Wyoming is the least populated state in the United States today—a place that many passed through, but not many stayed. Though both desolate and isolated, the state is also beautiful and full of history. Wyoming attracted settlers looking for opportunity, and (as one of the first states to o¦er women equal opportunities in government participation, both in voting and serving in office) was especially welcoming to women. The state was a vital location for westward growth, and provided ample land for settlers willing to stay there. Even if you don’t have roots in Wyoming, your ancestors may have passed through it on their way west. Read on for how to research family in the Equality State.
Mostly part of the Nebraska Territory, 1854; northern area part of the Dakota Territory, 1861; southern area part of the Idaho Territory, 1863; Wyoming Territory, 1868
Indigenous groups have lived in modern Wyoming for as many as 20,000 years. By the 1800s, the Shoshone were the most prominent in the region, with other notable communities including the Cheyenne (namesake of the state’s capital), Crow, Arapaho, Lakota Sioux, and Nez Perce. Today, the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho live in the Wind River Indian Reservation, one of the largest in the United States.
John Colter is the first person of European descent known to enter Wyoming, in 1807. A member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Colter explored the region and wrote about the geological wonders in what is now Yellowstone National Park (most of which is in Wyoming). A group of men followed in 1812, travelin through South Pass on their way east from Astoria, Oregon. The route would later be part of the Oregon Trail.
Because of Wyoming’s arid climate, explorers, settlers and cities had a great need for water access. Two important rivers providing water in Wyoming are the North Platte and the Sweetwater, which is a long tributary o¦ the North Platte. They are both part of the Mississippi River System, which flows into the Gulf of Mexico. In some parts of Wyoming, snowpack and spring runoff were other sources of much-needed water.
UNTOUCHED LAND
European and American settlement was sparse in Wyoming until the mid-1800s, limited mostly to fur traders. Most of the state’s land was acquired by the United States in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. Other land was annexed in the Oregon Treaty (1846) and the Mexican Cession (1848). The region remained officially unorganized until becoming part of Nebraska Territory in 1854, then Dakota Territory in 1861 (and briefly Idaho Territory in 1863). The western and southwestern parts of the state were previously parts of Oregon/Washington and Utah Territories, respectively.
Wyoming benefited from a network of several important migration routes through the 19th century. The most famous is the Oregon Trail, which stretched west from Missouri into the Rockies and on to Oregon City. The Bozeman and California Trails allowed prospectors to reach gold rushes in Montana and California. And the Mormon Trail (originally from Illinois and on to Nebraska, then Salt Lake City) was blazed by members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The railroad played a significant role in moving settlers into Wyoming. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act in 1862, leading to the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad. The act subsidized the railway by granting 10-square mile sections of land for each mile of track laid—as well as mineral rights.
RAILROAD OF OPPORTUNITY
The railroad fostered economic growth not only for itself, but also for the state of Wyoming, moving livestock out and goods in. The transcontinental railroad passed through southern Wyoming, and was ceremoniously completed in nearby Promontory Point, Utah, in 1869. Settlement was bolstered by the discovery of coal in the aptly named Carbon County. The Union Pacific Railroad opened the first coal mine in Wyoming in 1868, and coal has been an important part of Wyoming’s economy ever since. With increased settlement and economic activity, the Wyoming region developed a need for a government closer than that in Dakota Territory. (Yankton, Dakota’s capital, was some 500 miles away.) The US government created
Wyoming Territory in 1869.
It was that year that Wyoming first earned its nickname (the Equality State), as its territorial government was the first to grant women the right to vote. Other notable firsts include the first female justice of the peace (Esther Hobart Morris in 1870), the first woman known to have voted in a general election (Louisa Swain in 1870), and the first female governor of a US state (Nellie Tayloe Ross in 1925).
1803 The United States gains
vast tracts of land in the West from France in the Louisiana Purchase 1807 John Colter is the first
person of European
descent known to pass through Wyoming
1808-1866
1834 Americans establish Fort
Laramie, a prominent
stop on the Oregon Trail 1854 Most of modern
Wyoming becomes part of Nebraska Territory 1861 Dakota Territory is
organized; most of modern Wyoming passes between
it and Idaho Territory
(formed in 1863)
1867-1872
1867 The Union Pacific
Railroad arrives in
Wyoming; Cheyenne
is founded 1869 Wyoming Territory is
created; its government
enacts women’s suffrage, the first in the US to do so 1872 Yellowstone becomes
the first national park
1873-1921
1890 Wyoming enters the
Union as the 44th state 1921 Sublette and Teton
Counties are formed,
the last major change to Wyoming’s county borders
The state began keeping birth and death records in 1909, and marriage records in 1941. Birth records more than 100 years old and death/marriage/divorce records more than 50 years old can be obtained by qualified individuals through the Wyoming Department of Health. Older records are available at the Wyoming State Archives. Some towns and counties recorded births or deaths before the state requirement. (Marriages, in particular, were documented by the county clerk from as early as 1869).
Many early records have been transferred to the Wyoming State Archives. Records and indexes may also be available at the county courthouses, though copies of most post-1909 records aren’t kept there. In 2023, activist group Reclaim the Records secured the release of vital record indexes for Wyoming, which have been published on FamilySearch. Some Wyoming counties are also included in the Western States Marriage Record Index; coverage varies by county. And Ancestry.com has a collection of Wyoming deaths through 1971.
Wyoming first appeared in a census in its own right in 1870, a year after becoming a territory. Early residents may have appeared in the 1860 census as part of Nebraska or Utah Territory. Federal censuses were taken every 10 years and are widely available on the major genealogy websites, though the 1890 census has largely been lost.
Wyoming took its own state censuses in 1915 and 1925, providing helpful coverage between the surrounding federal enumerations. Ancestry.com has territorial censuses taken in 1869 (the whole territory) and 1875/1878 (the city of Cheyenne only). Parts of modern Wyoming were also included in 1850/1851 and 1856 censuses of Utah Territory, also at Ancestry.com.
Wyoming is a public-land state, meaning the US government (not Wyoming itself) gave away or sold land through various programs. The Homestead Act was especially prominent in Wyoming, with 29% of the state’s land sold homesteaded upon.
The state was surveyed using the rectangular survey system, a grid system based on baselines (running east-west) and meridians (running north-south). The 1855 survey is relative to the Sixth principal meridian in Kansas and the baseline of the 40th Parallel (which forms the border between Kansas and Nebraska). A separate, small survey in 1875 uses a different meridian for the Wind River Indian Reservation.
Research land records from Wyoming through the Bureau of Land Management’s General Land Office website. You can search the database by name, state, county, land description and the “authority” or law by which the land was acquired. Homesteading records, specifically, are included in a collection on Ancestry.com.
TERRITORIAL RECORDS
These are generally found in the collections of the National Archives (NARA), primarily in microfilm series M-85 and M-204. The former has also been published in browse-only format by FamilySearch. The Wyoming State Archives holds session laws and the territorial census from 1869, plus various judicial assignments, board meeting minutes, election results, and more.
Wyoming’s first printed newspaper was the short-lived Daily Telegraph, which debuted 12 June 1863. Other early publications include the Cheyenne Leader (1867) and the Laramie Boomerang (which debuted in 1881 and is still in production today). The Wyoming State Library has compiled the outstanding Wyoming Digital Newspaper Collection, which includes publications all the way back to 1849. This free resource generally has better coverage than the large subscription websites, though Newspapers.com’s Publisher’s Extra subscription gives access to more-recent issues.
PUBLISHED SOURCES
Digital book services house published histories, directories, statutes, and other resources: Google Books, HathiTrust, the Internet Archive and FamilySearch. Books written nearer to the time of an event offer a valuable and often more accurate account. Also check the catalogs of local and regional libraries in Wyoming for titles of interest that might be available for interlibrary loan.
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