Wyoming Famous People

Famous Americans: History and Biographies

Wyoming Famous People: Greeting from Wyoming

Links to histories and biographies of the famous people of Wyoming. Many famous people of Wyoming have made significant contributions to the history of our nation and the state of Wyoming. These famous Americans, famous entertainers, famous players, famous scientist, famous singers, famous statesmen, famous women, heroes, great explorers, and others Wyoming famous Americans have all made Wyoming their home. This list includes Wyoming historical figures, celebrities and those individuals of Wyoming who have influenced the lives of others.

Famous People from Wyoming

  • James Bridger (1804 - 1881) Trapper, guide and storyteller.
  • Joseph M. Carey (1845 - 1924) Mayor of Cheyenne, first US Senator from Wyoming, Wyoming Governor; born in Milton, Delaware.
  • Dick Cheney (1941 - ) White House Chief of Staff to President Ford, US congressman, Secretary of Defense and Vice president of the US; grew up in Casper.
  • William "Buffalo Bill" Cody (1846 - 1917) Founder of Cody, Wyoming and Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in Nebraska; born in Iowa.
  • Curt Gowdy (1919 - ) Sportscaster, TV play-by-play man for AFL, NFL and major league baseball.
  • Leonard_S._Hobbs (1896 - 1977) Developed the engine for turbo jet airplanes; born in Carbon County.
  • Patricia MacLachlan (1938 - ) Author of children's books and Newberry Medal for Sarah, Plain and Tall; born in Cheyenne.
  • Esther Hobart Morris (1814 - 1902) Helped women receive the right to vote in Wyoming and the nation's first female judge; born in New York.
  • Jackson Pollock (1912 - 1956)  Born Paul Jackson Pollock in Cody, Wyoming, Jackson Pollock first studied painting in Los Angeles. He then moved to New York City where he held his first solo show in 1943. Known for his abstract and surrealist art, his work was widely known and exhibited internationally. Instead of using a traditional easel for his work, he would place his canvas on a wall on the floor and pour or drip paint on it from the can. Instead of using brushes, he used trowels or knives to apply his paint. He is generally believed to be one of the pioneers of the Abstract Impressionism movement and one of the most important figures in American art in the late twentieth century.
  • Nellie Davis Tayloe Ross (1876 - 1977) Governor of Wyoming; born November near St. Joseph, Missouri.
  • Jedediah S. Smith (1799 - 1830) Mountain man and first American to get to California from the East.
  • Alan K. Simpson (1931 - ) Wyoming senator from 1979-1997.
  • Francis E. Warren (1844 - 1929) First state governor.
  • Chief WashakieChief Washakie (c. 1798 - February 20, 1900) was a renowned warrior first mentioned in 1840 in the written record of the American fur trapper, Osborne Russell. In 1851, at the urging of trapper Jim Bridger, Washakie led a band of Shoshones to the council meetings of the Treaty of Fort Laramie (1851). He was noted for his exploits in fighting and also for his friendship with the white pioneers. When wagon trains were passing through Shoshone country in the 1850s, Washakie and his people aided the overland travelers in fording streams and recovering strayed cattle. He was also a scout for the U.S. Army.  Essentially from that time until his death, he was considered the head of the Eastern Shoshones by the representatives of the United States government. Much about Washakie's early life remains unknown, although several family traditions suggest similar origins. Washakie was born in 1798 to his mother Lost Woman, who was a Tussawehee (White Knife) Shoshoni by birth, and his father, Crooked Leg (Paseego), an Umatilla rescued as a boy from slave traders at Wakemap and Celilo in 1786 by Weasel Lungs, a Tussawehee dog soldier (White Knife) Shoshoni medicine man
  • James G. Watt (1938 - ) Former secretary of the Interior; born in Lusk.

More Famous People of Wyoming

Find more more Wyoming famous people below. You may not even realize many of these famous people were born in Wyoming or notable associated with Wyoming, including actors, actresses, explorers, historical figures, inventors, musicians, novelists, professional athletes, important politicians, singers, sport stars and more.

  • John Colter trader
  • June Etta Downey educator
  • Thomas Fitzpatrick mountain man and guide
  • Tom Horn detective
  • Isabel Jewell actress
  • Velma Linford writer
  • Ted Olson writer
  • John "Portugee" Phillips frontiersman
  • Alan Swallow publisher and author
US Famous People
US Famous People
Learn history through the biographies of the famous people from your state.