History
On July 4, 1867, General Grenville M. Dodge and his survey crew platted the site now known as Cheyenne (Dakota Territory, later Wyoming Territory). There were many from a hundred miles around who felt the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad through the area would bring them prosperity. By the time the first track was built into Cheyenne four months later (November 13),
over four thousand people had migrated into the new city. Because Cheyenne sprang up like magic, according to newspaper editors visiting from the East, it became known as "Magic City of the Plains"[
Those who stayed and did not leave with the westward construction of the railroad were joined by gamblers, saloon owners, thieves, opportunists, prostitutes, displaced cowboys, miners, transient railroad gangs, proper business men, soldiers from "Camp Cheyenne," later named Fort D.A. Russell (now F.E. Warren Air Force Base), and men from Camp Carlin, a supply camp for fifteen northern army posts on the frontier.
The city was not named by Grenville Dodge as his memoirs state, but rather by his friends who accompanied him to the area
Dodge called "Crow Creek Crossing." It was named for the Native American Cheyenne nation ("Shay-an"), one of the most famous and prominent Great Plains tribes closely allied with the Arapaho. The Cheyenne were among the fiercest fighters on the
plains. Not pleased with the changes brought about by the railroad, they had harassed both railroad surveyors and construction crews.
As the capital of the Wyoming Territory and the only city of any consequence, as well as being the seat of the stockyards where cattle were loaded on the Union Pacific Railroad, the city's Cheyenne Club was the natural meeting place for the organization of the large well-capitalized ranches called the Wyoming Stock Growers Association. (See Johnson County War of 1892, the largest of
the "range wars" of early Wyoming history). The newspaper offices of Asa Shinn Mercer's Northwestern Livestock Journal were burned down when the paper, which was founded as a public relations vehicle for the moneyed cattle interests, began to write scathing accounts of the events that were unfolding on the open range. His account is told in his book The Banditti of the Plains,.
As a town created by the railroad, Cheyenne fittingly preserves one of the eight surviving Union Pacific Big Boy locomotives ("4004"), some of the largest steam locomotives ever built, designed for hauling freight over the Rocky Mountains at high speeds.
These engines typically hauled 100 freight cars up ruling grades between Cheyenne and Ogden, Utah, at 50 miles per hour. The locomotive now resides in Holliday park in central Cheyenne. The Union Pacific's last live-steam engines still reside in Cheyenne.
The Challenger 3985 and the Northern 844, UP's last steam passenger engine, are maintained there. They are used for display and excursions across the county.
Alferd Packer, the only American ever convicted of cannibalism (though the official charge was murder since cannibalism is not a crime in the United States), was apprehended north of Fort Laramie and was taken to jail in Cheyenne, March 11, 1883.
Tom Horn, the notorious Pinkerton's agent who had been operating as a hit man for the Wyoming Stock Growers Association, was hanged in Cheyenne for a murder that he probably did not commit on November 20, 1903, the day before his 43rd birthday.
The Wyoming Telephone and Telegraph Company published the first telephone directory in the United States in Cheyenne in 1881.
Due to a shortage of white paper, it was printed on yellow paper instead which started the tradition of the "yellow pages" phone directory.
Several ships of the United States Navy have been named USS Cheyenne in honor of this city as well as a couple of tug boats working around New York City.
Bill O'Neal, a historian of the American West based in Carthage, Texas, published Cheyenne, 1867-1903': A Biography of the Magic City of the Plains in 2006.
Landmarks
* Wyoming State Capitol
* Cheyenne Botanic Gardens
* F.E. Warren Air Force Base, one of the nation's oldest, continuously active installations with a United States Army.
United States Air Force evolution.
* Nagle Warren Mansion
Historical places
Over fifty different locations in Cheyenne are listed on the National Register of Historical Places, including:
* the Atlas Theatre (added 1973)
* Union Pacific Depot (1973)
* the Governor's Mansion (1969)
* Nagle-Warren Mansion (1976)
* First United Methodist Church (1975)
* St. Mark's Episcopal Church (1970)
* St. Mary's Catholic Cathedral (1974)
* Cheyenne High School (2005)
* Storey Gymnasium (2005)
Several districts in the city are also listed, including: the Downtown District (1978, with boundary increase in 1980, 1988, 1996. Encompasses 205 acres and 67 buildings)
* Lakeview District (1996, 350 acres 109 buildings)
* Rainsford District (1984, 1980 acres 288 buildings)
* Capitol North District (1980, 204 acres 112 buildings)
* Fort David A. Russell (1969, 6300 acres 19 buildings)
* Union Pacific Roundhouse, Turntable and Machine Shop (1992, 113 acres 2 buildings)
* South Side District (2006)
Transportation
Highways
Interstate Highways:I-25
North-South Interstate running from New Mexico to Wyoming intersects I-80 southwest of Cheyenn.
I-80 East-West Interstate running from California to New York. Intersects I-25 southwest of Cheyenne.
I-180 North-South interstate that runs concurrent with US 85 from I-80 to US 30.
(It is the only Interstate Highway that is not up to Interstate Highway standards)
US Routes:
US 30 (Lincolnway) East-West route through Cheyenne
US 85 (South Greely Hwy., Central Ave. (Southbound), Warren Ave. (Northbound))
North-South route through Cheyenne
US 87 North-South through Cheyenne that runs concurrent with I-25 through Cheyenne
Wyoming State Highways:
WY 210 (Happy Jack Rd.)
East-West route from I-25/US 87 (Exit 10) west out of Cheyenne towards Laramie.
WY 212 (College Dr., Four Mile Rd.)
North-South route that forms a beltway around Cheyenne. From I-25 (Exit 7) to WY 219.
WY 219 (Yellowstone Rd.) North-South route from US 85 in Cheyenne near the Cheyenne Airport north out of the city
WY 221 (Fox Farm Rd.) East-west route from US 85 east to WY 212 in Cheyenne
WY 225 (Otto Rd.) East-West route from I-80/US 30 southwest of Cheyenne west Airports
Cheyenne is serviced by Cheyenne Airport.
] Railroads
Union Pacific and BNSF serve Cheyenne.
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