Cheyenne, Wyoming

When I was a kid, Cheyenne was the title of a TV show starring Clint Walker. Well, today I made a trip to Cheyenne to tour a facility owned by the company I work for. Cheyenne is the capital city of the State of Wyoming, and is really, a fairly small town. It lies just north of the Colorado border, about 100 miles north of Denver, at the intersection of Interstate Highways 25 and 80.

I arrived in town a little early, so I stopped by the capitol building to take a few photos. Unfortunately, after I arrived home, I found I had my camera set on manual focus, and had failed to compensate, so many of my photos didn't come out too well. Dumb mistake. Still, I got a few that are accidentally in-focus.

Compared to the Wisconsin capitol I wrote about last month, the Wyoming capitol is small. When you compare the dome of Wisconsin, the largest by volume in the nation, with Wyoming's, the western statehouse's dome is extremely diminuitive in relation to its building. Still, it is a pleasing building, with the cornerstone laid in 1887. It also has several items of interest on the grounds.

One of these is a replica of the Liberty Bell, near the southwest corner of the lawn. On the west lawn, there is a statue of a cowboy on a bucking horse, another of the symbols of the state.

Of particular note is a statue of early womens' rights activist Esther Hobart Morris. located at the main, or south entrance to the capitol. The inscription on the base of the statue reads:

Esther Hobart Morris

Proponent of the legislative act which in 1869 gave distinction to the territory of Wyoming as the 1st government in the world to grant women equal rights

This is truly an amazing thing, a territory's legislature passing a law to grant women equal rights back in 1869, when here in 2007, we still don't have the Equal Rights Amendment enacted on a national level. Those pioneers were quite progressive!

Inside the capital, the first floor is basically one long hallway with offices on either side. These include the Governor's office and the office of the state treasurer.

The capitol doesn't really have a rotunda, but more like a medium-sized room. Looking up into the dome, there is a square design with some stained glass, and some state motifs painted on each of the four sides. There is also a statue of an American Indian in full headdress gracing the main chamber. In the west wing, there is a stuffed American Bison on display, another symbol of Wyoming and the American West.

Time ran out and I had to get to my appointment, but I was glad I made the stop at capitol of "The Equality State".