Annual Festivals: (2007 dates) Cheyenne Frontier Days July 20-29, Cheyenne Depot Days (June 8-11), Kids Cowboy Festival (June 9) , Wyoming Brewers Festival (June 15-16), Celtic Festival (June 29-Jul1), Farmers Market (Aug 5-Oct 7) Celtic Festival, Oktoberfest (Sept 9), Happy Jack Music Festival (Aug 10-12), Cheyenne Wine Festival (Aug 19-20), Cheyenne Cowboy Symposium (Aug 31-Sept 2), Greek Festival (Sept 14-15), Christmas Parade (Nov 24)
The capital of Wyoming was named after the Cheyenne Indian people which inhabited present-day southeastern Wyoming before the white man came to the area.
Cheyenne had its humble, but hardly modest, beginning in 1867 when the Union Pacific Railroad tracks were laid through the site on the way west.
Railroad surveyor General Grenville M. Dodge established his first camp on Crow Creek. The camp was ideally placed at the junction of many major routes leading to military camps throughout the region. With the coming of the railroad and the many supplies for Army camps, a depot was necessary, and the beginning of Cheyenne evolved.
Train Depot Cheyenne CVB
Soldiers from Fort Russell provided the vital protection from the roving bands of hostile Indians for the community and the railroad workers. The Fort was later renamed after Francis E. Warren, Wyoming’s first Governor and later U.S. Senator for 37 years. In Cheyenne's early days, city dudes mingled with mule skinners, soldiers, rail-roaders, lawmakers, sheriffs, rustlers, stage drivers and outlaws. The city is situated in the midst of rich, nutritious grasslands which have always been excellent natural forage for cattle.
The railhead in Cheyenne made the town a logical headquarters for numerous cattle barons and their cowboys. As a legislative center, the city attracted visitors from all parts of Wyoming. It was also a convenient stopping place for eastern tourists and prospective settlers searching for business opportunities in the adventurous region.
Our little tour group walked somberly down the steps from the forlorn Death Row building at the Wyoming Frontier Prison in Rawlins. "This place is much worse than Alcatraz," said a British man who had recently visited the famous California jail. read more
The foothills of the Laramie Mountains, separating Cheyenne and Laramie, form the setting for Curt Gowdy State Park. read more
