WYOMING
- Origin of name: A contraction of the Native American word “mecheweamiing” meaning “at the big plains”
- Capital: Cheyenne
- Largest city: Cheyenne
- Population: 582,658 (2013 est). Ranked 50th in the US.
- Nicknames: Equality state; Cowboy state; Big Wyoming
- Highest point: Gannett peak, 13,809 ft
- Admission to union: July 10th, 1890 (44th)
- State motto: Equal Rights.
- State song: Wyoming
- State tree: Plains cottonwood
- State flower: Indian paintbrush
- State bird: Western meadowlark
- Area: 97,814 sq mi. Ranked 10th in the US.
Did you know……...
1) Yellowstone is the first official National Park (1872)
2) The Red Desert in south central Wyoming drains neither to the east nor to the west. The continental divide splits and goes around the desert on all sides leaving the basin without normal drainage.
3) The Wind River actually changes its name in the middle of the stream becoming the Big Horn River at a site at the north end of the Wind River Canyon, where each year the Native Americans hold a ceremony depicting the "Wedding of the Waters."
4) Devils Tower was designated as the first National Monument (1906)
5) Wyoming was the first state to give women the right to vote.