Wyoming celebrates 134th year of statehood
Wyoming celebrated another year of statehood on July 10, marking the Cowboy State’s 134th birthday.
According to the state of Wyoming website, conversations around statehood began soon after the Organic Act was signed by President Andrew Johnson, making Wyoming a territory in 1868.
Over the next 20 years, the territory worked to develop Wyoming politically and economically, to ensure growth into statehood.
A formal petition for admission into the Union was sent to Congress by the Territorial Assembly in 1888 which produced bills from both houses of Congress, the website reads.
However, this attempt failed but it did not deter territory leaders who decided to proceed anyway.
Local businessmen and politicians were striving to form a state to ensure they had more local control over water and land issues.
In September of 1889, a vote of the territory resulted in 55 delegates to Wyoming’s Constitutional Convention and 49 took part in drafting the Constitution.
The voters approved the document on Nov. 5, and in December of 1889 bills were reintroduced to both houses again for Wyoming’s statehood.
Despite concerns, Wyoming statehood narrowly passed the U.S. House by a 139 to 127 margin but the bill had an easier time in the U.S. Senate, where a 29 to 18 margin approved it.
President Benjamin Harrison signed the Wyoming Statehood Act into law on July 10, 1890, making the Cowboy State the 44th U.S. state.
The state’s population slowly grew as a territory but it still had less than 60,000 people at the time of statehood.
A formal celebration of Wyoming’s statehood occurred July 23, 1890 and was recounted in two of Wyoming’s newspapers of the time, the Cheyenne Daily Sun and the Wyoming Commonwealth.
Statehood celebration
According to the Wyoming State Library, various members of the community provided speeches at the formal celebration, including Amalia B. Post.
Post was a leading woman suffragist in Wyoming, and at the celebration Judge Melville C. Brown, who had been president of the Constitutional Convention, presented Post with a copy of the Constitution.
In response, Post gave a speech on behalf of the women of the state, thanking Brown and the Constitutional Convention for giving the women of Wyoming equal civic and political rights as men.
The Honorable Clarence Don Clark, a member of the Constitutional Convention and U.S. House of Representatives, provided the celebratory crowd with wise words.
He stated, “Strong in the hearts and love of its people, with its foundations laid broad and deep in the principles of eternal justice and equal rights, it shall survive all the storms of the years, and rising in strength and beauty and hope, prove to the world the durability of institutions growing out of the reason and affection of the people.”
Among others who presided and spoke at the honorable celebration was Esther Morris, who was influential in Wyoming. Many considered her the mother of womenʼs suffrage.
At the celebration, she, on behalf of women in Wyoming, presented Gov. Francis Emory Warren with the state flag.
Others who also spoke at the celebration included I.S. Bartlett, Judge M.C. Brown and Theresa A. Jenkins.
Fun facts
According to the state of Wyoming website, the state flag was designed by A.C. Keyes of Casper, formerly Miss Verna Keyes of Buffalo, and was adopted by the 14th Legislature on Jan. 31, 1917.
The Great Seal of Wyoming is the heart of the flag, located in the center of a bison, which once was the monarch of the plains and represents the custom of branding.
The Great Seal of the State of Wyoming was adopted in 1893 by the Second Legislature and revised in 1921 by the 16th Legislature.
The two dates on the Great Seal – 1869 and 1890 – commemorate the organization of the territorial government and Wyoming’s admission to the Union.
In the center of the seal is a draped figure holding a staff from which flows a banner bearing the words “Equal Rights,” symbolizing the political status women have in Wyoming.
Two male figures accompany the female, representing the livestock and mining industries of the state, and the number 44 on the five-pointed star signifies Wyoming was the 44th state admitted to the Union.
On top of the pillars rest lamps from which burn the Light of Knowledge, as the scrolls encircling the two pillars bear the words “Oil, Mines, Livestock and Grain,” four of Wyoming’s major industries.
State bucking horse
The Bucking Horse and Rider (BH&R) is a federally and state registered trademark of the state of Wyoming.
The trademark boasts a rich tradition, for both the state of Wyoming and the University of Wyoming, a tradition which spans nearly 100 years.
Individuals from across the globe have come to associate this image with Wyoming, dating back to 1918 or perhaps earlier, states the Wyoming Secretary of State website.
The BH&R was used as an insignia worn by members of the Wyoming National Guard in France and Germany during World War I and was originally designed by First Sergeant George N. Ostrom of E Battery, Third Battalion, 148th Field Artillery Regiment, American Expeditionary Forces, the website reads.
The insignia was officially adopted by the U.S. Army and used as a means of identification on gun trails, trucks, helmets and other equipment.
The insignia was used extensively by Wyoming units during out-of-state and overseas duty and was a rallying point, a symbol of pride and a reminder of home – the great state of Wyoming – to the troops.
The BH&R’s use has been continuous and extensive, an important identifier for the state and has appeared on the stateʼs license plates since 1936.
Melissa Anderson is the editor of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup. Send comments on this article to roundup@wylr.net.
