Magic City Of The Plains

Old West heritage is celebrated in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

- Leo W. Banks

Within five months of its founding as a railroad town on July 4, 1867, Cheyenne, Wyoming, boasted a population above 4,000. The stunning growth attracted some of the West’s biggest names to what Eastern newspapers called the Magic City of the Plains.

The list included Wyatt Earp and Calamity Jane. Range detective Tom Horn was executed in Cheyenne and Wild Bill Hickok married a former lion tamer at the First Methodist Church there in March of 1876.

Bill must’ve had a certain smile on his face, because the minister wrote in his record book, “Don’t think he meant it.”

Today’s visitors smile, too, for this authentic frontier town of 62,000, set against the picturesque front range of the Rocky Mountains, has something for every Western traveler.

The year’s main event is the Cheyenne Frontier Days rodeo and Western celebration. Held late in July, it draws 130,000 people to parades, concerts, arts and craft shows, and the popular Indian Village, with food, exhibits, dancing, music and storytelling.