On the Way to Cheyenne

The Wyoming Territorial Prison was built in 1872 in Laramie, housed 12 women and more than 1,000 men.  One of the most famous residents was Butch Cassidy.  In 1903 the prison moved to new facilities and the University of Wyoming took over the property, turning it into an ag center.  In the 1990s the citizens of Laramie made to effort to have the site designated as an historical site and it was restored and rennovated and opened to the public.

What is now I-80, and was once US 30, is called the Lincoln Highway.  The statue is located at the rest stop between Laramie and Cheyenne, and is the highest point on the 3,500 mile road extending from New York to San Francisco.  The highway was built in large by Henry Bourne Joy, first president of the Lincoln Highway Association and president of Packard Motor Co.  In 1913 it was considered the first transcontinental automobile road.  It existed as a private enterprise, managed by the Lincoln Highway Association.  In 1916, the association lobbied state and federal governments for funds to improve the dirt road which made up the Lincoln Highway.  Henry Bourne Joy is known by many as the father of the nation's modern highway system.

This pine tree, growing out of the rocks, has fascinated travelers for years.  It is said the builders of the original railroad diverted the tracks in order not to disturb this phenomenon.

The highest point on I-80 and it isn't even 9000 feet.

Wyoming seems to be a state for firsts.  Also located at the summit rest area was this plaque about Telephone Canyon, the first in the west in which a telephone line was run, allowing a conversation between Bill Nye in Laramie and F.E. Warren in Cheyenne.

For the most part, Wyoming is flat with rolling hills.  Small rolling hills.  To help control the blowing snow they get in winter there are these snow fences.  They went on for miles and miles along I-80.
It was a short day, driving from Hot Sulphur Springs, CO, to Cheyenne, WY, but even so, there is always something interesting to find along the way.