ATTENTION: IF YOU ARE LOOKING FOR THE MOST CURRENT SYLLABUS FOR THIS CLASS, GO BACK TO THE HOMEPAGE AND CLICK ON THE HISTORY OF WYOMING LINK AT THE TOP OF THE PAGE. THIS IS AN OUTDATED VERSION.

HISTORY OF WYOMING

History 1251, Spring Term, 2005

Dr. Phil Roberts 57 History Building

Office: 356 History Bldg., 766-5311 or 766-5101; e-mail: philr@uwyo.edu M, W, F, 9-9:50 a.m.

Office Hours: Mon., Wed., 10-11:30 a.m., and by appointment

Website: http://uwacadweb.uwyo.edu/ROBERTSHISTORY

Students should check this site frequently for class updates.

TEACHING ASSISTANTS:

    Mark Chollak, (for students with last names beginning with the letters A-E) 

        Office Hours: MWF, 10-11, and by appointment.  Office: 59 History Building, 766-4333

    Drew Folk,  (for students with last names beginning with the letters F-L) 

        Office Hours: W, Th, 10-Noon, and by appointment Office: 59 History Building, 766-4333

    Rory Telander, (for students with last names beginning with the letters M-R)

        Office Hours: M, W, 10-11:30 and by appointment  Office: 260 History Building, 766-5121

    Phil will be grading papers/exams for students whose last names begin with the letters S-Z.

 Left) Dr. Grace Raymond Hebard, noted Wyoming historian, is shown in a rather unconventional pose. American Heritage Center photograph.

OBJECTIVE: The course is a survey which will encourage an understanding of Wyoming history, how it relates to the history of the West and the rest of America, and how it has influenced the present. The lectures and readings are designed to encourage further reading in Wyoming and Western history. The course will be taught topically and not strictly chronologically. Consequently, it will be important for the student keep up with the reading assignments and to have a clear understanding of the chronology of Wyoming events, particularly those since 1890. This course satisfies the University Studies V1 requirement.

COURSE REQUIREMENTS: The readings for this class are neither difficult nor extensive. The main "text" actually is a book of readings. The other assigned books were written for the popular audience and, consequently, are neither extensively footnoted nor difficult to read. The lectures will provide context and continuity, but they will NOT duplicate the readings. Consequently, relentless attendance will be required in order to succeed in this class. A short research paper, based on primary sources in the collections of the American Heritage Center, will be required along with exams and quizzes.

REQUIRED BOOKS: Copies of all books (and the State Constitution) are on reserve in Coe Library.

T. A. Larson. Wyoming’s War Years. (Wyoming State Historical Society: second edition, revised, 1993).

Geoffrey O’Gara. What You See in Clear Water: Indians, Whites, and A Battle Over Water in the American West. (New York: Random House, 20 00).

Phil Roberts, editor. Readings in Wyoming History. (4th edition, published in 2004). The fourth edition contains a number of essays not included in earlier editions. Page numbers on the syllabus refer to this edition and articles on the web.

Elinore Pruitt Stewart. Letters of a Woman Homesteader. (Lincoln: Bison Books, 1989). Other editions also OK.

Samuel Western. Pushed Off the Mountain, Sold Down the River: Wyoming’s Search for Its Soul. (Moose: Homestead Pub., 2002).

The Wyoming Constitution. (Available for purchase, but also on reserve at Coe Library circulation and on the web).

The United States Constitution. (On reserve at Coe Library circulation and on the web).

RECOMMENDED BUT NOT REQUIRED:

Annals of Wyoming: The Wyoming History Journal. The quarterly journal of the Wyoming State Historical Society contains important articles about Wyoming and Western history. The journal is sent to all society members. Membership is open to all. Students may join for just $15 annually. For additional information about membership, ask your professor or consult his website.

T. A. Larson. History of Wyoming. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2d rev. ed., 1990). Dr. Larson was the foremost authority on Wyoming history.

Helena Huntington Smith. War on Powder River: The History of an Insurrection. (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1966). A reliable and lively account of the Johnson County Invasion.

Writers' Program. Wyoming: A Guide to Its History, Highways and People. (Lincoln: Univ. of Nebraska Press, 1981, reprint of 1941 ed.) First published more than 50 years ago, it has interesting stories about Wyoming.

EXAMS: Two exams, 100 points each (40%); the final exam, 100 points (20%); Constitution exam, 75 points (15%); research exercises, AHC research paper, 75 points (15%); five unannounced quizzes, 50 points (a total of 10%). Absolutely no make-up quizzes will be given. Make-up exams will be given ONLY IF the student informs the professor or TA before the exam is to be administered with a valid reason for missing the scheduled time. Students are expected to be familiar with the university rules governing plagiarism and academic dishonesty which will be enforced in this class. Students should check the webpage for this class regularly for updates and minor alterations in the syllabus. The professor may, from time to time, post outlines of lectures on the webpage. These are NOT intended as substitutes for your own notes, however.

GRADING PROCEDURE: The final grade will be calculated on the total "points" earned during the semester, tentatively based on the following scale: A: 450-500 points B: 400-449 points C: 350-399 points D: 300-349 points F: 299 or fewer

Outlines of lectures will be posted periodically to the web. Because of the possibility of technical problems, however, students should not expect to rely on these. Instead, students will be expected to attend and take notes.

OUTLINE OF TOPICS, MEETINGS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Topics are subject to minor change. Visits to AHC will be posted on the webpage.

Mon., Jan. 10: Introductions; distribution of syllabi.

Wed., Jan. 12:  "The Transcontinental Railroad" (part I)

Fri., Jan. 14:  No class. 

Mon., Jan. 17: NO CLASS. M. L. King Holiday.

Wed., Jan. 19: Wyoming in Context: A Quick Guide to the "Organizing Concepts"

Fri., Jan. 21: The First Residents and Explorers; Rendezvous and Fur Trade

Mon., Jan. 24: West to Oregon, California, Utah

Wed., Jan. 26: Conflict on the Plains: The Civil War in the West, the "Indian Wars," and the Bozeman Trail

Fri., Jan. 28: The Coming of Rails

Mon., Jan. 31: Establishing the Territory

Wed., Feb. 2: Women Suffrage and the Origins of the "Equality State"

Fri., Feb. 4: Statehood and the Constitution.

Reading: Wyoming Constitution (all); U. S. Constitution (all); Readings in Wyoming History, "Overview of the Wyoming Constitution," pp. 262-265.

Mon., Feb. 7:. Boom and Bust in Cattle.

Reading: Readings in Wyoming History, "Cowboys Form a Health Cooperative," pp. 4-11

Wed., Feb. 9: The Constitutions: A Quick Overview . (NOTE THE CHANGE OF DATE FOR THE CONSTITUTION EXAM--It will be on Fri., Feb. 11--not Feb. 9)

Fri., Feb. 11: Constitution Exam: The Constitutions. (Note: This will be an objective "fill-in-the-blank" and short answer exam. It will cover both Constitutions--NOT any other material)

Mon. Feb. 14: Public Lands: Getting Land in the 19th Century

Reading: Stewart, Letters of a Woman Homesteader (entire book).

Wed., Feb. 16: Development in the Northern Part of Wyoming

Reading: Readings in Wyoming History, "The Contest for the Capital," pp. 44-60.

Fri., Feb. 18: Exam #1.

Mon., Feb. 21: The War, The Invasion.

Wed., Feb. 23: Wyoming’s Water: Irrigation and Reclamation. AHC visit: Group 1.

Reading: Readings in Wyoming History, "Wyoming’s Estelle Reel," pp. 99-116.

Fri., Feb. 25: Yellowstone: The World’s First National Park.

Reading: Readings in Wyoming History, "Preserving the Beasts of  Waste and Desolation," "Commodification of Wildlife," "Harvard Cook in the Wyoming Badlands," pp. 12-43.

 AHC visit: Group 2.

Mon., Feb. 28: Conservation, Preservation and Development

Reading Readings in Wyo. Hist., "Evolution of Roads," pp. 117-128; "Give Them What They Want," pp. 129-144

 

Wed., Mar. 2: Conservation, Preservation and Development (continued)

Fri., Mar. 4:  History of Oil in America and Wyoming and the Teapot Dome Scandal. AHC visit: Group 3.

Mon., Mar. 7: .Oil (continued)

Wed., Mar. 9:  Mark Chollak on "Coal and the Rock Springs Massacre"  AHC visit: Group 4.

Fri., Mar. 11: A Photographic History of the University of Wyoming; drawing for door prizes.

Reading: Readings in Wyoming History, "School Bells and Winchesters," pp. 61-98.

Mon., Mar. 14-18: SPRING BREAK—NO CLASS

Mon., Mar. 21: Special guest speaker.

Wed., Mar. 23: First "Great Depression"; Prohibition: The "Noble Experiment" in Wyoming

Fri., Mar. 25: NO CLASS. Easter Break.

Mon., Mar. 28: The New Deal in Wyoming; Coping with Depression and the Debates over Taxation: Income Tax or Sales Tax?   AHC visit: Group 5.

Wed., Mar. 30: Exam #2

Fri., Apr. 1: World War II in Wyoming: The Home Front. Reading: Larson, Wyoming’s War Years (all); Readings in Wyoming History, "Cheyenne's 100-Octane Fuel Plant," pp. 125-131.

Mon., Apr. 4: Aftermath of World War II: Wyoming Transformed? AHC visit: Group 6

Wed., Apr. 6: Post-war Issues: GI Bill, Red Scare, Wyoming’s "Suburbia"

Fri., Apr. 9: A Diverse Society.

Reading: Readings in Wyoming History, "Ethnicity in Wyoming"; "Lovell’s Mexican Colony," "My One Hobby," pp.145-181.

Mon., Apr. 12: Civil Rights in Wyoming.

Reading: Readings in Wyo. History, "The Emerging Civil Rights Movement," pp. 182-200

Wed., Apr. 14: Yellow Stripes: Assessing the Silent Decade

Fri., Apr. 16: The 1960s: Vietnam and the "Black 14"

Reading: Readings in Wyoming History, "Fired by Conscience," "The Black 14: Eaton v. Williams," "The Virginian Meets Matt Shepard," pp. 201-230.

Mon., Apr. 19: The 1960s: Politics, Labor and the Economy

Wed., Apr. 21: The Boom Decades I: Social Dislocations and Severance Taxes

Reading: Readings in Wyoming History, "Project Wagon Wheel: A Nuclear Plowshare for Wyoming," pp. 231-244; and Western, Pushed Off the Mountain, Sold Down the River (entire book).

 Fri., Apr. 23:  The Boom Decades II: Coping with Impact.

Reading: Readings in Wyoming History., "Home on the Range No More: Boom and Bust in Jeffrey City," pp. 245-253

Mon., Apr. 25: The Depression of the 1980s and the Quest for Economic Diversification.

Reading: O’Gara, What You See in Clear Water, (entire book)

Wed., Apr. 27: A Few Famous People: Wyoming and Reverse Snobbery.

Reading: Readings in Wyoming History, "Visions Beyond an Arrow of Fire," pp. 254-261.

Fri., Apr. 29: Review for Final Exam.

May 2-6: Final Exam (exact date and time to be announced)

IT WILL BE USEFUL TO FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS:

Counties, county seat towns: Albany (Laramie); Big Horn (Basin); Campbell (Gillette); Carbon (Rawlins); Converse (Douglas); Crook (Sundance); Fremont (Lander); Goshen (Torrington); Hot Springs (Thermopolis); Johnson (Buffalo); Laramie (Cheyenne); Lincoln (Kemmerer); Natrona (Casper); Niobrara (Lusk); Park (Cody); Platte (Wheatland); Sheridan (Sheridan); Sublette (Pinedale); Sweetwater (Green River); Teton (Jackson); Uinta (Evanston); Washakie (Worland); Weston (Newcastle).

Non-county seat towns: Riverton, Rock Springs, Powell, Greybull, Afton, Kaycee, South Pass City, Medicine Bow, Guernsey.

Major rivers: Big Horn-Wind, Green, Sweetwater, North Platte, Powder River, Yellowstone, Laramie.

Significant mountains and ranges: Big Horns, Tetons, Absarokas, Wind River Range, Laramie Range, Black Hills, Gannett Peak.

National parks/monuments: Yellowstone, Grand Teton, Devils Tower

Forts: Russell (Warren), Laramie, Bridger, Phil Kearny, Washakie, McKinney.

Lakes and reservoirs: Buffalo Bill, Pathfinder, Alcova, Glendo, Flaming Gorge, Yellowstone Lake, Jackson Lake.

Major roads and trails: I-80, I-25, I-90, Union Pacific Railroad route, Oregon-California-Mormon trails, Texas Trail, Bozeman Trail, Overland stage route.

The following "special sites": Medicine Wheel, Como Bluff, Heart Mountain Relocation Center site, Wind River Indian Reservation, South Pass, Teapot Dome, Salt Creek oil field.