Although Cheyenne is the capital of Wyoming, it’s never been designated as the permanent capital. As a result, various efforts have been made over time to move Wyoming’s capital city to a more central part of the state.
Casper would likely be the next recipient if the capital were ever to move now or in the future. But 120 years ago, Lander fell just a few thousand votes shy of being Wyoming’s seat of state government.
Push To Move
According to the Oct. 1, 1904, edition of the Wyoming Industrial Journal, Wyoming was deemed too young in its growth and development for a permanent capital to be established upon achieving statehood in 1890. Cheyenne thus continued as the de facto capital as it had been for the Wyoming Territory since its inception in 1868.
But as early as the 1870s, efforts had been underway to move it to Laramie or Evanson, according to Deck Hunter’s book “Silver Threads of The Early West and Sheridan County.”
Lander entered the capital discussions at some point later, with even a specific neighborhood named “Capitol Hill” that still exists for the high point in town.
Had Lander won that vote, “It would’ve been quite a spectacular location,” for a state capitol building said Randy Wise, a staff member at the Fremont County Pioneer Museum.
In 1904, a question went before the voters about where the capital should be located. Cheyenne, Casper, Lander and Rock Springs were all on the ballot.
Bessemer, a fledgling late 19th century town in Natrona County, even jumped the gun when it advertised to prospective residents that it would become the future home of Wyoming’s capital. The town died in the 1890s shortly after Casper was named the Natrona County seat.
There were a number of newspapers that reported on the capital relocation proposition at the time, most with a clear bias based on their own location, like the Cheyenne-based Wyoming Tribune, which referred to it as “A Visionary Scheme.” The Industrial Journal, also based in Cheyenne, also made it clear where it stood on the issue.
“While the city of Cheyenne has not been officially named as the permanent capital, it has been generally conceded that no other city or town in the state could hope to aspire with any semblance of reason, to that proposition- at least under the present conditions,” the paper wrote.
The Industrial Journal also pointed out that money for the governor’s mansion had already been appropriated earlier the previous year and work had begun, and the Cheyenne Tribune argued moving the capital would cost about $600,000.
Noted Wyoming historian Phil Roberts said one Lander newspaper writer countered that, “The time has come to transform Wyoming from a sheep range into her rightful position, that of the most prosperous and populous state west of the Missouri River, and the first move necessary to accomplish that happy result is the removal of the state capital to a suitable location.”
Another Lander newspaper reporter disparaged the current location of the capital, saying it “would be left on the bleak, barren hill in the state of Colorado, where it is now situated.”
The Cookie Crumbles
Even though a desire to create a more centrally located capital had merit, Wise said, any effort to move it from Cheyenne was unlikely to succeed because of the relatively small population in central Wyoming at the time.
“It really wasn't going to happen,” he said.
Cheyenne had a distinct advantage heading into the race because of its substantially larger population than its competitors. At the time, the Wyoming State Tribune reported that more than two-thirds of the state’s population, around 30,000 people, were located in southern Wyoming.
In contrast, Casper’s population was less than 1,000 people compared to the 14,000 that Cheyenne boasted, and Lander wasn't much larger.
The final tally of votes gave Cheyenne 11,781, Lander 8,667, Casper 3,601 and Rock Springs 429.
As many had feared heading into the election, Lander and Casper split the vote among many counties that wanted the capital moved out of Cheyenne.
According to Roberts, Wyoming Gov. Fenimore Chatterton lamented the result of the election shortly after in a Lander Clipper story, saying it was “lack of aggressiveness” that cost Lander the election.
The governor claimed there was little statewide interest in the matter, while Cheyenne “left no stone unturned” in gaining support statewide. He then suggested Lander would be a candidate again because “no one wants the capital at Cheyenne.”
State Sen. Cale Case, R-Lander, has a different conclusion and believes his city of 7,615 current residents dodged a bullet.
Lander would have likely experienced a significantly larger population by being home to state government departments and staff, and Case is skeptical this could’ve fit well into the Lander Valley.
“We’re already sandwiched between the mountains and the reservation, so I can’t imagine Lander accommodating this without being a very, very difficult place to live,” he said. “The bottom line for me is I don’t think we missed out at all. We got a better town because of it.”
He also believes the importation of state government would have had a negative drag on the town’s culture and pointed out how the town ended up getting some strong economic opportunities anyway when it hosted a steel plant that employed more than 500 residents.
Sweetwater County seemed to latch on to a similar sentiment in the 1904 vote, voting by a larger tally for Cheyenne than its own Rock Springs for the capital.
Not Totally Settled
The Wyoming Constitution requires a majority of all votes cast to determine a winner for the capital.
Since Cheyenne fell 249 votes short of getting a majority of all votes cast, it held onto its status as the seat of government as a result of the election, but failed to reach permanent status, leaving the door open for future attempts at moving the capital.
The topic has since been raised seven more times in the Legislature, with various proposals to make the permanent capitol in Cheyenne and Casper all defeated. The most recent effort was in 1996 to make Cheyenne permanent, but it got little traction.
Moving the capital now would likely represent an astronomical financial and physical task.
“We’re not going to move the capital,” Case said.
He also pointed out that Casper in some ways has already become a bit of a secondary capital for Wyoming thanks to its infrastructure, population and central location. The city hosts the Thyra Thomson State Office Building as well as offices for the Wyoming Department of Health, Department of Transportation and Game and Fish Department.
“In a way Casper has picked things up. It’s good logic,” Case said.
University Push
Laramie was also chosen as home for the University of Wyoming in that 1904 election, as was Rawlins for the state penitentiary and Evanston as the spot for Wyoming’s “insane asylum.”
What all these locations, including Cheyenne, share in common is their direct proximity to the Union Pacific Railroad, which was what led to the establishment of Cheyenne in the first place.
Union Pacific held a massive influence over the state and its economy in this era.
“The Union Pacific had a lot of clout,” Wise said.
Although discussions about the University of Wyoming Agricultural College started with it being located in Lander, a former Fremont County state legislator named James Kime spoiled that possibility. Kime, nicknamed “Cocktail Jimmy” for his love of drinking, likely imbibed away the town’s chances of hosting the school.
Wise said reports show that during a crucial vote leading to the building of the Agricultural College in Lander in 1893, Kime was too drunk to attend the Senate proceedings and cast his vote. The proposal ended up losing by a single vote.
The Wyoming Journal reported in 1933 that, “Mr. Kime, who yielded to his weakness for strong drink, was not on the job when the opportunity to build the college should have passed.”
Kime was not reelected after that.
Case said losing out on that opportunity was probably for the best as well, as it allowed Lander to retain its small-town character.
“We’re damn lucky we dodged those bullets,” he said. “Both of them would’ve meant a Lander double the size it is now.”
Leo Wolfson can be reached at leo@cowboystatedaily.com.
