1901 - 1910

1901

A law, passed by the Legislature, prohibits gambling.^[1]
The State Legislature changes name of Stinking Water River to Shoshone River.
The Legislature appropriates $750 for purchase of bronze medals for the volunteers who served with honor in the Philippines.
Prisoners are moved from the Laramie penitentiary to the new State Penitentiary at Rawlins, December 14. ^[2]

Work starts on Wyoming's first federal irrigation project, the Shoshone Project, which will reclaim about two hundred thousand acres of arid land.
Aspen Hill Tunnel, 5,900 feet long, is constructed on the Union Pacific Railroad line.
In July, two thousand sheep are destroyed and one herder killed by one hundred fifty masked men on the New Fork River in Green River Valley.
Shoshone National Forest is established by the Yellowstone Forest Reserve. It is considered the oldest national forest in the United States.
J.C.Penney opens his first dry goods store at Kemmerer. His stores are now in every state in the Union.
Big game licenses are required for the first time.

May 30, President Theodore Roosevelt takes a 56-mile horseback ride from Laramie to Cheyenne.
In June, a sixteen mile aerial tramway carries ore from Rudefeha Copper mine to smelter in Encampment.
June 30, Hanna mine disaster kills 171 miners.
A flour mill is built in Sheridan.
Tom Horn is hanged in Cheyenne for the ambush murder of Willie Nickell,who is believed to have been mistaken for his father.
At the Battle of Lightning Creek, a sheriff, a deputy,and four Sioux are killed when the Indians are apprehended hunting antelope in Southeastern Wyoming.
The Wapiti Ranger Station is established, the first ranger station in the United States.

In a second McLaughlin Relinquishing Agreement, the Indians cede to the United States more than one million acres of land lying north of Wind River.
By popular vote,in November, the people of Wyoming decide on the permanent location of the capital at Cheyenne, the university at Laramie, the penitentiary at Rawlins, and the insane asylum at Evanston.
Lander becomes known as "Apple City", Wyoming, because of the success of Ed Young's apple orchard on the Little Popo Agie.

Captain John J. Pershing marries Senator Warren's daughter, Frances, January 26.
March 3, one and one-half million acres of the Wind River Reservation are opened to settlement. This comprises lands remaining after allotments.
In April, the Wyoming Wool Growers Association is organized.
Saratoga & Encampment Railway is incorporated to develop Grand Encampment mining country.
The Wyoming State Board of Horticulture is created. ^[3]
The Governor's mansion is completed.
Board of Live Stock Commissioners abolishes official cattle roundups. State Fair is held for the first time, at Douglas, on grounds donated for that purpose by the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad.
Vigilantes are organized in Jackson Hole to arrest "tusk hunters" who kill bull elk for their tusks.
Acts of violence against sheep men in the Big Horns indicate an all-out war by cattle interests. Sheep are clubbed to death, wagons burned, horses shot, and herders intimidated.

First auto accident is recorded in Wyoming.
Riverton town site is thrown open to settlers.
In August, a drawing is held in Lander for Wind River Reservation homestead land. A militia company is called from Douglas to maintain order.
September 24, Devils Tower becomes first national monument in the United States.

The 1885 Federal Fencing Law is enforced.^[4] All unlawful fences must be removed by April 1.
February 20,an act is approved providing for the registration of births and deaths and establishing a State Bureau of Vital Statistics by the State Board of Health.^[5]
Department of Immigration is created. ^[6]
Laramie, Hahn's Peak & Pacific Railroad reaches Centennial in Albany County.
Brewery is built in Sheridan.
Chief Medicine Crow brings one thousand Crow Indians to Sheridan on goodwill tour. Their show is considered the forerunner of All American Indian Days.
October, financial panic visits the nation. It is less severe in Wyoming than in the East.

March 28, Hanna mine disaster, involving two explosions, kills 58 men.
"New York to Paris" automobile race passes through Wyoming in March.
Casper has its first automobile.
Wyoming tops the list of wool producing states, with wool rated as its leading industry.
In October, a lottery is held at Bosler, Albany County, for 14,500 acres open to settlement at 50 cents an acre.

Park County is created from Big Horn County.
Seven prominent cattlemen are arrested in May for the Tensleep Raid (also called the Spring Creek Raid or Tensleep Murders) in which two wool growers and one sheep herder are killed.
A news story in the Cheyenne Daily Leader June 9,carries a "long" list of 125 licensed automobiles in the capital city. It states that there were 47 licenses in 1908; 29 in 1907; and 11 in 1906.
Registration of birth and death certificates is required by law, starting July 1.
Cattle brands, formerly recorded by county clerks, are centralized in the office of the State Board of Livestock Commissioners in Cheyenne, and the commissioners are required by law to publish a brand book. ^[7]
State General Hospital is established in Casper.
Legislative decision introduces large-scale, elk winter feeding program. ^[8]
All wildlife is declared property of the state. Killing wild game for heads becomes a felony. License is required to photograph wild game.
The Federal Government creates Shoshone Cavern National Monument near Cody. The site, which never sees much popularity, is later delisted and transferred back to local control. ^[9]

Wyoming population reaches 145,965.
The Shoshone Dam, also known as the Buffalo Bill Dam, is completed near Cody.
First Amendment to Wyoming Constitution is ratified.
Willis Van DeVanter is appointed associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
Theodore Roosevelt visits Cheyenne Frontier Days.
Mrs. Mary G. Bellamy, of Laramie, is first woman elected to the Wyoming Legislature.

1. For vivid accounts of the incident see the Carbon County Journal and the Laramie Boomerang of that date.

2. Session Laws 1905, ch.50.

3. Session Laws 1888, ch. 33, S. 2.

4. Session Laws 1907, ch. 99.

5. Session Laws 1907, ch. 75.

6. Session Laws 1909, ch. 44.

7. Session Laws 1909, ch. 59 and 163.