State Capitols – Cheyenne, Wyoming - Part 2

Rotunda, Wyoming Capitol, Cheyenne (22 August 2011)

On Monday morning, we returned to cruise the grounds and go inside.  Just like smaller airports are easier to manage, there is something to be said for capitols like Cheyenne.  There’s nothing wrong with being small, old and quaint... I am content being two-thirds of that description.  Here, a security screening is not required to get inside.  All the executive offices and legislative chambers are in one building and all are open to visitors.  Unlike other capitols, you get the sense that the public is welcome.  Radical thought in this post-9/11, hyper-security age.

Wyoming Senate, Cheyenne (22 August 2011)

Another thing to like about Wyoming’s government is the basic, straight-forward approach they take, as opposed to the bloated bureaucracies you find in some of the bigger states.  With the exception of certain leadership positions, the 30 senators and 60 representatives do not have offices.  The desks in their chambers, with a couple of drawers are their work stations.

Interior, Wyoming Capitol, Cheyenne (22 August 2011)

One fortunate aspect of being a capitol collector at this time is that many of them have been recently restored.  I found a number of them have a shine and color that has not been seen in decades.  In the Cheyenne capitol, the legislators’ desks were replaced in 2001 and the Senate’s stained glass ceiling was restored in 2004.

Wyoming House of Representatives, Cheyenne (22 August 2011)

In the ‘Timing-is-Everything’ Department, I lost the opportunity to get good shots of the House chambers.  In the front of the room, workers had erected scaffolding to the ceiling.  Clearly, this was not going to be the look I wanted for the space.  The guys laughed when I announced from the gallery that I came a long way to see this place and could they kindly remove it briefly so I could take some pictures.

Some might note with irony that this deep red state and home of Darth Vader himself (Dick Cheney) is also a monument to women’s suffrage.  In 1869, Wyoming was the first state (some say the first government in the world) to grant women the right to vote.  This was over 50 years before the rest of the nation caught on and ratified the 19^th Amendment.

Statue of Esther Hobart Morris, Wyoming Capitol, Cheyenne (21 August 2011)

The statue of Esther Hobart Morris notes that when she became Justice of the Peace in 1870, it was the first time a woman in the U.S. held a public or judicial office.  Not too shabby.

This was a nice, easy visit.  We were free to roam around almost any area of the capitol.  The people were friendly and appreciated visitors.  What’s not to like about Cheyenne?