Fun Fact: The City of Cheyenne, Wyoming Was Born On The 4th of July

On July 4, 1867, General Greenville Dodge arrived at the Crow Creek Crossing to survey the path for the Union Pacific Railroad's westward expansion. Dodge officially named the town Cheyenne and plotted a four-square-mile area that would later become Wyoming's Capital City.

While construction of the Depot had already begun, Dodge drew the first official map of Cheyenne on that day, even angling the streets to give buildings and houses maximum sunlight throughout the year. Just over a month later, hundreds of workers had arrived and Cheyenne became known as the "Magic City of the Plains."

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Although it wasn't approved by Dakota Territory legislators until the following year, the first official city charter was established on August 8, 1867. Two days later, H.M Hook was elected as the first Mayor of Cheyenne. Hook opened a general store called the Great Western Corral on the corner of 20th Street and O'Neil Avenue, near the present-day location of the Cheyenne Civic Center.

A stone marker commemorates the site where Dodge established the city of Cheyenne, near the present-day corner of Dey Avenue and West Jefferson Road. The cornerstone was placed on the site in 1890. 152 years later, it lives on as a reminder of Cheyenne's humble beginnings as a frontier outpost on the first transcontinental railroad.

MORE CHEYENNE HISTORY:

• CLASSIC CHEYENNE: The Cole Shopping Center
• The Bob-Tail District: Cheyenne’s Most Infamous Houses of Ill Repute
• The History Of Cheyenne’s Hitching Post Inn
• Remembering The Mayflower Cafe in Cheyenne