Cheyenne

Sister cities

• Voghera
• Lourdes
• Taichung

History

At a celebration on July 4, 1867, Grenville M. Dodge of the Union Pacific Railroad announced the selection of a townsite for its mountain region headquarters adjacent to the bridge the railroad planned to build across Crow Creek in the Territory of Dakota. At the same celebration, Major General Christopher C. Augur announced the selection of a site three miles (5 km) west of Crow Creek Crossing for a U.S. Army fort to protect the railroad. The Union Pacific Railroad platted its Crow Creek Crossing townsite on July 5, 1867. Residents named the town Cheyenne for the Cheyenne Native American people. On August 8, 1867, the Town of Cheyenne, Dakota Territory was incorporated, and on August 10, 1867, H. M. Hook was elected as Cheyenne's first mayor. The fort was transferred to the new United States Air Force and was renamed Francis E. Warren Air Force Base in October 1949. Territorial Governor John Allen Campbell arrived in Cheyenne on May 7, 1869, and named Cheyenne the temporary territorial capital. Cheyenne has remained the only capital of Wyoming. On December 10, 1869, the first session of the Wyoming Territorial Legislature met in Cheyenne. The Wyoming State Capitol was constructed between 1886 and 1890, with further improvements being completed in 1917. The Cheyenne Regional Airport was opened in 1920, initially serving as a stop for airmail. It soon developed into a civil-military airport, serving DC-3s and various military craft. During World War II, hundreds of B-17s, B-24s, and PBYs were outfitted and upgraded at the airfield. Today, it serves a number of military functions and as a high-altitude testbed for civilian craft.

Geography

Lying near the southeast corner of the state, Cheyenne is one of the least centrally located state capitals in the nation (together with cities such as Carson City, Nevada; Juneau, Alaska; Tallahassee, Florida; Topeka, Kansas; and Trenton, New Jersey). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is covered by water. Cheyenne, like much of Wyoming, has a cold semiarid climate (Köppen climate classification BSk) and is part of USDA hardiness zone 5b, with the suburbs falling in zone 5a. Winters are cold and moderately long, but relatively dry, with highs often above freezing, having a normal mean temperature of , highs that fail to breach freezing for 35 days per year, and lows that dip to the mark on 9.2 mornings. It was the most destructive tornado in Wyoming history. {|style="width:auto;text-align:center;line-height:1.2em;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto" class="wikitable mw-collapsible" |- !Colspan=14|Climate data for Cheyenne |- !Month !Jan !Feb !Mar !Apr !May !Jun !Jul !Aug !Sep !Oct !Nov !Dec !style="border-left-width:medium"|Year |- !Mean daily daylight hours |style="background:#F0F011;color:#000000;"|10.0 |style="background:#F7F722;color:#000000;"|11.0 |style="background:#FFFF33;color:#000000;"|12.0 |style="background:#FFFF44;color:#000000;"|13.0 |style="background:#FFFF66;color:#000000;"|15.0 |style="background:#FFFF66;color:#000000;"|15.0 |style="background:#FFFF66;color:#000000;"|15.0 |style="background:#FFFF55;color:#000000;"|14.0 |style="background:#FFFF33;color:#000000;"|12.0 |style="background:#F7F722;color:#000000;"|11.0 |style="background:#F0F011;color:#000000;"|10.0 |style="background:#E9E900;color:#000000;"|9.0 |style="background:#FFFF37;color:#000000;border-left-width:medium"|12.3 |- !Average…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Collared-Dove

  Streptopelia decaocto (Frivaldszky, 1838) · Aves
  4,647
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,524
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  4,364
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  4,032
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,901
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  3,672
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,615
• Northern Flicker

  Colaptes auratus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,546

Largest nearby schools

• East High School
  High · Cheyenne · 1,513 students · 15.4:1 ratio
• Central High School
  High · Cheyenne · 1,283 students · 13.9:1 ratio
• South High School
  High · Cheyenne · 1,187 students · 14.1:1 ratio
• Carey Junior High School
  Middle · Cheyenne · 861 students · 16.2:1 ratio
• McCormick Junior High School
  Middle · Cheyenne · 654 students · 14.9:1 ratio
• Johnson Junior High School
  Middle · Cheyenne · 647 students · 12.7:1 ratio
• Meadowlark Elementary
  Middle · Cheyenne · 522 students · 18.6:1 ratio
• Prairie Wind Elementary
  Elementary · Cheyenne · 469 students · 17.4:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.8 — 2019-11-23
  13 km NNE of Laramie, Wyoming
• M 2.9 — 2019-03-30
  7 km NE of Greeley, Colorado
• M 3 — 2016-11-06
  8 km ENE of Greeley, Colorado
• M 2.7 — 2016-11-06
  8 km ENE of Greeley, Colorado
• M 2.6 — 2016-08-23
  2 km SSE of Eaton, Colorado
• M 2.5 — 2014-06-23
  6 km NNE of Kersey, Colorado