising inquiries and editorial comments, please contact Ultimate Press at the address above. For book sales, please contact: Riverbend Publishing PO Box 5833 Helena, MT 59604 Phone toll-free: 1-866-787-2363 Fax: 1-406-449-0330 Email: [email protected] Website: www.RiverbendPublishing.com Front Cover Photos: Main Cover photo – Heidi Pfeil Dougherty Back Cover Photos: Rodeo – Courtesy of Cody Night Rodeo • Rafting – Courtesy of Jackson Hole Whitewater All others – Michael Dougherty CONTENTS Introduction • PAGE 1 Wyoming: The Cowboy State Section 1 • PAGE 49 Northwest Area • Including Jackson, Dubois, Pinedale and Star Valley Section 2 • PAGE 91 Northcentral Area • Including Cody, Worland, Powell, Lovell and Thermopolis Section 3 • PAGE 141 Northeast Area • Including Sheridan, Buffalo, Gillette and Newcastle Section 4 • PAGE 205 Southwest Area • Including Evanston, Kemmerer, Green River and Rock Springs Section 5 • PAGE 249 Southcentral Area • Including Casper, Riverton, Lander and Rawlins Section 6 • PAGE 325 Southeast Area • Including Cheyenne, Laramie and Douglas Fort Laramie National Historic Site • PAGE 383 Grand Teton National Park • PAGE 399 Yellowstone National Park • PAGE 433 Index • PAGE 483 Acknowledgment We offer a sincere thank you to all of the sponsors who, without their financial support, this book would not have been possible. Throughout the book, you’ll see their names in bold. Stop in and see them when you’re in their area. They would like to hear from you. We especially wish to thank our staff for their excellent help in bringing this first edition to press. A special thanks to Patricia DeWitt for her tireless efforts in obtaining our sponsors, without which, we would not exist. Disclaimer This guide focuses on recreational activities including traveling to some sites that are off the more frequently traveled roads. As all such activities contain elements of risk, the publisher, author, affiliated individuals and companies included in this guide dis- claim any responsibility for any injury, harm, or illness that may occur to anyone through, or by use of, the information in this book. Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the information was correct at the time of going to press, the author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any party for any loss or damage to person or property caused by errors, omissions, or any potential travel disruption due to labor or financial difficulty, whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, acci- dent, or any other cause. Throughout this book, public domain documents of govern- ment agencies (National Park Service, USDA Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Wyoming State Parks and Historic Sites) were reprinted. Also, brochures published by local area chambers of commerce and from the various attrac- tions were reprinted in part or in their entirety. Permissions were obtained where required. iv Ultimate Wyoming Atlas and Travel Encyclopedia WYOMING THE COWBOY STATE Introduction Wildlife Today, there are more animals than people in Wyoming, which is the least populated of any state in the union. Wyoming is home to numer- ous native species of ungulates, such as the bison (buffalo), pronghorn antelope, bighorn sheep, mule deer and white-tailed deer, moose, and elk, to name just a few. In the last couple of centuries, the state has also become host to a large popula- tion of domesticated cattle, sheep, horses, and even a few llamas and ostriches. Wild mustangs also roam the plains. The animal population includes numerous prairie and mountain birds, from the Bald Eagle to the Meadowlark to the Sage Grouse. Several fish species inhabit the waterways, including many varieties of trout, bass, and even catfish. Beavers and otters can also be seen in streams and ponds. Marmots, rabbits, picas, chipmunks, and other small critters frequent the highlands and lowlands alike. Wolves, cougars, coyotes, foxes, badgers, and even a few bears also dwell in this largely untamed country. Madison River north of West Yellowstone Wyoming At THE COWBOY STATE Headwaters for the Missouri, Columbia, and Colorado Rivers also fall within Wyoming’s bor- a Glance When people think of Wyoming, they tend to ders. The continental divide, which cuts through think of cowboys, as the nickname shows. The the mountains, creates a place where water runs Population (2000): 493,782 cowboy is really a symbol of Wyoming‘s rugged, in three different directions. The landscape is dot- Entered union: July 10, 1890 hard-working character. Covering nearly 98,000 ted with a handful of lakes and reservoirs that Capital: Cheyenne square miles, the fourth largest state in the union provide not only recreational opportunities, but is a land of wild, wide-open spaces and magnifi- also much needed water conservation and dam- Nickname: The Cowboy State or The cent vistas. generated energy for the state. Equality State Every corner of the state has natural wonders Motto: Equal Rights of world renown: from Yellowstone and the NATURAL HISTORY Bird: Meadowlark Grand Tetons in the northwest corner, to Devil’s Tower and the Black Hills in the northeast, to the Taking its name from a Delaware word meaning Flower: Indian Paintbrush Vedauwoo Rocks and the Medicine Bow National “land of mountains and valleys”, Wyoming has Song: “Wyoming” been a land of wonders for millions, even billions Forest in the southeast, and Fossil Butte and the Stones: Jade Flaming Gorge in the southwest. In between of years. The very minerals from which the earth these marvels, numerous opportunities to explore is formed here harbor countless treasures, from Tree: Cottonwood Wyoming’s varied, often awe-inspiring landscapes silver and gold, to copper and iron ore, to semi- Animal: Bison abound. precious and even precious stones. The largest Fish: Cutthroat Trout In the high heart of the Rocky Mountains, piece of solid jade ever unearthed came from Fossil: Knightia (Fossilized fish) Wyoming is laced with a number of smaller Wyoming, and one of the largest diamonds ever ranges, including the Laramie Mountains, the found came from here as well. Land area: 97,819 square miles Snowy Range, the Sierra Madres, the Salt Range, Situated in an ancient volcanic caldera, the Water area: 714 square miles the Gros Ventres, the Absarokas, the Big Horns, Yellowstone region boasts the most extensive area Size ranking: 9th the Tetons, and some of the regions highest of geyser activity in the world, as well as boiling peaks, the Wind Rivers, reaching nearly 14,000 mud pots, hot springs, prismatic pools, and other Geographic center: Fremont, 58 miles feet elevation. Wyoming mountains are a specta- hydrothermal phenomena. Waterfalls abound, ENE of Lander cle of stark granite slopes, rolling foothills, and and the deep and serene Yellowstone Lake is sur- Length: 360 miles evergreen forests. rounded by multicolored cliffs, layered and Width: 280 miles Between the various mountain ranges, you carved from years of glacial activity. will find a variety of wilderness areas, pastoral Another vast ancient lake, really an inland Highest point: 13,804 feet (Gannett valleys, grasslands, deserts, and amazing rock for- sea, once covered much of Wyoming and left Peak) mations. You can find nearly every geological deposits of soda ash and other important miner- Lowest point: 3,099 feet (Belle Fourche phenomenon imaginable, from deep canyons to als useful in a variety of industries today. River) majestic buttes and pinnacles to convoluted cav- Prehistoric life thrived around the tropical lake, Mean Elevation: 6,700 ft erns. Geothermal curiosities occur all around the leaving rich stores of fossil fuels and a host of Highest temperature: 114º on July 12, state, from geysers to hot springs. archeologically significant remains, from several 1900, at Basin Water is a precious commodity in the state, dinosaur graveyards to petrified trees. Some of but it is crisscrossed with several streams, includ- the earliest ancestors of the modern horse have Lowest temperature: -66º on Feb. 9, ing the Green, the Snake, Bighorn, the Platte, the been unearthed within Wyoming’s boundaries, as 1933, at Riverside Powder, the Laramie and the Wind Rivers. well as many other more ancient life forms. www.ultimatewyoming.com 1 THE HISTORY OF WYOMING’S PEOPLE Native Americans Drawn by the mineral treasures and the wildlife, humans have been living here for mil- lennia as well. Some of the oldest Native American campsites in North America have been discovered in Wyoming, dating back to over 11, 000 years ago. Ever since that time, many groups of Native Americans have valued Wyoming as prime hunt- ing ground. Early tribes utilized “buffalo jumps,” cliffs where the bison were driven over the ledge to their deaths. Later on, hunting was done with Introduction weapons made from the flint and metals found in the region. The hunters left behind bones, pot- tery, petroglyphs, fire rings, and sacred stone cir- cles known as Medicine Wheels, the use of which is still something of a mystery.