Feature Article

Wyoming Walk-About
by Claire Walter

     Discover the cowboy charm and historic attractions of Cheyenne and Laramie

     More than 85,000 of Wyoming's roughly half-million residents live in two cities within 30 miles of the Colorado state line. Their "Cowboy State" license plates appear in parking lots at Colorado's big-league sporting events, biggest shopping malls, international airport and, of course, at the National Western Stock Show. Coloradans returning the favor can escape to Cheyenne and Laramie, two laid-back little cities that are easy to explore and easy to love.
     Cheyenne is a bit like a scaled-down Denver, with a gold-domed capitol gleaming against a distant mountain backdrop, a state museum, a grid of downtown streets, a landmark railroad station and even a rare Big Boy locomotive.
     Downtown Cheyenne is a walk-about treasure. Parking is a breeze, and you can stroll from one end to the other in less than half an hour-or join a two-hour trolley tour to see the highlights. (Narrated tours are given from mid-May to mid-September.) Whether on foot or not, you'll see a city that sprang up virtually overnight in 1867, as the Union Pacific laid the first transcontinental rail line unrelentingly westward to and through the Rockies.
     For a time, Cheyenne was the de facto railhead. This prosperous, booming city was one of the first in the world (after Paris) with electric lights. Fine Victorian neighborhoods still surround the commercial and government core, and some grand mansions remain along Seventeenth Street. Stop in at the Nagle-Warren Mansion, now an opulent Bed and Breakfast, at 222 East Seventeenth for English high tea any Friday or Saturday afternoon at 3:15 p.m.
     Unfortunately, some interesting downtown buildings have been razed, but many remain, displaying the splendor and whimsy that characterize late Victorian architecture. With its 128-foot clock tower, the old Union Pacific depot is hard to miss. This Romanesque-style landmark is acknowledged as the most beautiful railroad depot between Omaha and Sacramento. Local officials are currently considering various uses for the building, including turning it into the state transportation museum. Portions of the depot are open to view. For an excellent booklet and self-guided downtown walking tour, stop by the city nearby visitor center, located at Old Town Square.
     Wild West "Gunslinger Fights" are enacted at Old Town Square Monday through Friday evenings at 6 p.m. and at high noon on Saturdays in June and July. You can also catch old-fashioned melodrama in the Atlas Theater from mid-July through mid-August. Both are broadly acted silliness, but they're a lot of fun.
     Tour the handsome state capitol, built in 1890 of gray sandstone, which dominates the northern end of downtown. It features an English stained-glass ceiling, interior woodwork of polished maple and cherry, and a half-ton Tiffany chandelier. Two floors of the Barrett Building, across the street, house the Wyoming State Museum. Its 10 galleries depict the state's natural and cultural history. You can tour the nearby historic Governor's Mansion, where Wyoming's first families lived from 1905 through 1976.
     To many people, Cheyenne is synonymous with Frontier Days, the world's largest rodeo that unabashedly proclaims itself to be "the Daddy of 'Em All." The 105th edition of this classic takes place July 20-29, featuring spectacular parades, the best rodeo action in the West, a midway, live shows with big-name stars and more. Whether or not you attend, you can get a flavor at the Old West Museum located in Frontier Park. You'll learn about the cowboy lifestyle through an excellent video called "Dust and Glory," as well as numerous displays. The carriage collection alone is worth a visit.
     A blast from the more recent past is the Warren ICBM & Heritage Museum at an Air Force base just northwest of town. Established in 1867 as a cavalry post, Warren became the most powerful U.S. missile base during the Cold War and remains the nation's Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Command Center. The former base commander's residence is now a museum depicting the post's old days, while next door are two missile launch set-ups and ground capsules, where you can "launch" and monitor missiles.
     Follow Interstate 80 west 46 miles to Laramie, passing through the Medicine Bow range and some of the Cowboy State's best scenery this side of the Wind Rivers and the Tetons. The easily accessible Pole Mountain section offers several fine hiking and mountain biking trails. At the very least, stop at Veedauwoo Recreation Area, just off the Interstate. Its dramatic rock formations are equally popular with photographers and rockclimbers. At the high point of the road, the Lincoln Monument, a 12½-foot bronze sculpture, perches on a 30-foot base. It was commissioned for the 150th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth.
     Home to the University of Wyoming, Laramie is the state's second city in terms of size and significance, but its main attraction is first-rate by any measure. The Wyoming Territorial Prison (listed on the National Register of Historic Places) and the National Marshals Museum show how the justice system attempted to take the wild out of the West. The complex includes "Frontier Town," where actors depict Calamity Jane and other characters of the roaring 1880s. You can take a stagecoach ride through the grounds. Also in the complex, "Ranchland" features historic buildings (relocated from the area) that depict day-to-day life on the frontier. You can even rent one of five teepees from the Cheyenne tribe and camp as did the first Americans.
     Be sure to visit the University of Wyoming Art Museum, a modern building showing works by traditional Western and notable contemporary artists. Other campus features include small museums dedicated to geology, anthropology and enterprises important in the state's development (mining, ranching, transportation, petroleum and so forth). Elsewhere in town, the Laramie Plains Museum displays an excellent collection of furnishings and artifacts. It is housed in the Historic Ivinson Mansion, an elegant Queen Anne home built in 1892.
     Between them, Cheyenne and Laramie wrap much regional history into one informative and pleasurable package.
     For more information, call these toll-free numbers: 800-426-5009 (Cheyenne), or 800-445-5303 (Laramie).

     Claire Walter is a freelance writer based in Boulder.

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