Wyoming

Wyoming is a state located in the Northwestern United States of America. It is bordered by Montana to the North, on the East by South Dakota and Nebraska, on the South by Colorado and Utah, and to the West by Utah, Idaho, and Montana.

The capital of Wyoming is Cheyenne, which is also its largest city. The population of Wyoming is thinly spread out across the state, with the majority of the populace located in a few cities, such as Cheyenne, Laramie, Casper, and Gillette.

Evidence of native populations shows them to have lived in the area of Montana for about 12,000 years. Between the 18th and 19th centuries, Southern Wyoming was part of the Spanish Empire, then part of Mexico's Alta California. Around the beginning of the 19th century, other European explorers started exploring the rest of the area that is now Wyoming. Alta California was ceded to the United States in 1848 after the Mexican-American War. In the 1850s and 1860s, treaties were signed between settlers and natives declaring regions that were exclusive to both. The breaking of these treaties by settlers resulted in a number of wars between the two groups.

Wyoming became the 44th state of the United States in 1890.

Wyoming's flag was designed by A. C. Keynes, and adopted as the state flag in 1917. In the middle of the flag is the seal of Wyoming, on a bison, which once roamed the plains in great numbers. The position of the seal on the bison represents the tradition of branding livestock. The colours of the flag were chosen from the colours of the United States' flag. Blue is for the sky and mountains, and represents fidelity, justice, and virility. The white represents the purity and uprightness of Wyoming. The red border represents the natives of the region, and the blood of the pioneers who gave their lives reclaiming the land (from Mexico).

The name Wyoming comes from the Territory of Wyoming, which is what the state was called before it became a state. The territory got its name from a poem called Gertrude of Wyoming, referring to Wyoming Valley, which itself got its name from the Munsee word "xwé:wamənk", which means "at the big river flat".