Ranching from the High Point

This area of Albany and Laramie Counties has a rich agricultural history. Its forests and rolling hills supported large sheep and cattle herds from the mid 1800s into the 1900s. After the Civil War, trees harvested from what is now the Medicine Bow National Forest helped build the Union Pacific Railroad, which was essential to moving livestock to markets. In the 1880s, Cheyenne was known as "the wealthiest little city in the world," and much of that wealth was held by area cattle barons. Tom Horn, an infamous stock detective, was accused and convicted of killing 14-year-old Willie Nickel approximately 30 miles north of here in 1901, and Horn was hanged in 1903 in Cheyenne. To the west, the Laramie Plains are now home to many cattle and sheep ranches. To the east, the High Plains primarily support cattle, sheep, and wheat, while less traditional crops such as sunflowers are becoming popular. Ranching and farming are largely responsible for the wide open spaces in the surrounding landscape, and these agricultural lands provide critical habitat for wildlife and diverse plant communities while hunting, camping, hiking, and bicycling coexist with agriculture on both private and public lands.

Wyoming · United States