EDITORIAL: 1890: Wyoming’s statehood established and other world-changing events

Posted 7/16/15

Wyoming’s statehood was made official on July 10, 1890, and a lot was going on, both inside of and outside of our perfectly rectangular section of the map. (Little known fact: Colorado is not a perfect rectangle like Wyoming is — The …

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EDITORIAL: 1890: Wyoming’s statehood established and other world-changing events

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It was 125 years ago this week that Wyoming was established as a state, and the world was forever changed. It seems that 1890 was a good year for new beginnings.

Wyoming’s statehood was made official on July 10, 1890, and a lot was going on, both inside of and outside of our perfectly rectangular section of the map. (Little known fact: Colorado is not a perfect rectangle like Wyoming is — The Utah-Colorado border has an abnormality that goes more than a mile westward over an 8-mile stretch near the town of Paradox, Colorado, interestingly enough.)

Wyoming has a twin — sort of. Idaho became a state on July 3, 1890, and one week later Wyoming’s statehood was established on July 10 — which, by statehood standards, is basically the same time.

That same year, the first geothermal well in the world was drilled in Boise, Idaho.

Of course, tales into the depths aren’t complete without H.P. Lovecraft, author of “The Call of Cthulhu” who was born Aug. 20, 1890.

It wasn’t all gloom and doom though, as comedian Groucho Marx was born on Oct. 2, 1890. His impact, along with fellow 1890-baby and former president Dwight D. Eisenhower, still is felt around the world today.

And where would the world be without the Guinness Book of World Records holder for the best-selling author of all time, Agatha Christie, born Sept. 15, 1890.

She wasn’t the only big name born in early September of that year, as Hardland Sanders, aka Col. Sanders, founder of KFC, was born on Sept. 7, 1890.

1890 was a year of forging new frontiers in technology, as the U.S. Census Bureau began using a punch-card machine created by Herman Hollerith for the census. His machine is considered a landmark of computing hardware, and his company went on to become IBM.

The United Mine Workers of America was founded on Jan. 25, 1890, which seems fitting since Wyoming is home to coal and trona mines.

About two weeks later, on Feb. 9, the Weather Bureau was established within the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Once again, another fitting addition, since Wyoming’s weather is among the most intense in the country with our knock-you-off-your-feet winds, harsh winters, hot summers and alternating floods and droughts.

Even Yellowstone National Park had a landmark in 1890, as the brown trout was introduced to the upper Firehole River. Wyoming is well known for its outdoor recreation, and 1890 was a pivotal year for it, as both Yosemite and Sequoia national parks were founded in 1890.

It seems that 1890 was a pivotal year in world history, but for early July it’s a time for us to celebrate Wyoming’s statehood — after all, we gave the world more than just Taco John’s, Longmire, and Jackalopes. We were the first state to allow women to vote, had the first female governor, and are home of the first national park, national monument and national forest. 

Wyoming also gave the world Chris LeDoux, Jackson Pollock, C.J. Box, W. Edwards Deming and Curt Gowdy, and it attracted Harrison Ford and Wilford Brimley — and the list goes on.

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