We had spent the night expecting to visit Buffalo Bill's Scout's Rest Ranch just outside N. Platte, NE, only to find out it wasn't going to open til 10 a.m., so we continued west on I-80.
When we arrived in Cheyenne, we followed the Internet directions to the visitor center but couldn't fin it so we stopped at the Museum of the Old West and got directions to the Cheyenne Depot in downtown where it's now located. From there we took the trolley ride around the town. Cheyenne is a community planned by the railroad which then sold building lots to any churches for $1 to encourage them to come to town. We returned to the museum to see the history of the Frontier Days Rodeo that is held the last ten days of July which is worked entirely by volunteers. Wyoming had the first woman governor and had already given women the right to vote in order to get enough voters to qualify for statehood. That worked against the state as it took over 20 years for the rest of the country to catch up!
We continued on to Laramie where we had enough time to see the Wyoming Territorial Prison where Butch Cassidy was a guest for a time. The locals believe it was for a crime he in fact did not commit. The History Channel is funding an excavation of the area that is being worked by middle school students. They have made some very interesting discoveries which are on display.
