Wyoming

The least populous state, and the first place in the world where women voted and held office continuously. The territorial legislature granted women's suffrage in December 1869, partly to attract settlers and partly as a stunt that its sponsors did not expect to survive; Esther Morris became a justice of the peace the following year, and when Congress objected during the statehood debate in 1890 the territory replied that it would remain out of the union a hundred years rather than come in without its women. It was admitted with the provision intact. The Union Pacific crossed the territory in 1868 and created its towns in a line. Cattle barons dominated the open range until the Johnson County War of 1892, when hired gunmen sent to kill accused rustlers were rescued from a siege by federal cavalry, an episode that ended the barons' authority. Yellowstone, mostly within the state, became the world's first national park in 1872. Coal, oil, gas and trona now carry the economy, and the federal government owns nearly half the land. Cheyenne is the capital. Wyoming is a perfect rectangle on the map. Cheyenne is also the largest city, with under seventy thousand people. The state has fewer residents than several American cities. Devils Tower was the first national monument, declared in 1906. Grand Teton adjoins Yellowstone. Wyoming has more antelope than any other state. Its two national parks and seven national forests cover more ground than several eastern states combined. Nellie Tayloe Ross took office there in 1925 as the first woman governor in the country.

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