Genealogical Research in Wyoming

The forebears of the Native Americans who resided in Wyoming when the first Europeans arrived probably came by way of the Bering Strait and then ventured south. The first Europeans to explore Wyoming were French Canadian traders, namely the Vérendrye brothers, Louis-Joseph and Francois, who most likely reached the Big Horn Mountains in 1743, but moved on without laying claim to the area.

It wasn’t until John Colter, an American fur trader, traversed most of the northwestern part of the state between 1806 and 1807, that any interest in the area was generated. Colter’s reports of the beauty, probably including Yellowstone Park, fueled interest in the area, and subsequently many settlers passing through via the Oregon Trail decided to remain in Wyoming. Before the discovery of gold in California in 1848, travel on the Oregon Trail was minimal, but after the discovery a flood of "forty-niners" passed through the state.

Supply points along the Oregon Trail were established at Fort Bridger in the west and Ft. Laramie in the east, though few travelers remained in these areas. What finally brought serious settlers to the region was the completion of the Union Pacific Railroad, and towns such as Laramie, Rawlings, Cheyenne, and Rock Springs sprang up along the railway path. Wyoming was made a territory in 1868, and became the first state or territory to pass a women’s suffrage act, doing so in 1869.

What Indian resistance to settlement existed was subdued before the end of the 1870’s, and Wyoming became a center for cattlemen. Cattle barons dominated the land and the political sphere, and smaller ranches and cattle businesses were thwarted in their attempts to compete. The fight between the barons and small ranchers culminated in the so-named Johnson County War of 1891–92, in which the large landowners were arrested by government troops following attempts to take the law into their own hands.

Wyoming was made a state in 1890, but growth continued at a slow rate. Farming endeavors proved unsuccessful in this high, arid region, and Wyoming still remains a sparsely settled ranching state. The growth that has occurred has been mainly through the minerals industry, especially the development of oil, coal, and natural gas resources during the 1970s. The world's oil glut in the early 1980s slowed the growth of the state's energy industries however, and in 1984, nonfuel industry growth rates slowed as well.

Famous Battles Fought in Wyoming

There have not been any great military battles fought in Wyoming, but there were numerous skirmished between white settlers and Native Americans during the formative years. The Legends of America website has a comprehensive listing of Wyoming Indian War Battles, Skirmishes & Massacres.

The battle accounts that exist can be very effective in uncovering the military records of your ancestor. They can tell you what regiments fought in which battles, and often include the names and ranks of many officers and enlisted men.

Boundary Changes: Boundary changes are a common obstacle when researching Wyoming ancestors. You could be searching for an ancestor’s record in one county when in fact it is stored in a different one due to historical county boundary changes. The Atlas of Historical County Boundaries can help you to overcome that problem. It provides a chronological listing of every boundary change that has occurred in the history of Wyoming.

Name Changes: Surname changes, variations, and misspellings can complicate genealogical research. It is important to check all spelling variations. Soundex, a program that indexes names by sound, is a useful first step, but you can't rely on it completely as some name variations result in different Soundex codes. The surnames could be different, but the first name may be different too. You can also find records filed under initials, middle names, and nicknames as well, so you will need to get creative with surname variations and spellings in order to cover all the possibilities. For help with surname variations read our instructional article on How to Use Soundex.

Genealogical resources include not only records, but the organizations that house them, or can direct you to them. These institutions include: Archives, Libraries, Genealogical Societies, Family History Centers, Universities, Churches, and Museums.

Wyoming Archives

Wyoming Mailing Lists

Mailing lists are internet based facilities that use email to distribute a single message to all who subscribe to it. When information on a particular surname, new records, or any other important genealogy information related to the mailing list topic becomes available, the subscribers are alerted to it. Joining a mailing list is an excellent way to stay up to date on Wyoming genealogy research topics. Rootsweb have an extensive listing of Wyoming Mailing Lists on a variety of topics.

Wyoming Message Boards

A message board is another internet based facility where people can post questions about a specific genealogy topic and have it answered by other genealogists. If you have questions about a surname, record type, or research topic, you can post your question and other researchers and genealogists will help you with the answer. Be sure to check back regularly, as the answers are not emailed to you. The message boards at the Wyoming Genealogy Forum are completely free to use.

Wyoming Newspapers and Periodicals

Many genealogy periodicals and historical newspapers contain reprinted copies of family genealogies, transcripts of family Bible records, information about local records and archives, census indexes, church records, queries, land records, obituaries, court records, cemetery records, and wills.

Historical Wyoming Maps and Gazetteers

Maps are an integral part of genealogical research. They help us to locate landmarks, towns, cities, parishes, states, provinces, waterways and roads and streets. They also help us to determine when and where boundary changes might have taken place, and give us a visualization of the area we’re researching in.

For locating place names, a gazetteer is the best possible resource for any genealogist. Gazetteers are also sometimes called “place name dictionaries”, and can help you to locate the area in which you need to conduct research.

Wyoming City Directories

City directories are similar to telephone directories in that they list the residents of a particular area. The difference though is what is important to genealogists, and that is they pre-date telephone directories. You can find an ancestor’s information such as their street address, place of employment, occupation, or the name of their spouse. A one-stop-shop for finding city directories in Wyoming is the Wyoming Online Historical Directories which contains a listing of every available historical directory related to Wyoming.

Birth, Death, Marriage and Divorce Records – Also known as vital records, birth, death, and marriage certificates are the most basic, yet most important records attached to your ancestor. The reason for their importance is that they not only place your ancestor in a specific place at a definite time, but potentially connect the individual to other relatives. Below is a list of repositories and websites where you can find Wyoming vital records

Wyoming began recording official records of births and deaths in 1911. Marriage licenses were required starting in 1867, but not filed at state level until 1913.

Marriage and Divorce Records

Marriages prior to May 1913 were recorded in the district county courts where the marriage took place. Wyoming marriage licenses did not include the names of the parents unless the bride or groom was underage. Records can be found at:

Divorce records from 1861 until July 1951 were recorded in the Wyoming District Courts.

Copies of official divorce records after July 1951 can be ordered from the Wyoming Office of Vital Statistics.

Census Reports

Census records are among the most important genealogical documents for placing your ancestor in a particular place at a specific time. Like BDM records, they can also lead you to other ancestors, particularly those who were living under the authority of the head of household.

Wyoming Church Records

Church and synagogue records are a valuable resource, especially for baptisms, marriages, and burials that took place before 1900. You will need to at least have an idea of your ancestor’s religious denomination, and in most cases you will have to visit a brick and mortar establishment to view them.

Most church records are kept by the individual church, although in some denominations, records are placed in a regional archive or maintained at the diocesan level. Local Historical Societies are sometimes the repository for the state’s older church records.

Central Repositories for Denominational Records

Most of the records of individual denominations are kept in central repositories.

Wyoming Military Records

More than 40 million Americans have participated in some time of war service since America was colonized. The chance of finding your ancestor amongst those records is exceptionally high. Military records can even reveal individuals who never actually served, such as those who registered for the two World Wars but were never called to duty.

Wyoming Cemetery Records

As convenient as it is to search cemetery records online, keep in mind that there are a few disadvantages over visiting a cemetery in person. They are:

• Tombstone information is not always accurately transcribed
• The arrangement of the graves in a cemetery can be crucial as family members are often buried next to each other or in the same grave. This arrangement is not always preserved in the alphabetical indexes that are found online.

Wyoming Obituaries

Obituaries can reveal a wealth about our ancestor and other relatives. You can search our Wyoming Newspaper Obituaries Listings from hundreds of Wyoming newspapers online for free.

Wyoming Wills and Probate Records

The documents found in a probate packet may include a complete inventory of a person’s estate, newspaper entries, witness testimony, a copy of a will, list of debtors and creditors, names of executors or trustees, names of heirs. They can not only tell you about the ancestor you’re currently researching, but lead to other ancestors.

Most of these records must be accessed at a county court or clerk’s office, but some can be found online as well. You can obtain copies of the original probate records by writing to the county clerk.

Wyoming probate records have been recorded by the probate division clerks of the Wyoming District Courts and include dockets, wills, oaths, inventories, letters, bonds, appraisements, accounts, court orders, claims, and final settlements.

Wyoming Immigration and Naturalization Records

The naturalization process generated many types of records, including petitions, declarations of intention, and oaths of allegiance. These records can provide family historians with information such as a person's birth date and place of birth, immigration year, marital status, spouse information, occupation, witnesses' names and addresses, and more.

Most overseas immigrants came to Wyoming through east coast ports such as New, and then traveled by railway to Wyoming. Earlier immigrants landed at New Orleans and then traveled by steamboats upriver to Wyoming. The U.S. National Archives has passenger lists or indexes of American ports for 1820 to 1940, as well as immigration and naturalization records for the entire United States. These records can also be accessed at the National Archives Regional Branch in Wyoming City

Wyoming Native American Records

Bibliographies

• Wyoming from Territorial Days to Present. 3 Vols., Frances B. Beard (American History Society, 1933)
• The Important Things of Life: Women, Work, and Family in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, 1880-1929, Dee Garceau (Putnam’s Sons, 1958)
• The Feminine Frontier: Wyoming Women, 1850-1900,Denice Wheeler (The Author, 1987)
• Stories of Early Days in Wyoming: Big Horn Basin, Tacetta B. Walker (Daily Sentinel Print, 1875)

Selected Resources for Wyoming Women’s History

Women’s History Research Center
American Heritage Center
University of Wyoming
Box 3924
Laramie, WY 82071-3924

Laramie County Library
2200 Pioneer Avenue
Cheyenne, WY 82001

Wyoming State Archives 
2301 Central Avenue 
Cheyenne, WY 82002

Common Wyoming Surnames

The following surnames are among the most common in Wyoming and are also being currently researched by other genealogists. If you find your surname here, there is a chance that some research has already been performed on your ancestor.

Abraham, Appleby, Andrus, Barone, Baroody, Bates, Battermann, Baughman, Berry, Beissner, Binning, Bloomfield, Bowers, Bowman, Boynton, Bradshaw, Brady, Brown, Brunel, Buchmeier, Burbeck, Camp, Campbell, Carter, Cater, Chiester, Christiansen, Churchill, Clements, Coffta, Coggins, Colshan, Combs, Conyers, Cottle, Crawford, Dahlsted, Danhuaser, Darling, Davis, Delp, DeRosa, Dickinson, Dixon, Doman, Douglas, Dupaly, Dye, Draeger, Eastin, Ellis, Engelking, Engel, Erickson, Estep, Evans, Ezquierdo, Fergus, Fisher, Froman, Fuller, Fowler, Fry, Frye, Gardner, Gaveka, Garcia, Gawel, Generous, Gerland, Gewecke, Georgeanna, Gersbach, Glasgow, Gongwer, Greser, Gulli, Gustin, Hagerdon, Hall, Hasenjaeger, Hammer, Hancy, Heishman, Helsley, Heltzel, Hendrickson, Hively, Herendeen, Hines, Hoag, Holsow, Holt, Holmes, Houghton, Hunter, Hurt, Huxhold, Huxhole, Huzzy, Hyatt, Issa, Jackson, James, Jenkins, Jepson, Johnston,Johnson, Joseph, Justus, Karcher, Kauke, Kelkenberg, Keller, Kendell, Kimball, King, Kirkley, Knight, Korecko, Krause, Khour, King, Kirchoff, Koch, Koehler, Kossuth, Krama, Laird, Lange, Lawless, Lewis, Lomax, Long, Lemons, Leybe, Lien, Loghry, Lowther, Luther, Magdalena, Martinez, Maynard, Merk, Matthies, McCoy, Merckel, Meriwether, Merkele, Meyer, Micheal, Mills, Moeller, Morgan, Moomaw, Moore, Morris, Mullins, Munson, Nation, Neese, Neels, Nicholaus, Nowatzki, O'Leary, Offutt, Ostfeld, Owen, Oxford, Olson, Orndorff, Ovis, Parent, Pasquali, Pape, Parmalee, Partley, Payne, Peachy, Peasley, Petet, Peterson, Pitman, Pohler, Pope, Potts, Preckel, Quarles, Ramaha, Ranney, Reade, Rice, Riding, Richardson, Roberts, Roberta, Robertson, Rogers, Rosenbaum, Ross, Sager, Sale, Sanchez, Santucci, Schamber, Scott, Schaper, Scranton, Senne, Seegers, Seggebrok, Sieckmann, Shadman, Shanley, Showman/Sherman, Smith, Spair, Spereaw, Spears, Stahlhut, Stunkel, Swift, Spigle, Spillman, Stevens, Stipke, Tanner, Taliaferro, Taylor, Tegtmeier, Thatcher, Thomas, Thorton, Thurlow, Thyret, Tindell, Tussing, Umberger, Van Male, Vandehei, VanLeuven, Vehling, Veach, Wakefield, Walker, Warner, Warnstrom, Webster, Wetzel, Whitman, Wicken, Wilcox, Wilson, Wilkenson, Wilkins, Willard, Woodhouse, Wright