Driving the Wyoming Suffragette Trail

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Driving the Wyoming Suffragette Trail

By Elaine Masters

If ever we needed wide-open spaces, rodeo thrills, and a beautiful drive, it’s now. Wyoming has all that but something else propelled my four-day road trip a few falls back. I was on the trail of the United States’ Suffragette Movement.

Wyoming was a pivotal frontier for women in the United States. In the late 1800’s, the territory was in a race for statehood and needed more settlers quickly. A scheme was hatched and the day after the passage of the Suffrage Act, a Cheyenne newspaper commented,” …We now expect quite an immigration of ladies to Wyoming…We say, come on!” However, few men actually expected women to get involved in governing, let alone vote. However, women organized quickly and disproved that notion. After being the backbone of the pioneer surge as tireless homemakers, feeding hungry workers, and toiling alongside men hammerto-hammer, they demanded more recognized roles in the territorial government. Most notably, Esther Morris, took over several businesses in South Pass when her undisciplined, to put it mildly, husband was jailed. By the end of 1870, Justice Esther Morris was, “Gaveling Wyoming rowdies into the calaboose.” Other women became pioneering jury members in Cheyenne and Laramie; more aspired to become elected public officials. Luckily for the state, and the rest of the country, an effort to repeal the Suffrage Bill in 1871 failed passage in the all-male legislature by one vote. There was no turning back.

Cheyenne Restoration

I ‘set up camp’ at the Little America Hotel and headed over to the State Capitol building. It proudly covers acres in the middle of town and has just reopened to the public after an extensive, expensive, and gorgeous renovation. Over 130 years ago the Capitol building’s architects relied on wood and stone, paint, and carving. Time left its mark, and with a long list of repairs the complicated expansion and restoration began years ago. Now, the Capitol building has reopened.

How I wish to have seen the unveiling of the immense statue of Esther Morris, the state’s first woman justice, in her new place of honor. If you visit,

Wyoming, the Equality State, has a long history of championing women’s rights. It was the first state to grant women the right to vote (1869), to elect a woman to the legislature, to appoint a woman to a jury, & to elect a female governor.

Photos (Opposite from top): Wyoming Womens Suffragette Pathway; Bar Vee Ranch on a Wyoming Fall Morning; Moose Family on a Wyoming Fall Day; South Gap Lake Trail on a Wyoming Fall Morning. (This page): Louisa Swain the First Woman to Cast Ballot; South Pass City Gold Camp Plaque

download the Capitol Square Tour book for a selfguided walk through the impressive chambers.

Small boots, Big Steps

The huge galleries of the Wyoming State Museum overflow with western artwork, buggies and statues dedicated to the State’s history. However, most of the memorabilia focused on women leaned towards Miss Frontier Days awards, homemaking, and period clothing.

On a side street near the Capitol, the Cowgirls of the West Museum offered more vibrant evidence of the power of the State’s founding women. While the small space was packed with historical furniture and lots of rodeo riders, the walls were filled with framed stories about women leaders: early movie stars turned rodeo performers, renowned hunters, a newspaper founder, and even a Vice Presidential candidate. Through it all, Wyoming women’s’ spirit of adventure and their hard work to create a western civilization out of the open range rang true. Eat and Stay The Cheyenne Little America Hotel rooms were spacious and the décor leans towards a colonial style. Parking was plentiful with easy access to the highway.

Esther Morris lived in a small house that still stands near the Capitol. Today, it’s home to Bella Fuoco Wood Fired Pizza with the dining room “less crowded for these unprecedented times.”

Join locals for breakfast at the Paramount Café, a movie house and ballroom turned coffee house and bakery.

Laramie

The quickest route from Cheyenne to Laramie runs along Highway 80, about an hour in decent weather. I rode over to the Wyoming House for Historic Women in a downtown neighborhood behind a central courtyard. The unyielding gaze of Louisa Swain flows from a statue in a place of honor before the entry. In her hand is a ballot, the first ever

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If a woman can do the same work that a man can do and do it just as well, she should have the same pay. ~Wild Bil Cody Q

submitted by a woman in the United States. Twelve other women join her inside the museum including Eliza Stewart, the first woman subpoenaed to serve on a court jury, Martha Symons Boies, the first woman in the world appointed as bailiff and up to Lynne Cheney, Wyoming’s first “2nd Lady,” author and wife of the former Vice President of the United States.

Less lofty but still fun stops in town include The Bent and Rusty Cotton Company and Cowgirl Yarn; two women run Laramie emporiums. Bent and Rusty founder, Billie Eckhardt hunts for castoffs and old pieces across the countryside, renewing and reconfiguring them for sale online or in the shop, and now a Craftsman Coop flourishes in the downstairs workshop. Cowgirl yarn is home to the largest collection of Wyoming grown yarns and fibers. Both have reduced hours but remain open.

Eat and Stay I spent the night in a cozy cabin at the historic Vee Bar Dude Ranch, about 27 miles from Laramie. In Laramie, the vegetarian menu was packed with international flavors and plated in huge portions at Sweet Melissa’s.

Lander

Some say the Eastern Shoshone Tribe has lived in the Wind River environs for over twelve thousand years. The tribe was instrumental in Lewis and Clark finding a waterway to the Pacific Ocean. Without Sacajawea, a well-known Shoshone woman, and the safe passage guaranteed by her people, Lewis and Clark would never have succeeded. Today, the Shoshone Tribal Cultural Center has collections of art and crafts inside the cultural center and in less trying times, hosts public celebrations throughout the year. I’d love to return to the Wind River area for camping and hikes in warmer months.

Eat and Stay It’s a three-hour drive from the Vee Bar Ranch to Lander. Before checking in at the Shoshone Rose Casino and Hotel, I had breakfast at the Mountain View Hotel and Café, then tackled the lower Gap Lake trail in the Sugar Loaf Recreational area. A popular family camping stop, the city of Lander is also home to art galleries and boutique accommodations, like the Mill House Inn.

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South Pass City

The newly dedicated “Wyoming Women’s Suffrage Pathway” runs adjacent to the old mining town of South Pass City.After the Civil War, the pioneer city was roiling with Union and Confederate soldiers, Czech miners, Irish settlers and Chinese immigrants. Esther an orphan, widow, and mother made history before she left South Pass. She became the first woman appointed as Justice of the Peace in Wyoming and the world.

Casper

Casper is a center for hunting and flyfishing, but the city was central in establishing rail commerce and industry. I loved the hands-on displays (ride in a stage coach, pull a pioneer cart…) inside the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center.Weather didn’t permit but I’d love to return for a wagon tour with Stage Three Community Theater and their presentation about the Women of the Trails.

Eat and Stay Ramkota Hotel, ramkotacasper.com, Cheese Barrel –caspercheesebarrel.com, nhcf.org, Coffee Stop at Crescent Moon Café, cmcoffeestop.com; Dinner at the Pump Room

Driving back to Denver gave me time to think about the ways the pioneering women of Wyoming have impacted my life. I have independent freedom to travel, voting rights, and run a business. Wyoming’s pioneering sisters led the way.

Photos (Opposite from top): Shoshone Cultural Center Hoop Dance Prep; Picture of Esther Hobart Morris Statue from Inside Her Cheyenne House; (This page): Pioneer diorama inside the Wyoming Interpretive Trail Center; Billie Eckhardt inside the Laramie Bent and Rusty Emporium; Breakfast in Lander Wyoming; Inside the Casper Wyoming Interpretive Trail Center