Jody Yarwasky, age 12, of Casper, Wyo., for her question:
WHO WERE THE FIRST TO SETTLE IN WYOMING?
Indian hunters lived in the Wyoming area at least 10,000 years ago. Then occasional French trappers were in the region during the mid 1700x.
Exploration of the Wyoming area didn't start until after 1800. The United States bought most of the region from France in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase. After that, American trappers came looking for furs.
A trapper named John Colter became the first white man to discover the Wyoming hot springs and geysers in the Yellowstone area in 1807. And five years later, in 1812, a party of fur traders from Oregon crossed the mountains from the west to discover a relatively easy passage through South Pass. The group was led by a trapper named Robert Stuart.
During the 1820s and 1830s, the fur trade became more highly organized. Gen. William Ashley established an annual rendezvous or gathering of trappers. At these gatherings, his company traded ammunition, food and other supplies for furs.
The first rendezvous took place in 1824 on the Green River, near the present Utah Wyoming border. The yearly rendezvous became important to the trappers not only for trading, but for exchange of news and as a social event. The last rendezvous was held in 1840.
A trapping and trading party of more than a hundred men came to the Wyoming area in 1832 and they discovered oil. In 1834, a fort was established in eastern Wyoming. This fort, later called Fort Laramie, was the area's first permanent trading post.
In 1843, Jim Bridger, one of the great western trappers and scouts, founded Fort Bridger in southwestern Wyoming.
In 1842 and 1843, Lieutenant John C. Fremont, guided by the famous scout Kit Carson, established the Oregon Trail and the Wyoming territory became more important.
Wyoming became the 44th state in the United States on July 10, 1890.
The word Wyoming comes from a Delaware Indian word meaning "upon the great plain." Wyoming is nicknamed the Equality State because Wyoming women were the first in the nation to vote, hold public office and serve on juries.
In 1870, Wyoming's Esther H. Morris became the nation's first woman justice of the peace. In 1924, Wyoming voters elected the first woman governor, Mrs. Nellie Tayloe Ross.
Wyoming's wealth comes from cattle and oil. Eighty percent of the state's land is used for grazing. Thousands of oil wells dot the prairies. Often you'll see a white face steer cropping the grass near a pumping oil well.
The federal government owns almost half the land in Wyoming. Since the state depends mostly on its land, this makes the government especially important in Wyoming's economy. Federal agencies control grazing, logging and mining on the government land.