If it hadn’t been for Grace Raymond Hebard,  University of Wyoming’s first librarian and a Board of Trustees member, hardly anything would be left today to mark the location of Fort Sanders three miles south of Laramie. This military outpost was authorized by the U.S. Department of War on July 10, 1866, and construction commenced two days later. Within three months Fort Sanders was occupied, though building and fully staffing it continued through 1867.

Often there is a tantalizing bit of history packed into the name of a place. Cheyenne native Mel Duncan (1931-2007), a veteran who served 43 years with the US Air Force, uncovered much of that history with his 1991 booklet “Place Names of the Medicine Bow National Forest.”

A bridge, locally called a “viaduct” was built in 1929 at University St., to connect the West Side to downtown with the grand opening in January 1930. The cost was $190,000, shared by the city and the UPRR. Some older buildings along University were removed for the new bridge. The two grade level crossings at Grand and Fremont were closed; a temporary one was constructed at Garfield St.

Learn about one of Laramie’s oldest neighborhoods in the first of a three part series on the West Side.

If you wander the summit of the Laramie Mountains as dusk falls, chances are you will spot mysterious creatures silhouetted against the evening sky—giants forever waiting by their castles, life-like but never moving. But if you get too close, they disappear, no matter how stealthily you approach. In their place are peculiar stacked stones and huge rounded masses of rock.

Looking west from Laramie three prominent mountainous formations are visible. They are the usually snowcapped Medicine Bow Peak, Jelm Mountain with its reflective observatory building, and the long high ridge known as Sheep Mountain. What most people do not know is that nearly all of Sheep Mountain is a national game refuge.  It is one of only a handful in the United States.

Hopes were raised in Centennial, Wyoming with news that “the railroad should be ready in a few months.” The announcement ran in the July 16, 1902 first issue of The Centennial Post, a newspaper founded by the railroad promoters. Five years later, the town was still waiting for the train to arrive.

This is not about Leslie Gore (the singer) nor Leslie Uggams (the actress) and not Leslie Neilson (the actor) but Leslie, Wyoming. 

The Happy Jack Road (WY 210) at exit 323 on I-80 is a popular back road to Cheyenne. How did it get that name?

NOTE SINCE THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED IN THE BOOMERANG, THE CITY HAS RETURNED THE STREET TO ITS PROPER NAME - WHY? READ ON!

None of Laramie’s earliest residents actually owned the land they built their homes and businesses upon inside the city limits. So, who did?

An excursion to Centennial has long been an adventurous getaway from Laramie.

If you’ve lived in Laramie long, you know why we’re here: 150 years ago, the Union Pacific (UP) passed through the Laramie Valley during construction of the nation’s first transcontinental railroad.

 But that’s only part of the story. The full explanation begins much earlier, back when a fortuitous combination of mountain-building and erosion created an easy route over the Laramie Mountains—the Gangplank.

Bisected by Highway 11 in the Centennial Valley lies a ranch with a curious name

Anyone reading the Laramie Sentinel newspaper in Wyoming Territory on April 10, 1880 would see a two-column headline that screamed “Gold! Gold!! Gold!!” The ad implied a rich deposit of gold had been found in the vicinity of the Big Laramie River. This was big news as gold fever was rampant all over the west.

Twice in the 1800’s events at Hutton Lake would send shockwaves through the Laramie community

Originally Albany County was a long, narrow rectangle.  Now it looks like a Backwards “L” with a chunk missing out of the top.  How could this have happened?

This is a superb image of the 1894 Laramie map.

Laramie native Paul Rechard got his first pair of skis for Christmas in 1939. Andy Blackstone got his about 10 years later.  In those days there was no such thing as ski rentals.  You owned or borrowed wooden skis and used them even if they didn’t match, they both recall.