This Wyoming Monument Just Celebrated Its 140th Birthday
Yesterday marked a special day for a Wyoming monument that is now a national historic landmark. Happy 140th Birthday to Wyoming's Ames Monument. Construction finished on this Southeast Wyoming landmark October 3rd, 1882. Yes, this landmark has been around longer than Wyoming has been a state.
I love the shade that local Cheyenne paper threw on the monument, essentially saying they didn't get much aesthetics for what they paid for it. I mean, sure, it's not Athena in the Parthenon of Nashville, but it's a cool sight to see for sure. Really, how many pyramids do we have hanging out in the country?
The monument itself was constructed in honor of two brothers that financed the transcontinental railroad, Oaks and Oliver Ames. The Union Pacific commissioned the monument, which Oliver Ames was once the President of. That's probably not a coincidence. Just speculating.
The whole monument and its history is interesting in itself. The two men that the monument was dedicated to were from New England, so it's not even a piece of folklore that we're accustomed to in Wyoming when you see memorials. Meaning, these aren't Wyoming cowboys that we're remembering. They're politicians from out East. It's somewhat odd, right?
The monument was originally set next to the highest point of the tracks in the country, but less than 20 years later, they moved the tracks south of the spot.
I think that even with the tracks being moved, we can appreciate that the history was still preserved and the monument is still here, 140 years later.