December
December 31
1868 Percy Post
Office was established on December 31, 1868
in Laramie County (now in Carbon County), Dakota Territory. Percy was
named for Percy T. Brown, an engineer with the Union Pacific Railroad. 1883 The Granite Canyon Post Office was re-established as Granite Canon Post Office on December 31, 1883.
1889 Twobar Post Office was established on December 31, 1889 in Laramie County prior to the formation of Platte County. It was located on the Twobar Ranch. 1908 Albany Post Office was established as Stewart Post Office on August 27,1908 and changed to Albany on December 31, 1908. |
December 30
1878 On December 30, 1878, Camp Brown was renamed Fort Washakie in honor of Shoshone Indian Chief Washakie. 1889 This December, Wyoming residents were "treated" to unusually high temperatures. The Daily Boomerang reported the weather "calls to the old timers' minds the same month in the winter of '71 or '72. In that year Christmas was as warm as the Fourth of July; not a particle of snow was to be seen in this locality and for three or four nights the thermometer scarcely fell below the freezing point."  |
December 29
1845 The Independent Republic of Texas existed from December 19, 1836 through
December 28, 1845 and included a part of Wyoming. On December 29, 1845,
Texas was admitted into the Union as the 28th state. A part of Wyoming
was admitted as Texas on that date. Below is an 1846 map of the Western
United States showing the state of Texas. It was published by S.
Augustus Mitchell. The image is courtesy of the David Rumsey Historical Map Collection  |
December 28
1891 Slack Post Office was established on December 28, 1891. Slack was in
Sheridan County, a few miles west of Parkman near Pass Creek. A
newspaper column first titled "Pass Creek Pointers" then "Slack
Pointers" appeared irregularly in the Sheridan Post from 1890 to 1892. 1917 Cactus Post Office in Campbell County was established on December 28, 1917. It was named for the cactus on the surrounding plains. A proposed name for the post office was "Shultz" after the postmaster, John W. Shultz. The post office was discontinued in 1933, its duties assumed by the Pine Tree Post Office. Pine Tree is still listed on topographic maps of Wyoming, but Cactus is not. |
December 27
1867 Carter County was created, boundaries defined, and South Pass City named the county seat on December 27, 1867 by the Seventh Legislative
Assembly of Dakota Territory. The First Wyoming Territorial Legislative
Assembly changed the name of Carter County to Sweetwater County in
1869.   |
December 26
1871 The Laramie Daily Independent was established by E.A. Slack and T.J. Webster on December 26, 1871. 1888 Dallas Post Office was established on May 19, 1884 with Josephine Werlen as postmaster. It was discontinued on August 5, 1887 but reestablished on December 26, 1888. 1890 On December 26, 1890, the name and location of the Bellewood Post Office was changed to Glendo. 1902 Francis Seth Frost died on this date in 1902. Frost and Albert Bierstadt accompanied Frederick W. Lander on his expedition of 1859 which resulted in the construction of the Lander Cutoff. They made sketches and took stereoscopic photographs in western Wyoming. Frost completed a painting of South Pass and the Wind River Mountains in 1860.  1913  1915 Elijah Nicholas Wilson died on December 26, 1915. Wilson, Wyoming is named for him. He received a patent on land at that location in 1905. He was the author of White Indian Boy, which was about his life among the Shoshone Indians. |
December 24
1888 Slater Post Office in Carbon County was established on April 9, 1883 with William T.
Morgan as postmaster. It was moved to Routt County, Colorado on
December 24, 1888.  |
December 23
1872 George Catlin, known for his paintings, sketches and writings of Plains Indian culture, died on December 23, 1872. Catlin visited Fort Laramie in the summer of 1833. He wrote; "I ascended the Platte to Fort Laramie...and at the Fort saw a great number of Arapahos and Cheyennes, and rode to the shores of the Great Salt Lake." Several of his paintings of wildlife can be seen at the National Museum of Wildlife Art in Jackson. |
December 22
1812 Robert Stuart and his party reached the Laramie River on December 22, 1812. They had followed the North Platte River and on December 22, reached what Stuart wrote as "a well wooded stream apparently of considerable magnitude came in from the south west." 1911 Stewart Post Office in Goshen County was established on December 22, 1911 with L. Stewart as its postmaster. Louis N. (or M.) Stewart received a patent on land at this location on March 10, 1915. Stewart is representative of many places in Wyoming that were either named after the postmaster and/or the land owner.  1921 President Warren Harding signed an Executive Order designating "All lands that are now or may be hereafter included within the boundaries of the National Elk Refuge are hereby reserved and set apart as a refuge and breeding ground for birds." 1944 The Boysen Dam and Reservoir was authorized by the Flood Control Act. The dam is built across the Wind River in the Wind River Canyon above Thermopolis. It was named for Asmus Boysen, who had mining interests in the area and envisioned the Boysen Dam as a source of power that would aid the mines. |
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