Talk:Wyoming

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Twelfth Amendment

The Twelfth Amendment does NOT prohibit a Presidential and Vice Presidential candidate from being registered in one state. It only prohibits the electors from that state voting for both candidates. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.8.112.133 (talk) 16:04, 27 November 2009 (UTC)

Fix

At the bottom it lists different Wyoming cities. One of these reads "Bristol" and links to "Bristol, RI. Why?????

I don't know, but I've fixed it. --Mr. Lefty _{Talk to me!} 01:15, 25 June 2006 (UTC)

Now is says that Bristol, Wyoming is a city. There is no Bristol, Wyoming! Can someone fix it??Ekulwyo 06:13, 5 July 2006 (UTC)

Thanks for fixing it. Ekulwyo 05:29, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

Wondering how to edit this State Entry?
The WikiProject U.S. states standards might help.

State Name

The article says that Wyoming is an Italian word for "no state here." Is this a joke? I read somewhere that Wyoming was actually named after the Wyoming Valley in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Anyone have any info about this? --JimDanger 15:53, 3 July 2006 (UTC)

• Wyoming is not an Italain word. It orginated from "the Delaware Indian word, meaning “mountains and valleys alternating”; the same as the Wyoming Valley in Pennsylvania." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.146.35.195 (talk) 00:43, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

• This is a joke from a Garfield episode. I would expect vandals to change it back at some point in the future. marnues (talk) 18:29, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

Needs fixing

there is a banner near the top of the talk page that says to remove it whence a climate section is added. I see a climate section already and I fixed the location of the NWS station therin. I do not know how to get rid of the "needs a climate section" banner from the talk page. 72.36.46.253 06:15, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

Template removed.—M_C_Y_1008 (^talk/_contribs) 01:34, 16 February 2007 (UTC)

I'm kinda new to this stuff but someone put the word "gay" all over this.

Population

I updated the population from the 2000 census value to match the current US Census estimate. It now matches [this table]. --Emplynx 04:12, 11 February 2006 (UTC)

Shape

I noticed that the border seems to have an indentation on the northern part of Yellowstone. Is this correct, and why is this so? CoolGuy 06:54, 7 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Yes, indeed, there is an indent in the northern portion of Wyoming. It suprised me when I saw it, but I looked it up in an atlas, and yes there is an indentation. Ekulwyo 05:28, 8 July 2006 (UTC)

• Wyoming has strait boarders, when you are looking at the north western corner of the map you will see yellowstone also marked on most maps. Parts of Yellowstone fall into Montana and Idaho. When you look that the map be sure to distiguish between Wyoming's boarders and Yellowstone's.

• • Wyoming's north border is not straight. There are jogs at [T58N R101W](http://www.wy.blm.gov/mtps/mt/100/58101mt.pdf) and [T58N R75W](http://www.wy.blm.gov/mtps/mt/70/5875mt.pdf), and the norther border within Yellowstone park is indeed "indented". You can see these with Google Earth as well. And no, I am not confusing the state border with the park border...

Notable Wyomingites

Wyoming has never had a large population, so it has not produced a lot of famous people. However, it has produced a few, including Curt Gowdy (sports announcer), Nellie Taylor Ross (first female state governor in America), and Alan Simpson (former U.S. Senator).

Population as of 2005

The state infobox needs to be updated...the only way to show state populations is by the 2000 census, but we also have the 2005 census available, so I'll locate the origination point of this infobox and see if I can get this fixed. I re added the correct 2005 census figures with an embedded link to the source.--MONGO 07:18, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

borders

it's stated in the article that the borders of wyoming are all straight lines, however, the northern border, particularly the yellowstone region is noticeably not straight on just about any map, even ones on this page. might want to get rid of that statement.

• Wyoming has strait boarders, when you are looking at the north western corner of the map you will see yellowstone also marked on most maps. Parts of Yellowstone fall into Montana and Idaho. When you look that the map be sure to distiguish between Wyoming's boarders and Yellowstone's.

What was the content of the tall tales?

The chapter on History states that the reports by Colter and Bridger were first considered to be fictional or tall tales and later found to be true. I think the article should also say (briefly) what the contents of those reports were. --Etxrge 09:14, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

Town and City

I propose that the Category Towns of Wyoming be merged with the Category Cities of Wyoming. There is little rhyme and less reason in the way these are currently organized. Even Cheyenne, largest town, has a population of only 55,000. That's not much of a city. --Fluffbrain 16:45, 19 November 2006 (UTC)

metric data

I added the missing metric measures in the article. I wonder why the person who had added the metricization tag hadn'd done that himself or herself. It isn't that difficult after all. But some people seem to prefer playing with tags instead of improving articles themselves. What a pity. --Maxl 12:01, 5 December 2006 (UTC)

New Sports section added to updated Wikipedia:WikiProject U.S. states format

The Wikipedia:WikiProject U.S. states format has been updated to include a new Sports section, that covers collegiate sports, amateur sports, and non-team sports (such as hunting and fishing). Please feel free to add this new heading, and supply information about sports in Wyoming. Please see South_carolina#Sports_in_South_Carolina as an example. NorCalHistory 13:18, 8 December 2006 (UTC)

State Food

Does Wyoming have a state food? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Chuck61007 (talk • contribs) 00:25, 10 January 2007 (UTC).

New proposed WikiProject

There is now a proposed WikiProject to deal with the state of Wyoming at Wikipedia:WikiProject Council/Proposals#Wyoming. Any parties interested in taking part in such a project should indicate as much there, so that we can know if there is sufficient interest to create it. Thank you. Badbilltucker 16:59, 20 January 2007 (UTC)

Education Addition: Colleges

I'm going to add the fact that Wyoming is the only state with only one four-year college. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 75.69.118.1 (talk) 01:46, 27 March 2007 (UTC).

Incorrect, University of Wyoming is the state's only public institution of higher learning. Piercetp (talk) 18:45, 4 January 2008 (UTC)

Only "brick and mortar" four-year college is more meaningful than only "public" four-year college and perhaps less likely incorrect (since this assertion is not sourced, it is hard to tell, but for example the Catholic school may not even be a public school). In any case adding the "brick and mortar" qualifier rather than "public" is more in line with the original statement. TallMagic (talk) 18:46, 7 January 2008 (UTC)

Geography

Strictly speaking, the statement that "Wyoming is one of three states bounded only by lines of latitude and longitude" is in error. The boundaries are not straight lines...there are a few zigs and zags. For instance, look at the topo maps for the western end of the northern border (just north of Tower Junction, WY). PurpleChez 19:46, 4 August 2007 (UTC)

• Wyoming has strait boarders, when you are looking at the north western corner of the map you will see yellowstone also marked on most maps. Parts of Yellowstone fall into Montana and Idaho. When you look that the map be sure to distiguish between Wyoming's boarders and Yellowstone's. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.146.35.195 (talk) 00:40, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

That is actually incorrect - the borders are not straight. There is a goodly amount of Park County that is not along the 45th parallel. see [1]. You can also see it on Google maps: [2]. Its a minor detail, but important to point out. CosmicPenguin (Talk) 02:49, 27 November 2007 (UTC)

Correct...The north border of park county has several places where it deviates north of the 45th parallel. The boundaries of Yellowstone National Park extend well north of this zigzag to include some parts of Montana.--MONGO (talk) 03:04, 27 November 2007 (UTC)

MONGO and/or CosmicPenguin: I've seen those bumps in online maps before, and just always assumed it was an artifact of whatever process was used to create the boundary, not a real jog. I'm surprised it really isn't straight; what would be the point of such deviations? Do you know of something written down somewhere that verifies and/or documents this jog? I'm not actually disputing it, so if you don't know of one, don't waste time looking; maybe I'll look into it myself someday. Just thought maybe you knew of one offhand. --barneca (talk) 03:17, 27 November 2007 (UTC)

Its can be clearly seen on the topographic map [3], and you can't get much more authoritative then that. I did a bit of searching, and couldn't find anything definitive, but you can get some clues from the topo map. For most of the distance between Clark, Wyoming and the national park boundary the border between Montana and Wyoming is also marked as "National Park Boundary" or "Wilderness Boundary", so its possible that has something to do with it. These may be relics of the original boundaries of the Yellowstone Timberland Reserve,but I don't know for sure, since there aren't any really good maps of the Yellowstone Timberland Reserve that Google could find. It would be interesting to hear the real story, but I'm afraid it probably is more boring then we expect. CosmicPenguin (Talk) 04:46, 27 November 2007 (UTC)

I suspect you are correct...surely there is an explanation somewhere, but I wasn't able to locate anything either. I see that the boundary is both north and south of the 45th parallel...but perhaps there were some odd reasons why they did this then. The Park was created around the same time as the surveyors did their surveys...and the rest is in Shoshone and I think Custer National Forests, all of which were federally "protected" at also about the same time as part of the Yellowstone Timber Reserve. I'll try and see what turns up with more investigating.--MONGO (talk) 10:49, 27 November 2007 (UTC)

OK, I think I know what's going on now. Although the definitive publication isn't available to me, now that I see an explanation, it makes sense, based on previous experiences I've had with surveyors and surveying.

1. This pdf says what I always thought; that Wyoming is defined in its enabling legislation by latitude and longitude:

   Wyoming was established from parts of the Dakota, Idaho and Utah Territories in 1868 (15Stat.L.178,Ch.235). It was a simple designation of latitude and longitude lines:

   Commencing at the intersection of the twenty-seventh meridian of longitude west from Washington with the forty-fifth degree of north latitude, and running thence west to the thirty-fourth meridian of west longitude; thence south to the forty-first degree of north latitude; thence east to the twenty-seventh meridian of west longitude; thence north to the place of beginning.

2. This article and this article both make the point that these lines had to actually be surveyed, back in the 1800's, and errors were bound to creep in. And, more importantly:

   Once a boundary is marked on the ground and accepted by all interested parties it is a true line even though it doesn’t follow the written description.

3. This USGS professional paper is alluded to by most of the articles I've found as the definitive reference, but I don't have easy access to it. Probably not necessary, however, as the explanation above makes sense and rings true.

Whether you think this is interesting or not probably depends on whether you're as big a nerd as I am. --barneca (talk) 13:43, 27 November 2007 (UTC)

We studied this problem as part of my Information class in College. This is one of the more troubling parts of GIS mapping: who do you believe and why do you believe them? On paper, Wyoming is a pure geographic rectangle following the lines of latitude and longitude. However, the devil is in the details (or in this case, the amblings of most likely drunk surveyors). spryde | talk 00:03, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Based on this, I'd be tempted to re-add the "one of three states with only lat/long boundaries" text removed in August. As one of the references I link above says, either all straight boundaries like this are considered "straight", or none are; Wyoming's boundaries aren't the exception. Although the deviations are interesting, I'd say for all practical purposes Wyoming's boundaries are lines of latitude and longitude. Any comments? --barneca (talk) 18:43, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

Well, unless the practical purpose is ownership, mineral rights, where you pay taxes, etc. Two of the "jogs" in the Montana-Wyoming boundary amount to offsets of about a half-mile (one near MT Hwy 72/WY 120, north of Cody; the other near MT Hwy 391 where the Powder River crosses the border; there are others within Yellowstone Park). These diversions of the boundary are not hard to find (they are in the DeLorme atlases, as well as of course the topo maps). Just my 2 cents. Cheers Geologyguy (talk) 18:52, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

"Practical" was a poor choice of words on my part. Please substitute "for the purposes of a general encyclopedia article" where I said "for all practical purposes" above. I understand they're relatively large jogs locally. --barneca (talk) 18:57, 28 November 2007 (UTC)

This statement was added again today to the article - I tried to head off the debate at the pass by adding the executive summary from the above discussion to the the article. To wit, the legislation defines it as a rectangle, but in reality, straight lines aren't always that easy to come by. CosmicPenguin (Talk) 22:45, 14 December 2008 (UTC)

Question.

Are there airports in Wyoming, and where are they? This article needs to link to them if they exist. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.102.131.1 (talk) 22:49, 8 December 2007 (UTC) what number is the state, what year did it become a state.

Prince of Wales

Doesn't Prince Charles own a lot of Wyoming? I distinctly remember having read something to that effect some years ago. --Cancun771 (talk) 23:44, 23 February 2008 (UTC)

About Wyoming

The length of wyoming is 360 miles.It needs alot of space to fit in all the animals.They don't speak in a diffrent language,they speak english.The length also is large for river banks,and rivers.It is beutiful there,but not many people are there.The state is in between Idaho and Nebraska. --99.133.185.40 (talk) 03:11, 5 June 2008 (UTC)Yousuf

Is there execution in Wy?

This could be mentioned under the "judical system" paragraph, the issue is obviously important for people who travel to Wyoming to commit most serious crimes. 82.131.210.162 (talk) 09:55, 30 June 2008 (UTC)

Oregon/Wyoming

Both articles say that these states are the 9th largest in the union... Oregon is slightly bigger, according to the article... a bit confused then. How could this be? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.147.76.240 (talk) 12:21, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

Good catch. If you look at List of U.S. states by area (or at Table 20 in the [http://www.census.gov/prod/cen2000/phc3-us-pt1.pdf US Census report), you see that Oregon is 9th and Wyoming is 10th by total area, but Wyoming is 9th and Oregon 10th by land area. Since all of our other state articles are ranked by total area, I'm changing the value in the Wyoming infobox to 10th. --barneca (talk) 18:39, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

Popo Agie Wilderness

Is there a Wyomingan here who can confirm the pronunciation of Popo Agie Wilderness? The transcription in the article (popo-ZHAH) is a bit odd. kwami (talk) 08:35, 10 April 2009 (UTC)

Locals in the vicinity of Lander tend to pronounce Popo Agie as "poPo-zhah". Moon Handbooks Wyoming(see pg. 269) But the farther away from the Wind Rivers Mts you get, the more you will find Wyomingites who struggle with the term and land upon pronouncing "Popo Agie" as it is written. Fishdecoy (talk) 14:52, 11 April 2009 (UTC)

Thanks! kwami (talk) 20:37, 11 April 2009 (UTC)

Wyoming —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.91.179.31 (talk) 18:27, 8 August 2009 (UTC)

Politics

I have edited the Politics section of this article to better reflect the state's political history. Up until the 1980s, the state sent numerous Democrats to Washington, among them Gale McGee and Teno Roncalio. Up until the 1980s, the state had more reliably democratic counties than today, mostly due to the influence of the railroad-related unions along the southernmost tier of the state. It would be incorrect to give the idea that Wyoming has always been as politically conservative as it is today; the Republican domination of the state's congressional delegation is a recent (post 80s) phenomenon, and is in many ways a by-product of shifts in the state's economy (toward mineral extraction) and population (fewer unionized workers, more immigrants from neighboring states). --Embarcadero (talk) 17:12, 21 February 2010 (UTC)