Traveling Tuesday: The Vast State of Wyoming

Traveling Tuesday: Wyoming 

 

In honor of the release of Rayne’s Redemption, we’re going to visit the vast state of Wyoming. The tenth-largest state by area, it is the least populous and least densely populated state in the contiguous United States. Its borders are Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the southwest, and Colorado to the south. 

 

The western half of Wyoming is mostly covered by the ranges and rangelands of the Rocky Mountains, while the eastern half of the state is high elevation prairie called the High Plains. The Continental Divide spans across the central portion of the state, and intriguingly rivers to the east of the Divide drain into the Missouri River Basin and eventually the Gulf of Mexico, and rivers to the west make their way to the Pacific Ocean. 

 

Almost fifty percent of the land in Wyoming is owned by the federal government, including two national parks (Grand Teton and Yellowstone), two national recreation areas, two national monuments, and several national forests, historic sites, and wildlife refuges. 

 

Before the Europeans came, the area was populated with numerous native American tribes including

the Arapaho, Bannock, Blackfeet, Cheyenne, Crow, Gros Ventre, Kiowa, Nez Perce, Sioux, Shoshone, and Ute. The southwest portion of Wyoming was claimed by the Spanish Empire, then as Mexican territory until ceded to the U.S. in 1948 at the end of the Mexican-American war. In the 1830s, traders and explorers traveled regularly through the territory, creating a route that would later become known as the Oregon Trail. By 1847, the Mormons blazed the Mormon Trail, and between 1840 and 1859, more than 350,000 emigrants would take one of these two trails to Utah, Oregon, and California. When gold was discovered in Montana, even more would come through the territory. 

 

Unfortunately, the influx of settlers led to encounters with the Natives, resulting in an increase in military presence along the trails. Eventually, military posts were established to maintain order. Fort Laramie was one such post, at which the first Treaty of Fort Laramie was signed between the U.S. and representatives of the Indian nations. Between 1866 and 1868 (also called the Bozeman War), the Lakota, Arapaho, and Cheyenne rose up against the settlers, but lost the conflict and were forced onto reservations. 

 

The Homestead Act brought more settlers, especially after Wyoming granted women the right to vote in 1869. The law was an attempt to attract women to the territory in which males outnumbered females six to one. By 1870, over thirty-five percent of the population was foreign-born, coming primarily from Ireland, Germany, and England. 

In 1890, Wyoming became the forty-fourth state to join the Union. 

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About Rayne's Redemption 

Will she have to lose her identity to find true love? 

 

Twin sisters Rayne and Jessica Dalton have been swapping places their whole lives, so when Jessica dies on the eve of heading west to become a mail-order bride, Rayne decides to fill her sister’s shoes. The challenge will be faking Jessica’s faith in God. Can Rayne fool her prospective groom without losing her heart...or her soul?

Flynn Ward fled England to escape his parent’s attempts at marrying him off, but locating a woman to love in the Wyoming mountains is harder than finding a hackney in a rainstorm. Then the Westward Home & Hearts Agency offers him the perfect match. But when his prospective bride arrives, she’s nothing like she seemed in her letters. Is he destined to go through life alone? 

Can two desperate people overcome their differences to find common ground...and love?

Purchase Link: https://amzn.to/3s5jdCp