September 12, Cheyenne, WY

At 1:30 pm local time it was 49 degrees, windy and misting. At first I thought it was cold and nasty, then I thought of all the times this summer when it was so hot and dry and I didn't like it, I decided this was really a welcome relief. Just put on a sweatshirt and a light windbreaker when we walked around and it wasn't half bad!

We started our day at Tie Siding, WY. It is now an unincorporated town and consists of this building which is a combination antique store and post office, and a stand-alone antique store.  The elevation there is 7,694' and it was booming from the 1860s to the early 1900s. Tie Siding was as large as 2,000 population and 22 saloons when the transcontinental railroad was being built and soon after. Trees were cut in the mountains then floated downriver to Tie Siding where they were cut into ties for the railroad. Afterward it remained because trains had to stop every few hours for more lumber and water.

This one wall is the post office which has 60 PO boxes. They hand cancel all mail leaving the post office. I asked the post mistress if the postal service had said her post office would be closed. She said that they said they might cut back the hours to 2 a day and they offered her $20,000 to retire but she said that isn't enough to pay her yearly mortgage payment on her ranch so she decided to stay. The woman in Centennial, who is 73 and worked there for 33 years, decided to take the buy out and quit.

This is all that remains of the original town of Tie Siding. In 1901 the train tracks were moved. In 1931 the post office was moved to its current location about 2 miles west on US 287.

This is the Ames Monument off I-80 not far from Tie Siding. It was built by the Union Pacific in 1882 on the highest elevation (8,247') of the original transcontinental railroad route. It memorializes Oakes and Oliver Ames who were the driving force and key factors in the building of the railroad. It stands 60' feet tall.

This tree growing in the rock was here when they laid the original tracks near Sherman Summit from 1867-1869. It is said that they moved the tracks slightly so the tree and rock would not have to be moved. There are no other rocks as large as this anywhere near and there are no other trees growing near.

It is also said that when the trains stopped for water and wood, the engineers would "give the tree a drink" of water from their water bucket. The train route was moved in 1901 but in 1913 the Lincoln Highway was built near it and in the 1920s Highway 30 was built and finally in the 1960s I-80 was built. It currently stands between the east and west bound roads. The age of it is unknown but they can live for up to 2,000 years.

Girls, today we were in "boot town" which had many very tall boots all around town. This one is covered with old car license plates on the toe and painted ones on the rest of the boot.

 

This boot is downtown on the corner of a little park. The boots were made a few years ago for people to put money in so the town could build a new museum.

This boot is in front of the old train depot. The name of this town is really Cheyenne, Wyoming.

We spent about 3 hours in the Wyoming State Museum which is free. It is really very good and covers the history - ranching, mining, politics, life style, dinosaurs, and has some inaugural gowns of the first ladies, the dress of the Miss Wyomings and Miss Cowgirl, etc.

This is the saddle that President Theodore Roosevelt used in a rodeo parade in 1900 at the Daley Ranch, WY.

This 2-hour parking sign was on the street in front of the state capitol building and along the state supreme court building and the state museum. There are no parking meters and there are actually parking spots available throughout downtown.

This is a new 3-story parking garage which covers an entire block. It has some reserved spots but most are open and free for 2 hours. They made it to look like some of the downtown buildings so it doesn't just stick out like a sore thumb. With a place to park, there were a lot of stores and people downtown. There was even a quilt store!

This store is downtown and has been in this spot since 1943. We thought it was a part of the Wrangler jeans company but it isn't. The store managed to work out an agreement with the Wrangler company so they aren't infringing on their copyright. The store sells men's, women's and children's western clothing including hats and boots.