Why Wyoming? Trivia Quiz

Answer: Centennial State

With a 2020 population of 577 000 people, Wyoming has a significantly lower population than Alaska's 732 000 (2020) people. However, while Wyoming's area of 97,914 sq. m. (253,600 km2) makes it the tenth largest state, Alaska is over six times as large making it the least densely populated state.

Neighbouring Colorado is the Centennial State because it was granted statehood 100 years after the Declaration of Independence in 1876. Wyoming was granted statehood 13 years later in 1889 making it the 44th state. Wyoming is known officially as the Equality State and unofficially as the Cowboy State.

The photo depicts a typical Wyoming license plate hinting at Wyoming being known as the Cowboy State.

Answer: True

While Wyoming and Colorado are indeed the only two states with four straight lines, neither state is a perfect rectangle due to the curvature of the earth.

In 1868, when Wyoming became a territory, three of four borders were already decided. Its southern border with Colorado ironically determined its northern border (despite, obviously being nowhere near it): When Colorado applied for territorial status in 1859, Congress adjusted its northern and southern borders so that its 'height' was one-third of the distance between its southern border and the Canadian border. This meant there could be two more states of equal height that would be able to fit between the Colorado northern border and Canada. In 1864 when Montana was created as a territory it was given the same height as Colorado meaning the distance (north-south) of Wyoming when it became a territory in 1868 was exactly the same as Colorado and Montana.

In 1863 when the Idaho Territory was formed (and subsequently, Wyoming Territory was carved out of the southeast portion of this territory), its eastern boundary with the Dakotas and Nebraska was set at 104 degrees West. Wyoming's western boundary was then set at 111 degrees West. This gave Wyoming a width of exactly seven degrees, conforming to five other states with exactly the same width: Oregon, Washington, Colorado and North and South Dakota.

It should be noted that the southwest corner of Wyoming took a chunk out of Utah's what would be an otherwise perfect four-straight-sided state. The Uinta Mountains run east-west through this area meaning Utah would have no access to the valley on the other side. However, from Wyoming, there was no such restriction and the Uintas formed a natural border between the two states.

The photo depicts two state welcome signs on either side of the US-85 highway at the Colorado-Wyoming border.

Answer: High-elevation prairie

The lowest elevation of Wyoming is 3,101 ft (945 m) at Fourche River at the South Dakota border. While the western part of the state is famous for its majestic Rocky Mountains (The highest elevation Gannett Peak is 13,809 ft (4,209.1 m) above sea level), the eastern half of the state is a high-elevation prairie.

This region is called the High Plains and is extensive - they are spread over eastern Montana, eastern Wyoming, southwestern South Dakota, western Nebraska, eastern Colorado, western Kansas, and eastern New Mexico. The high plains in Wyoming are much drier and more windy than the rest of the country, with a climate somewhere between semi-arid and continental. Temperature ranges from day to night normally exceed 30 degrees F (17 degrees C), and 24-hour temperature ranges of 100 degrees F (39 degrees C) are uncommon but not rare.

Agriculture in the form of cattle ranching is the most commonly practised in this part of Wyoming. Wheat, corn, and sunflowers are grown but only through irrigation; mainly drawn from the Ogallala Aquifer which lies beneath the plain. Some areas of the High Plains especially in Wyoming have significant petroleum and natural gas deposits.

Answer: The Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania

The Arapaho, Crow, Lakota, and Shoshone inhabited the areas surrounding Wyoming for thousands of years but it is unclear what they called the areas outside of Yellowstone (where each nation did have a name for this place).

The Spanish Empire were the first Europeans to claim part of what became Wyoming. When Mexico became independent, this region became part of the Mexican Republic. After the Mexicans were defeated in the Mexican-American War, this territory was ceded to the US in 1848. The region was hastily given the name of Wyoming when, in 1865, a bill was introduced to Congress to provide a temporary government for the so-called territory. It had previously been used to name Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania, which, in turn, was derived from the indigenous Lenape language word for "at the big river flat".

The photo depicts two iconic Philly Cheesesteak restaurants across the street from each other in Philadelphia (Pats had the marginally better cheesesteak). Lower left is Penny's Diner in Cheyenne which doe not feature the bison meatball sub, the state sandwhich but did a very nice French Dip Au Jus sub.

Answer: Denver CO

Somewhat unusually for the US, the capital Cheyenne is located in the southeast corner of the state, whereas most states have the capital more centrally located. As such it is only 105 miles (170km) south straight down the I-25 to reach the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. Fun Fact: The two state capitols are two of 39 US state capitols that have domes, emulating the national capitol perhaps? If you look closely, the two photos taken on the same afternoon, show the weather did not change for the better in the time between the two photos.

Both South Dakota and Nebraska have state capitals, of Pierre and Lincoln respectively of 420-440 miles away, as is Utah's Salt Lake City to the west. However, Montana's Helena and Idaho's Boise are 690 miles and 740 miles away respectively. (And yes all six capitols have domes!)

Cheyenne is a modestly small capital city with a 2018 population of 64 000. Casper, the "oil City, more centrally located has almost as many people with 57 000 people. The only other two cities with 2018 populations over 30 000 are Laramie, 50 miles west of Cheyenne, a university and rail centre, and Gillette, due north of Cheyenne near the Montana border, a small city built on oil, coal and methane gas industries.

Answer: Mining: coal, oil and gas

One might think with over six million tourists visiting Wyoming every year, tourism might be the biggest contributor to the Wyoming economy but for the first twenty years of the 21st century, this sector has only managed a distant second place. However, tourism is a major component of the economy with its world-renowned national parks (see questions eight and nine) and national landmarks such as the Fossil Butte National Monument, and Independence Rock National Monument. Other major tourist attractions in the state are the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area and the Fort Laramie National Historic Site. Wyoming is also a huge fishing and a big game-hunting destination.

The mineral extraction industry is Wyoming's most important industry and a major economic driver of the state. The main mineral commodities of Wyoming include coal, natural gas, crude oil, and coalbed methane. Wyoming became the leading coal-producing state in the US in the '70s and was still in this position fifty years later. Oil extraction is the second-largest commodity mined in Wyoming. In 2016, Wyoming produced 1.8 trillion tons of natural gas, making it the sixth US state in natural gas production. Coalbed methane is extracted from the Wyoming coal bed seams which provides another means of natural gas extraction.

Agriculture remains a significant but waning contributor to the Wyoming economy. It is a cattle state and has three times the number of cattle as people in the state. Livestock products generated over 85% of Wyoming's agricultural receipts in 2018. Wyoming is also one of the major producers of sheep and wool. Other important livestock products in the state include pigs, dairy products, eggs and honey. Hay is its number one crop with barley, wheat, corn, sugar beets, oats, and sunflower being important but minor contributors to its economy.

Unlike most other US states, manufacturing in Wyoming is only a minor part of its economy with the refining of petroleum being, by far, the major activity in this sector. In 2018 over 170,000 barrels of oil were refined in Wyoming refineries every day.

Answer: Bottom right

Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, New York, North Dakota, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Utah state flags all contain an eagle within their flag. The flag of Michigan also has an elk and moose (top left) on its design. The California flag features a grizzly bear, and Missouri has two (unspecified) bears. Delaware (bottom left) is home to an ox while Vermont has cattle, New Jersey has a horse's profile and Kansas has two horses. South Dakota shows horses ploughing a farm. The state flag of Idaho also has an elk and a horse, and Maine's flag features a moose. Louisiana has a pelican with chicks, but only Wyoming's flag features a bison (or buffalo) which is the state's official animal.

Other features of the Wyoming state flag include a red border symbolizing the Indigenous people who first lived in the Wyoming region and the red colour also symbolizes the blood of its people. White represents purity, while blue represents the state's sky and mountains and also signifies fidelity, justice and virility.

Answer: Whilst mostly within Wyoming, the park also spills into Utah, Idaho and Montana

Yellowstone National Park is huge. It covers an area of 3472 square miles (8992 square km) and is roughly rectangular in shape. It covers much of northwest Wyoming but also spills over into Montana and Idaho. It sits on the site of a super volcano that last erupted 640 000 years ago. This eruption was believed to have been as much as one thousand times more powerful than the Mt. St. Helens eruption in 1980. The last eruption caused a caldera approximately 34 by 45 miles (55 by 72 km) situated in the central to northwest portion of the park; there are two other smaller calderas in the park. This explains why the park has over half of the geothermal features on the entire planet. Whilst Old Faithful is synonymous with the park, it has over 300 geysers.

What is less known is the diversity of the fauna and flora of the park in the core of the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, which is one of the largest remaining intact temperate zone ecosystems left on earth. The park has the largest concentration of mammals in the lower 48. There are 67 different mammals that live within the park including black bears, lynx, gray wolves and wolverines. This figure includes seven ungulates: white-tailed deer, pronghorn, elk, mule deer, bison, moose, and bighorn sheep. Bird species sightings stood at 330 in 2022. Reptiles and amphibians are few in number and species due to cool/cold and dry conditions. Yellowstone houses more than 1300 vascular plant species.

Answer: Top

The Teton Mountain range is part of the Rocky Mountains. They are a 'fault block' range which means they are carved from part of the earth's crust that has been forced upward along a fault line. The photo on the left is typical of depictions of the range with the tallest peak, Grand Teton, being the centre peak. The park is 45 miles in length (as it follows the north=south orientation of the range), 26 miles wide at its widest point and covers 485 sq. mi. or 1260 sq. km. The natural beauty is stunning. Jackson Lake provides a contrasting tranquil scene to the ruggedness of the mountains. The view provided by this photo is a must-see and is seen from the Snake River Outlook towards the south of the park on US-191.

By contrast, Devil's Tower or Bear Lodge (bottom photo) is found in the north-eastern corner of the state and is near the south-western extent of the Black Hills. It stands 867 feet (264 m) from base to apex with the summit being 5,112 feet (1,558 m) above sea level. Surprisingly (as the formation has many vertical 'cracks'), it is composed of sedimentary rock mainly, sandstone and maroon siltstone, interwoven with shale layers. The red colour is due to iron oxidation in the sandstone. It is a sacred place to more than 20 Native American tribes. The Tower was the first United States national monument when it was established in 1906.

Answer: True

The number of Electoral College votes a state receives is proportional to its population. Wyoming being the least populous state receives only three votes. As each state elects exactly two senators (Equality!), this means that Wyoming only sends one rep to the House. In 2023 when Harriet Hageman was elected to the house, she was the fourth woman in a row (and sixth consecutive Republican) to be elected representing Wyoming.

Women have featured more heavily in the state's electoral processes compared to most states:

Wyoming was the first state or territory to grant universal suffrage. In 1869, the first Wyoming Territorial Assembly passed the Women's Suffrage Act allowing women the right to vote and hold public office. (New Zealand was the first country to grant universal suffrage in 1893) In 1890, when Wyoming became a state, this requirement was written into Article 6 of the constitution ensuring ongoing universal suffrage.

In 1870, Esther Hobart Morris of South Pass City became the first female Justice of the Peace in the US. Women were also sworn in on a jury in Laramie in April 1870 for the first time in US history.

In 1892, Wyoming was the only state with women's suffrage during that presidential election and subsequently voted for the president (not implemented federally until 1920).

Nellie Tayloe Ross was elected Governor of Wyoming on November 5, 1924, and inaugurated on January 5, 1925, making her the first female Governor in the US.

The official state motto of Wyoming is "Equal Rights". Wyoming's state nickname is "The Equality State". It appears when it comes to female representation Wyoming lives up to its name.

The photo shows a single bison (the statue is within the State Capitol Grounds). Single bison are unusual as they are known for their collective large group roaming. Maybe the statue represents the single Wyoming rep in the House of representatives?