Happy Birthday Wyoming! To celebrate, here are 10 fun facts that you may (or may not) have known about the Cowboy State:

  • Although Wyoming is the 10th Largest State by area, we are the least populated state in the union.
  • Although not officially a state until 1890, Wyoming Territory was the first to give women the right to vote in 1869.
  • Yellowstone became the first official National Park in 1872 (and is also widely believed to be the first in the world).
  • Devils Tower became the first official National Monument in 1906 by President Theodore Roosevelt.
  • JCPenney was founded 115 years ago in Kemmerer, Wyoming. Also JCPenney chains are so named after one of the founders: James Cash Penney Jr.
  • There are 14 Native American tribes in Wyoming, often referred to as Plains Indians. They include the Arapaho, Arikara, Bannock, Blackfeet, Cheyenne, Crow, Gros Ventre, Kiowa, Nez Perce, Sheep Eater, Sioux, Shoshone and Ute tribes.
  • Christy Walton, the heir to the Wal-Mart fortune, who was born in Jackson, Wyoming is actually not the richest woman in the world.
  • The town of Cody, Wyoming is named after Colonel William Frederick "Buffalo Bill" Cody.
  • The proper AP abbreviation for Wyoming is Wyo, not the postal code, WY.
  • Big Horn, Cheyenne, Lincoln, Sweetwater, and Yellowstone were some of the suggested names for the Wyoming Territory when the U.S. Senate named the territory in 1868 (according to www.movoto.com).

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