Cheyenne, Wyoming

Cheyenne is the capital of Wyoming-the cowboy state. We found the time to explore much of this small city. This included a walking tour of the downtown, a visit to the state capitol building, Wyoming museum, and the historic Governor’s mansion. Like many cities these days, they have a theme symbol. Since the cowboy remains king, the city symbol is the cowboy boot. I am sure we only spotted a few of the many around town.

The city left us a bit underwhelmed and I thought perhaps that the layout might have been designed by a drunken cowboy. But it still had a friendly feeling, even if it felt like the best days were behind them. Certainly, the area boomed in the 1800’s with the cattle baron’s, mining and glory days of westward expansion. Today cattle and the cowboy still remain a part of the city and state culture, with the biggest even of the year coming up fast-Frontier Days-where the rodeo and western theme remain supreme. The state museum noted that today cattle are no longer a major factor in the economy and that the two main sources of revenue are tourism and mining. Wyoming has some of the largest mining reserves in the United States.

We attended the Friday in the park in front of the converted train station and thought we would get to hear some local country music. What we got was traditional Irish songs. Some in the crowd obviously were better informed than us. Still it was fun and clearly the center city is working hard to stay vibrant.

http://www.cheyenne.org/