For a period of 6 years, I got the chance to live in a place that many consider the last frontier of the lower 48. My father first moved to Wyoming in the late 80’s from Pheonix, Arizona when I was just 10 years old. He and my mother were divorced early in my life so my time was divided between Louisiana, where my mother lived, and wherever my father was living at the time. I had been living with dad for 2 years and when he told me while visiting my mother we were moving to Wyoming, I had to go look at a map to figure out where in the hell it was. After returning to my father from the summer vacation, I was picked up at Casper Regional airport and driven to my new home in Buffalo, Wyoming. It was the summer of 1988 and the fires in Yellowstone and in the Big Horn mountains above Buffalo had the sky filled with smoke and visibility limited to a few miles instead of the normal view of forever. The fall snow showers finally put the fires out and the smoke settled to reveal the 13,000 foot mountain peak that stood in my front yard. I was amazed at the awesome site and was eager to get out and explore, and that’s just what I did for the remainder of my time in the state.
The difference in terrain and landscapes are like night and day. In the Eastern half of the state, the landscape is mostly barren and filled with rolling hills and odd shapes that were carved into the earth by prehistoric glaciers. The Western half of the state is mostly mountainous containing the beautiful Big Horns, Tetons, and Yellowstone National Park. It doesn’t matter which part of the state you are in, the “cowboy way” is the main way of life in these parts, and residents are proud of it. I was invited to a ”branding” one day (branding cows) and was amazed at what I saw. This was a community event. Relating it to a football tailgate party is the best way to describe it. There was a huge crowd of family and friends, along with all the food and beer you wanted to consume. I was informed this was a custom and the events were put on to help fellow rangers get there work done when help was hard to come by.
Over 6 million tourists visit the national parks in Wyoming annually. With all of the natural and rugged beauty of the state, I can see why. Wildlife is abundant in the state including grizzlies, moose, elk, deer, mountain lions, wild mustangs, and a bald eagle is not an uncommon site anywhere in the state. Most towns hold on to their wild west heritage and have local museums to put local artifacts on display. Cheyenne is the capital city with a population of 55,000 which is the largest town in the state. Each year Cheyenne holds the “daddy of them all”, the Cheyenne Frontier Days and Rodeo festival. Even though the state is one of the largest in area, it is also the least populated state in the union. Most towns in the state with exception of a few, only have populations of around 2000 to 5000 residents. This doesn’t bother the residents at all, in fact, they like it this way.
The major industries in the state are agriculture, petroleum, and tourism. Even though most of the country is in a severe recession, Wyoming still boasts one of the nations lowest unemployment rates despite a bad hit to their oil and gas industry. It always surprised me on the good work ethic that was in almost everyone I met up here. Almost everyone I knew had atleast 2 jobs and some of them even 3. This was the norm up here.
Unless you are a snow skiier or avid ice fisherman, I highly suggest you make your travel plans during tourist season in the summer months. Winters can be very harsh with temperatures getting down to -30 degrees below zero. But when you do make it here, you will honestly be amazed at the beauty of this wonderful state. The Federal Government has done a fine job preserving the natural beauty, and the state has a good wildlife management program to preserve native species for future generations. So if your up for a visit to the real “old west”, Wyoming should be your first destination.
About the Author:
Shane Picket is a writer for cheaperticketprices.com
http://www.cheaperticketprices.com/
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – Wyoming, Best of the West
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