As we continued on our adventure into Wyoming, we headed to Laramie. Why? Why not!
Laramie was another town that was founded along the Union Pacific Railway back in 1868. It was named for a French-Canadian trapper named Jacques La Ramee who disappeared into the nearby mountains in the 1820s. Laramie was notoriously lawless and filled with saloons like the infamous Bucket of Blood. The first mayor of the town resigned after three weeks calling the place "ungovernable". The biggest threat to the town were three brothers: Steve Long, Lon Moyer and Ace Moyer. Long was the Marshal, for Pete's sake but not a good one. The brothers owned the Bucket of Blood Saloon. They would force settlers into signing over their deeds. Those who refused were shot. They were eventually lynched by the sheriff. But more on the history later.
Leaving Cheyenne, we took the scenic route along Happy Jack Road. It's beautiful up here.
Along the way we made a couple of detours. This is Curt Gowdy State Park. For $12 you can go into the park and drive around and hike. We hiked to the top of this hill and had the most amazing views.
This is the Granite Springs Reservoir. The view at the top of this hill was breathtaking. I could have stayed up here all day and just soaked it all in.
There were several camp sites like this one so I'm sure this place is pretty popular in the summer months.
We also learned that Interstate 80 is the Lincoln Highway and was the first transcontinental highway in the U.S. It started in 1913 and goes from Times Square in New York City all the way to Lincoln Park in San Francisco. The purpose was to encourage automobile travel and it established the "great American road trip". At this rest stop just outside of Laramie is a Lincoln monument.
Meanwhile, the lawlessness in Laramie continued. The citizens would form vigilante groups led by Marshal Nathaniel Boswell. He eventually brought order to the town. In 1873, the creation of the Wyoming Territorial Prison helped tame things. Boswell was the first warden. The Wyoming Territorial Prison is one of the oldest buildings in Wyoming. It operated as a federal penitentiary from 1872 to 1890 (that's when Wyoming became a state) and then as a state prison from 1890 to 1901.
This was the warden's house. It was built in 1875 by the convicts in the prison. Originally, there was a basement built into the hill in front of the house that was the entrance. Sometime in 1890, the basement was closed and a door was cut into the front.
It's now a museum and it's pretty cool. This is the North Cell Block. There are three levels and each cell housed two prisoners.
The prisoners would bathe once a week. There were also toilets in this room. Most of the prisoners used buckets in their cells. (Gross!)
I would not want to be locked in a cell in this prison. John doesn't look too happy in there.
This is the cell that John was in. Two people shared this tiny space. Note there's no toilet. They had to use a bucket. There were also lots of rules about neatness, etc. that the prisoners were supposed to follow. For a while, escape from this prison was rampant. There's a note that prior to the building of the stockade, the prisoners could see the mountains from their cells and at least 25% of them escaped. The chances of them being recovered were very low.
One of the cool things about the museum is that they have pictures like these (enlargements of the original mug shots taken of the prisoners as they entered the facility) along with their story. You might recognize this guy. He was the prison's most famous inhabitant. Butch Cassidy! He was incarcerated for cattle rustling and spent just under two years here. He was a model prisoner and was eventually pardoned. He went on to become one of the most elusive train and bank robbers in the U.S. He was eventually killed in Bolivia in an ambush.
The town continued to grow pretty quickly. In 1886, they installed the first electrical plant in the Rocky mountains which illuminated the city giving it the nickname Gem City of the Plains. Also in 1886, the University of Wyoming was established. It's the only four year university in Wyoming. We decided to walk around the campus and check it out. It's a beautiful campus.
We found an art museum on Campus and went in to see what they had. I love these on campus museums. Most of them have cool exhibits and the admission is free.
This one had a cool exhibit of art done by people that were associated with the school. This one was one that I liked by Sarah Konrad called Rise.
This is the Plains Museum, aka The Ivinson Mansion. Edward Ivinson was a banker who came to Laramie on the first train in 1868. He built this mansion in 1892 and was quite the philanthropist. He funded the Memorial Hospital in 1916 and a home for aged ladies in 1930. You can tour the mansion just not on the day we were there. Next time.
St. Matthew's Cathedral was established in 1887. Missourian Ethelbert Talbot was elected bishop and he chose Laramie to be the seat of the diocese. The cathedral was built between 1892 and 1896. In 1916, Edward Ivinson funded the building of the towers in memory of his wife, as she was one of the founders of the parish.
Laramie is the county seat of Albany County and this is the courthouse. This was the original courthouse built in 1872. It was funded by...you got it, Edward Ivinson. That guy must have had unlimited funds! This was the first building in Wyoming that was constructed specifically as a courthouse. As the town grew, this courthouse became too small. It was demolished in 1931 to make way for the new courthouse.
This is the current courthouse which was completed in 1932. Not as much character as the original but certainly more spacious.
In 1903, Andrew Carnegie granted the city of Laramie $20,000 to build this library. The conditions for the grant were that the city had to provide the land and pledge $2,000 per year to maintenance and the running of the library. The town overwhelmingly accepted and the library was completed in 1905. This was the official public library of Laramie until 1981, when a new, larger building was constructed to house the library. I love that instead of demolishing the building, it was repurposed as office for the city.
The Wyo Theater opened in 1928 as the Crown Theater. It showed both silent movies as well as "talkies" on its single screen. In 1949, the theater underwent some renovation and updating and became the Wyo Theater. As big megaplex theaters became popular, the theater struggled. It found it's niche as an independent movie theater. In 2017, after 90 years and standing as Wyoming's oldest continuously operating theaters, it closed. It's currently undergoing community efforts to repurpose it. I hope they do.
Wyoming is big on women's history in the state. The statue is of Louisa Gardner Swain who became the first woman in the world to cast a ballot back in 1870. The museum, called the Wyoming Women's History House celebrates Wyoming's legacy as the "Equality State" and honors the 13 pioneering women who achieved major historical milestones in the state. Cool, no?
Downtown Laramie. Lots of cool old buildings.
On the drive from Laramie to Fort Collins, this was our view. You won't see that in Dallas, Texas!
Laramie was interesting. Its history as a lawless place didn't really end in the 1800s. If you'll remember, this is where Matthew Sheppard was murdered for being gay. It was in 1998. He was a student at the University of Wyoming and he was beaten and tortured and left to die. This resulting in Hate Crime Legislation. The guys who did this got life sentences, as they should.
Laramie is at an elevation of 7,200 feet and is the fourth populous city in Wyoming with 31K people. The biggest employer is the University of Wyoming followed by the Albany ISD and the Ivinson Memorial Hospital.
Despite the bad reputation, I thought the town had a cool "University Town" vibe. I wouldn't want to live there but, I could go back and visit. But don't take my word for it. Check it out!
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