The Wyoming flag was introduced on 31st of January in 1917 after its design by Verna Keays from Casper won a competition. Only the bison was turned with its head towards the mast so that it "braces" itself against the wind. The flag shows a single-coloured blue ground with a red border, which is separated from the blue area by a narrower white border. In the centre of the flag appears a bison bearing the seal of the state. The colours of the flag are the colours of the USA, and red also stands for the Indians and the blood that the first settlers had to give. The white stands for purity and honesty, the blue for loyalty, justice, manliness, diligence, the mountains and the sky. The bison represents the animal world of the country. The seal shows an allegorical female figure on a pedestal and above it a banner with the words "Equal rights", an allusion to women's suffrage, which was introduced already in 1869. To the left and right of the woman are a herdsman and a miner, along with the words "livestock", "mines", "grain" and "oil" on banners, symbolising the wealth of Wyoming. Below them are an eagle and a shield with a US design. They stand for the support of the idea of the United States of America. The dates 1869 and 1890 – to the left and right of the shield – show when Wyoming was organised as a territory and when it became a state of the USA.
early times/antiqutiy · Settlement by Indians (Crow, Arapaho, Bannock, Cheyenne, Lakota, Pawnee, Shoshone, Ute)
1738–1742 · a French expedition under Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de La Vérendrye comes from Canada into the area, later insignificant French colonization, to French-Louisiana
1763 · Peace of Paris, France has to cede its Louisiana colony to Spain and United Kingdom, vast areas (including today's Wyoming) to the Mississippi River become Spanish possessions
1st of October 1800 · Treaty of San Ildefonso, Spain has to return its Louisiana territory to France and to withdraw to the borders of 1763
1803 · France sells Louisiana to the USA
1804 · the area of today's Wyoming is part of the Louisiana Territory
1807 · US-american expedition of John Colter roames the area
1812 · the area of today's Wyoming is part of the Missouri Territory
1819 · Adams-Onis Treaty, border-treaty between Viceroyalty of New Spain and the United States
1821 · the north of New Spain becomes as Mexico independent from Spain
1827 · US-american expedition of Jim Bridger roames the area
1830 · beginning of European settlement
1834 · founding of Fort Laramie
1843 · founding of Fort Bridger
1846–1848 · war of the United States against Mexico, annexation of Mexican territory in the southwest of today's Wyoming (furthermore the today's states of California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and parts of Colorado and New Mexico)
1854 · the area of today's Wyoming is part of the Nebraska Territory
1854–1863 · uprising of the Cheyenne Indians
1861 · the area of today's Wyoming is part of the Dakota Territory
1863 · the area of today's Wyoming is part of the Idaho Territory
1864 · the area of today's Wyoming is part of the Montana Territory
25th of July 1868 · founding of the Wyoming Territory, capital: Cheyenne
1869 · introduction of women's suffrage
1872 · founding of Yellowstone National Park
1876 · Battle of Little Big Horn (victory of the Indians)
10th of July 1890 · Wyoming becomes the 44th state of the USA
The name of the country goes back to the Susquehanna River valley in Pennsylvania. It was in this valley that colonists and US troops were attacked and massacred by Indians allied with the British on 5th of July in 1778. To commemorate this day, the name of the valley was transferred to the new territory formed in 1868. The word comes from the vocabulary of the Susquehanna Indians and means "great plain". The name was popularised in the early 19th century by the poem "Gertrude of Wyoming", written by Thomas Campbell in 1809. It describes the hopeless struggle of the Americans, in which 200 to 300 soldiers and colonists lost their lives. In 1830, a granite monument was dedicated at the site of the battle. Other sources cite the Algonquin Indian language as the source of the word "Wyoming", which means "at the end of the plains" and describes the location of the land at the edge of the Great Plains and the Rocky Mountains. Still other sources cite the word "xwé:wamenk" from the Lenape-Munsee Indian language as the source of the word "Wyoming", meaning "on the great river plain".
