Is It Possible That Wyoming Has More Than Just One State Song?
Every state in the United States has at least one state song. Some states have as many as 8 state songs. The songs are chosen by the state legislature and are used as a musical symbol to represent the state.
Here in Wyoming we have two official state songs and a few that probably be considered in the running to be added to the list.
Wyoming's first state song called 'Wyoming' was written as a poem by Judge Charles Winter in 1903 and the music was written by Earle Clemens not long after. The Wyoming publishing company in Casper published the song in 1913 and the song was adopted as the 'unofficial' State Song.
In 1920, George Knapp wrote a new melody and had it published at Richter Music Group in Casper and the song was adopted as the 'official' state song in 1955.
The second state song of Wyoming called 'Wyoming Where I Belong' by Annie & Amy Smith, was added after Wyoming legislature passed a bill that signed into law, by then Governor Matt Mead in March 2018.
Annie & Amy are twins from Cheyenne and 5th generation Wyomingites. They wrote they song back in 1998 and worked with many different musicians from Wyoming, Colorado and even members of the group Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, to arrange the music for the song. After the song was part of a PBS show called 'Wyoming Chronicles' it's popularity began to soar and eventually added as the 2nd state song.
Many other people have put out songs about Wyoming that could be considered potential states songs for the Cowboy State.
John Denver's 'Song Of Wyoming' is a good example.
Chris LeDoux had a number of songs about Wyoming, including one called 'Paint Me Back Home In Wyoming', that could be considered.