California Genealogical Society blog: Our Library Collections: Wyoming

One in a series by CGS member Chris Pattillo, highlighting some of our holdings at the Library in Oakland. For a fuller listing of books, journals, and more, consult the CGS Library catalog in WorldCat.

Bareback rider at Wyoming rodeo

Our hard-copy books shelved in the Wyoming section are modest – only five books. But our online card catalog indicates that we have forty-nine print books, fifteen articles, nine journals and two maps. The seeming discrepancy can be accounted for because Wyoming information is included in books filed in other sections of the library. The five books shelved under Wyoming look very interesting. The section begins with West of Yesteryear by Peg Layton Leonard, published in 1976. This book offers profiles of twenty-four pioneer families plus twenty-two profiles of early businesses in Wyoming. Part III is headed “Bits and Pieces” and includes chapters on Pioneer Graveyards, Frontier Life in Fetterman Country, Natural Bridge, Wyoming State Fair, A Glimpse at Courthouse History, and Christ Episcopal Church. The book includes good photographs.

A history book about Fort Bridger

Next is Fort Bridger, Wyoming: A Brief History by Robert S. Ellison. This too provides a narrative on pioneer life. “This little volume is the only complete history of Fort Bridger that has been written; and it has been prepared by the one man who knows it best.”

Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart was published in 1913. The book is divided into twenty-six chapters, each telling the story of a pioneer woman and her homesteading experience. Chapter headings are enticing: "The Horse-Thieves," "At Gavotte’s Camp," "A Thanksgiving-Day Wedding," "A Confession," and much more.

An ad in the
Cheyenne business directory

We also have a copy of History and Business Directory of Cheyenne and Guide to the Mining Regions of the Rocky Mountains. Clearly this is a specialized reference, but if you happen to have family who were miners in Cheyenne you will be delighted to find the book.

Finally we have Pages From Converse County’s Past – a centennial book published in 1986. Like other books of its type, it is filled with bios of local families and histories of events, Churches, Communities, Mines, Organizations, Schools, Land Acquisitions by Homesteading, and lists of County officials. This book is also filled with lots of photos.