Best of Wyoming

The American Heritage Center is the University of Wyoming’s manuscript repository, rare books library, and official archives.  The AHC is one of the nation’s biggest, busiest, and best non-governmental archival institutions in the nation:  1) AHC holdings total 75,000 cubic feet (or 18 miles) of manuscripts and archives and 60,000 rare book volumes; 2) AHC assists 5-6,000 researchers every year, from K-12 and undergraduates to senior scholars to documentary filmmakers, and users come from across the globe; 3) in 2010 the AHC received the highest honor possible in the archival profession, th

The Laramie Railroad Depot was built in 1924 to replace the town's original Union Pacific Depot/Hotel that was destroyed by fire in 1917.  It served as Laramie's Union Pacific passenger depot until 1971 and as an Amtrak depot until 1983.

VICTORIAN GRANDEUR SHOWCASES THE WEST

The Louisa Swain Foundation was established in 2001 (under the former name of The Laramie Foundation). 

Since its inception the Foundation has funded construction of a large plaza and the Wyoming House for Historic Women in historic downtown Laramie, WY.  The centerpiece of the plaza is a life-sized bronze sculpture of Louisa Swain, who on September 6, 1870, became the first woman to cast a ballot under laws giving women full equality to men.  Her ballot was cast just one block from the plaza.

Rawlins – Just the name invokes images of cowboys, cattle drives, and rustic western ways!  But the real Rawlins has so much more, like the Jubilanté Ensembles, Main Street Murals, and the Carbon County Museum.

“The eighty year history of Wyoming’s first state penitentiary, now known as the Wyoming Frontier Prison, is as colorful and elaborate as the plot of a classic western movie. The cornerstone of the prison was laid in 1888, but due to funding issues and Wyoming’s notorious weather, the doors wouldn’t open for thirteen years. In December of 1901, the prison opened and consisted of only 104 cells (Cell Block A), no electricity or running water, and very inadequate heating.”

Take a walk though time and space with Rawlins’ downtown mural tour. This educational walking tour, funded by Rawlins DDA/Main Street, Carbon County School District #1 Recreation Board and the Wyoming Arts Council, celebrates the history of Carbon County through murals created by local artists in 2005-2007. The 12 murals highlight the history and natural beauty of south central Wyoming. From the innovate work of Thomas Edison and James Candlish to the splendor of the native pronghorn and aspen, the mural tour shows the diverse and rich history of the region.

The Rawlins Music Academy features a beginning hand chime choir that practices every Monday from 5:30 until 6:45pm.  They also have a hand bell choir that practices every Thursday from 5 until 6:30pm.   The first fall concert will be November 10th in Encampment or Saratoga.  The second concert will be November 11th at the Rawlins Middle School.  The final Christmas concert will be held on December 16th at Rawlins High School.

For more information, please visit http://www.jubilante.org/rawlinsmusicacademy.html .

Encouraging and Facilitating Musical Growth

Jubilanté Ensembles of Carbon County exist to create community instrumental groups, which will provide musical playing and performance opportunities, as well as encourage and facilitate musical growth for the players and the community through varying musical genres.

Jubilanté, a large mixed ensemble, rehearses on Sunday afternoons from 2:00 - 4:00 pm.  Della Smith is the primary conductor.  Rehearsals will be at the Rawlins Music Academy beginning June 3.

Carbon County Museum opened in 1940 in one room of the county courthouse. Since then the museum and its collection have grown to include over 30,000 artifacts housed in a former Church. Rotating exhibits highlight regional and local history, including personalities, western industries, and sensational events unique to the county. Displays feature “Big Nose” George Parrott (a bandit who became a pair of shoes), an original Wyoming State flag, restored vehicles, ranching, the railroad, geology and natural history collections.

The Weidner Wildlife Museum opened in September 2002 and houses nearly 125 species of wildlife collected worldwide.  This fascinating display of mounted wildlife entertains and educates visitors, excites hunters and often motivates interest in the conservation of outdoor resources. The wildlife in the museum was donated to Western Wyoming Community College in Rock Springs by residents, Roger A. and Jeanne A Weidner.  Education is the most important reason that the museum displays mounted wildlife.  The Wildlife Museum is open on Mondays and Wednesdays from 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.

The Western Wyoming College Art Gallery is located at 2500 College Drive in Rock Springs, as you enter the main entrance to the building.   It is an adjunct to the Art Program at the college and serves to introduce students and the greater community to new concepts in materials’ use or ideas of contemporary visual investigation.  

By 1840, the Fur Trade Era, with its keen competition for beaver pelts, its raucous reputation for rendezvous, and its solid association with all that was wild and untamed in the Rocky Mountain West, was drawing its last breath. Mountain men who had survived the rigors of the wilderness were forced to seek new methods of employment. Two of those men, Jim Bridger and Louis Vasquez, teamed up to operate a trading post in order to provide much needed services for the rapidly increasing number of settlers passing through on the way to their promised lands.

Bear River is a year-round park that offers nearly 300 acres that are ideal for picnicking, hiking, wildlife viewing, group activities, bicycling, skiing, rollerblading, remote control cars and many other activities. The park is home to a small head of captive bison and elk kept for public viewing. Three miles of foot trails are within park limits. They include 1.2 miles of paved trail and an arched footbridge that crosses the Bear River. Another 1.7 miles of packed gravel trails are on the of the west side of the river.

The Fort Bridger Rendezvous welcomes visitors this August 31st-September 3rd for the 40th Anniversary. The rendezvous is held each year over Labor Day weekend at the Fort Bridger Historic Site. Join the Rendezvous for this pre-1840’s historical reenactment with period correct shopping, primitive food, Native American Dancers, shoots, hawk & knife throwing, primitive demonstrations, and lots of fun for the whole family.

$3.00 per person, children 11 & under are free.

The mission of Uinta County Museum is to collect, preserve and interpret the history of Uinta County and the surrounding region and to make the Museum collections available to the public. There is significant history here, as the area was the funnel through which most of the trails west, from the mountain men to I-80, traveled.

If you’re driving on Interstate 80, Evanston is either the first or last stop in Wyoming, depends on your direction. It’s a well-traveled route, going all the way back to the 1860’s when travelers gravitated toward the safer southern portion of our state and made Evanston a “destination.”  Today Evanston remains a destination, but for much more than just a convenient stop.  It’s a city of historic and cultural wealth, and at the intersection of Wyoming and Utah culture.

Join the 15th Annual Roundhouse Festival Aug. 3-5!

This (model) Train show is put on by the Hostler Model Railroad club of Ogden in conjunction with the Evanston Roundhouse Restoration Inc. group.  It is a great show and fun for the kids.  There will be a small train the kids can ride on, several operating model train displays in 4 different scales, a model contest open to anyone, door prizes, raffle, food, a quilt show all for FREE (except for the food).  The show hours are listed below.  Tours will be given of all the facilities.

The Jackson Hole Historical Society and Museum is one of the oldest non-profit organizations in Teton County, founded in 1958. Now located in a new year-round building at 225 N. Cache, the museum’s current exhibit is “Playing Hard: Labor and Leisure in Jackson Hole.” It explores the nature of recreation and how it evolved from the hard work of early day residents. The temporary exhibit is a sample of work gathered during a two-year collaborative project with Eastern Shoshone and Shoshone-Bannock tribal members.

Off Square Theatre Company:  Wyoming's Professional Theatre!

Off Square Theatre Company (OSTC) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit company founded in Jackson Hole in 1998. Named as the resident theater company in the Center for the Arts, OSTC’s mission is to produce and present theater of the highest professional standards that inspires, stimulates, and entertains its diverse audiences; to conduct training and educational programs that enhance the quality of life for those they serve; and to help ensure the future of theater in the state of Wyoming.

Teton Science Schools is celebrating 45 years of teaching about the natural world and the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem through its mission of connecting people, nature, place, and education. Since 1967, when Ted Majors created the first summer field ecology program for high school students, Teton Science Schools (TSS) has educated, trained and inspired thousands of children, youth and adults, bringing them together through the study of nature and its extension, place-based education.

Nearly 400 cyclists and volunteers will be visiting and touring northwestern Wyoming and the eastern edge of Idaho during the 16th annual Tour de Wyoming bicycle tour.  The six day event, which attracts cyclists from across the nation as well as international riders this year from Australia and Canada, kicks off on July 15 in Jackson.