Wyoming's Capital Offers More Than Frontier Days

Cheyenne, Wyoming, is not just for those who love the rodeo. While tens of thousands of visitors arrive each July to take part in the festivities of Cheyenne Frontier Days, many fabulous historical venues can be enjoyed by travelers throughout the year. This city of over 53,000 residents sits at the southeastern corner of Wyoming. Cheyenne has evolved from the 600 hard drinking and hard partying Hell on Wheels crowd of 1867, when it was founded as a tent city for those building the first Transcontinental Railroad.

Here's a sampling of what to see in Cheyenne when the cowboys aren't in town wrestling steer or being bucked off broncos:

For the railroading enthusiast, the CHEYENNE DEPOT MUSEUM is a must-see. It's here where the history of locomotives and of the brave souls who built the rail networks along the Western Frontier is showcased. The museum is located in the restored Union Pacific Depot Station, which was built in 1886. Several blocks east of The Depot, in Holliday Park, resides the famous, but long-retired, BIG BOY LOCOMOTIVE, the world's largest ever built.

The history and interpretations of being a Wyomingite are elegantly featured at the WYOMING STATE MUSEUM, which includes galleries like "The Wild Bunch". This gallery focuses on the various species of wildlife that can be found in the state. The "Swamped With Coal" gallery features the geological history of Wyoming and how the state's vast mineral resources have shaped it. The HISTORIC GOVERNOR'S MANSION served as home to 19 Wyoming governors from 1905-1976, and is now open again to the public after extensive remodeling. Its first floor drawing room offers a great ambiance, highlighted by some very beautiful furniture bought from Chicago in 1937. All three floors of this restored Colonial Revival house display notable antique furniture pieces.