Day 36 Cheyanne

A short drive this morning brought us to our least favorite campground of the trip but it’s only for one night. Doesn’t help that it’s a rainy, cold day. People in Wyoming are running around in shorts because they are determined that it’s finally summer, damn it, despite the fact it’s 59°. When the rain took a break, we were off to explore the western town of Cheyanne, the capital of Wyoming also known as the “magic city of the plains” because it grew so fast back in the day. We are at an elevation of over 6,000 feet. In Florida we are at 6 feet. Found an excellent restaurant for lunch then wandered the streets. Wyoming and, especially, Cheyanne, has a love of monuments and statues. Earlier today we passed on the interstate, a 40+ foot tall head of Lincoln mounted on a chunk of granite carved by the artist Robert Russin in 1959. There is literally a statue of someone or something on every corner, big and small, bronze or cement. This city sprang into existence in 1867 when the Union Pacific Railroad established a camp here and there is still an abundance of RR activity today. The huge old train depot is an interesting piece of architecture that anchors the downtown. After the  RR was in place in 1868, more people started arriving but the town was mostly made up of men. To lure women out to Cheyanne, Wyoming granted women the right to vote in 1889. Thirty-one years before the US Congress ratified the 19th Amendment.  It worked!  Women came, and they married; and more people came like cattle barons and businessmen and they married and built mansions. Pretty soon Cheyanne was one of the wealthiest towns in the west. Some of the first electric street lights in the nation graced the streets here. We walked by a few of the remaining magnificent old mansions. The downtown historic playhouse theater constructed in 1887 has been beautifully renovated and still has performances there. Spied this huge red building near the depot, it was The Wrangler, a massive western department store which has been here since 1892 and has all your cowboy needs including a $1200 diamond studded Stetson. Headed back to the camper before more weather moved in. Tomorrow we say goodbye to Wyoming and hello to Kansas by way of Nebraska.