Cheyenne is 150 years and 1 day old today

On Tuesday, August 8, 2017, the city of Cheyenne celebrated its 150th birthday.

The state of Wyoming is 25 years younger, by the way.

Cheyenne was first founded as a railroad town, to serve the workers building the Union Pacific transcontinental railroad. Within just a few weeks it burgeoned from a few hundred people into a few thousand, becoming known as the "Magic City of the Plains."

The 150th anniversary is an important milestone for Cheyenne - or for any city..and they had quite a few celebrations on Tuesday...

But...I wasn't here.

Yesterday there were 13 days to the Great American Eclipse, and I've behind time in writing profiles of the cities in the middle of the state (Casper) and on to the east (such as Torrington) which are in the Path of Totality.. 

I decided it was more urgent to get to Torrington and take some photos than to go into Cheyenne to record the celebrations.

The Wyoming Tribune Eagle, Cheyenne's newspaper, has been sharing information about the history of the city throughout the last month, and I'll go through these papers and report on them in this blog after the Great American Eclipse is over.

But for the next 12 days, I'll be covering how to see the Great American Eclipse in Wyoming.

To that end...for the last four days ...and even longer...even through Cheyenne Frontier Days, frankly, the days have dawned cloudy and gray and at times foggy. Beautiful, in one standpoint, but worrisome for August 21.

Just before noon on August 21, when full totality is supposed to take place. 

Of course the clouds and fog are in Cheyenne...Casper is a bit more than 2 hours north of here on I-25 and Torrington is about an hour northeast of here on I-85, so weather patterns may be different.

But everyone is hoping August 21 dawns bright and clear and stays that way.

So never fear, I will be covering Cheyenne's 150th birthday, but just a little bit late!