Download WYOMING CONNECTIONS TO LINCOLN

WYOMING CONNECTIONS TO LINCOLN
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“Lincoln” was one of the names suggested for Wyoming Territory. The U.S.
Senate rejected it reputedly because no state or territory had been named for an
individual.
Lincoln County, the Lincoln Highway, the Lincoln Monument between Cheyenne
and Laramie, and Lincoln Ridge and Lincoln Point in the Absaroka Mountains of
Fremont County are all geographic place names in Wyoming established in honor
of our 16th president.
Other indirect, but significant connections between Lincoln and Wyoming are:
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The Pacific Railroad Act signed by Lincoln in 1862 gave birth to the first
transcontinental railroad, which the president hoped would unite the nation. The
construction of the railroad, which began the year Lincoln was assassinated, was
the principal reason why Wyoming Territory was formed and eventually became
a state. Among those who helped to build the railroad were such prominent Civil
War veterans as General Phil Sheridan and General Ulysses S. Grant, who spent
time in Wyoming during the construction of the eastern portion of the railroad
that came to be known as the Union Pacific. The northern Wyoming town of
Sheridan was named for Lincoln's general, Phil Sheridan. Many Wyoming forts
were named for Civil War officers and dozens of place names in southern
Wyoming are related to railroad construction. Some of these forts and places are
listed on the National Register of Historic Places. One, a famous obelisk in
Albany County named the Ames Monument, ironically is a monument to financial
scandal that accompanied railroad construction.
The Homestead Act, also signed by President Lincoln in 1862, was important to
the eventual settlement of Wyoming, a state that encompasses 98,000 square
miles of mostly open, public land.
The Morrill Act, the third major piece of legislation signed by President Lincoln
in 1862, provided for the establishment of land-grant colleges. The University of
Wyoming is a land-grant educational institution. Wyoming's only university, it is
an important rallying point for all state citizens as well as its graduates. The
University has had a nearly unfathomable influence upon the state's polity,
economy and society.
Union Pass and Union Peak were named in 1860 by U.S. Government explorer,
Brigadier General W.F. Raynolds. The general understood that he was crossing
the Wind River Mountain Range at the crest of the Continental Divide, and
appropriately named it Union Pass. One reason for his name choice might be that
it was an encouragement toward union. No doubt he was well aware that his
country was politically divided.
During Lincoln’s tenure as president, Wyoming was a vast, high-altitude
wilderness that lay along the route of several major western trails including the
Bozeman, Bridger, Oregon and Overland. Like the forts along the Union Pacific
Railroad, forts along these trails were named for Civil War heroes and other army
officers, some of whom were veterans of Indian campaigns fought during
Lincoln’s presidency. Among the significant place names are: Camp Walbach,
Cantonment Reno, Ft. Augur, Ft. Buford (later Fort Sanders), Ft. Halleck, Fort
Caspar, Fort Connor, Ft. Fetterman, Fort Mackenzie, Fort McKinney, Fort Phil
Kearny, Fort Reno, Fort Russell (today Warren Air Force Base), Fort Sanders and
Fort Stambaugh. Two of these forts, Fort Bridger and Fort Laramie, served as
major outfitting points and Pony Express stops along important transcontinental
routes: the Oregon and Overland Trails.