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Map of Wyoming Territory Two Years Before Statehood
This map of Wyoming Territory, published by the General Land Office, offers a detailed view of the Wyoming Territory in the late 19th century.
The map identifies land offices, county seats, completed and proposed railroads, military reservations, and Native American reservations, notably the Wind River or Shoshone Indian Reservation.
In 1868, Wyoming was officially designated as a U.S. territory, with its boundaries encompassing parts of what are now Montana, Idaho, Utah, and Colorado. The discovery of gold in the nearby Black Hills and the development of the cattle ranching industry drew settlers to the region. Wyoming’s admission to the Union came on July 10, 1890, when it became the 44th state.
Yellowstone, with its rugged topography, is depicted prominently on this map. Established on March 1, 1872, it was the first national park in the world. The map depicts doxzens of mountains, creeks, lakes and geysers within the park.
Located south of Yellowstone National Park, the Jackson Lake area is shown with some topographical detail, with the Teton Range including several mountains and lakes.
The Wind River or Shoshone Indian Reservation, marked prominently in pink on this map, is one of the key Native American territories in Wyoming. Established in 1868 as part of the Fort Bridger Treaty, the reservation was initially home to the Eastern Shoshone tribe, and the Northern Arapaho were moved there in 1878.
Several early railroads are shown, including the Union Pacific & Western Colorado, the Cheyenne & Northern Railroad, the Laramie, North Fork & Pacific Railroad, the Wyoming, Montana & Pacific Railroad, the Missouri Valley Railroad, and the Oregon Short Line Railroad, guided in part by the important mining towns in the Wyoming Territory.
The General Land Office (GLO) refers to the independent agency in the United States that was in charge of public domain lands. Created in 1812, it assumed the responsibilities for public domain lands from the United States Department of the Treasury. The Treasury had overseen the survey of the Northwest Territory, but as more area was added to the United States, a new agency was necessary to survey the new lands.
Eventually, the GLO would be responsible for the surveying, platting, and sale of the majority of the land west of the Mississippi, with the exception of Texas. When the Secretary of the Interior was created in 1849, the GLO was placed under its authority. Until the creation of the Forest Service in 1905, the GLO also managed forest lands that had been removed from public domain. In additional to managing the fees and sales of land, the GLO produced maps and plans of the areas and plots they surveyed. In 1946, the GLO merged with the United States Grazing Service to become the Bureau of Land Management.
![[Idaho and western parts of Wyoming & Montana--including Yellowstone and Tetons] Amer. Sep. No. 39. Partie Des Etats-Unis](https://storage.googleapis.com/raremaps/img/small/93545.jpg)
