A statue of Esther Hobart Morris is standing in front of the State Capitol Building, Wyoming, since it was unveiled on December 8th, 1963. Morris was an equal rights activist, who is considered as one of the prominent leaders in the passage of Wyoming’s suffrage amendment of 1869 and the first woman justice of the peace in the world. Morris, a mother of 3, came to Cheyenne, WY, with her second husband just a few months before the passage of the women’s suffrage amendment. She started to champion the cause, assisting the territory to become the first to grant women the right to vote, 51 years before the US Congress ratified the 19th Amendment. Not long after, she was appointed justice of the peace for the South Pass District, a position she served for eight and a half months. During her time in office, she tried 27 civil actions, and only one of her ruling was appealed. The 9-foot Bronze sculpture, created by Avard Fairbanks, is a replica of a statue on display in the National Statuary Hall in Washington, DC, representing the state of Wyoming. The statue depicts Morris walking forwards, holding a sheaf of flowers in one hand and a furl of paper in the other. The inscription on the pedestal says: “proponent of the legislative act in 1869’ which gave women equal rights in Wyoming.” Read more...

Two bronze statues of Sacagawea stand on the grounds of the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. Sacagawea (or Sacajawea) was a Native-American guide, navigator, and interpreter. She was the only woman and a key member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition to the Pacific Ocean. In both statues, she stands tall, gazes forward, wearing traditional clothes, carrying her infant son, Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, on her back, as she did during the expedition. The Bird Woman statue was created by the artist R.V. Greeves. The name Bird Woman is the meaning of Sacagawea’s name. The second statue is by the artist Glenna Goodacre (1939-2020), who is famous for designing the Vietnam Women’s Memorial in the National Mall in Washington, DC, and the obverse of the Sacagawea dollar. Buffalo Bill Center of the West explores the history of the west and its unique nature in five different museums: Buffalo Bill Museum, Plains Indian Museum, Cody Firearms Museum, Draper Natural History Museum, and the Whitney Western Art Museum. There are special exhibitions, special events, and activities. Read more...

The story behind this statue begins on December 10th, 1869, when the Wyoming legislators granted all Wyoming women the right to vote and to hold public office. The first territory in the world that took this action. On September 6th, 1870, in Laramie, a railroad tent city in Wyoming, 69 years old Louisa Gardner Swain was on her way to purchase yeast, saw a polling place, and decided to step in and vote in a general election. She became the first woman in the world to cast a ballot. Fifty years before the rest of the American women could vote following the ratification of the 19th amendment to the US Constitution. In 2001, the Louisa Swain Foundation was founded to celebrate pioneer Wyoming women and Swain’s legacy. On September 6th, 2008, on Louisa Swain Day and the 138th anniversary of Swain’s vote, the foundation commemorated Swain after the moment she voted in a life-size-bronze statue. Titled “The Franchise,” the sculpture was created by Laramie local artist John D. Baker, depicting Swain holding her yeast bucket and paper ballot. The statue stands a block from the original place Swain voted, outside the Wyoming House for Historic Women: a museum that honors 13 Wyoming women who made a significant impact on the world. The Louisa Swain Foundation founded the museum and has been operating it since 2005. Besides the permanent exhibits, they organize conferences, lectures, and the annual Louisa Swain Day celebration. In 2020, the 150th anniversary of the day Swain voted, the Louisa Swain Foundation organized a semi-truck journey from the US Capitol to Laramie, stopping at significant landmarks and arriving on time for the celebration at the Wyoming House for Historic Women. Four women drivers drove the truck that carried Swain’s photo. Read more...

Outside the historic Depot Museum in downtown Cheyenne stands a life-size bronze statue commemorates the early women settlers of Wyoming. Titled A New Beginning, the sculpture depicts a Victorian woman in the 1890s; she looks confident and determined, holding a bag in her right hand and an umbrella in her left. The Colorado sculptress Veryl Goodnight sculpted it; Goodnight is famous for creating art that represents the American West, for which she was inducted in 2016 into the National Cowgirl Hall of Fame in Forth Worth, Texas. The statue was dedicated on June 22, 2011, honoring Wyoming women and celebrating the history of Wyoming being the first state which granted women the right to vote in the USA (December 10, 1869), 50 years before the 19th amendment was ratified into the US Constitution. Other firsts in Wyoming related to women include Louisa Swain, the first woman in the US to vote in 1870, Esther Hobart Morris, the first female justice of the peace in the US, and Nellie Tayloe Ross, the first female governor in the US and later served as the first US Mint female director. The Depot Museum resides at the former Wyoming passenger station, known as the Cheyenne Union Pacific Depot, designed by the famous architect Henry Van Brunt and was built in 1886. The museum was opened in 1993 and showcases exhibits about the early life in Cheyenne, the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad, and models of trains and railroads. Also in downtown Cheyenne are the Cowgirls of the West Museum, a large mural commemorating the women’s suffrage movement, and many bars and restaurants. The famous Cheyenne Frontier Days Old West Museum is two miles from the plaza. Read more...