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Cheyenne Frontier Days

The BLM’s General Land Office is open to visitors at Cheyenne Frontier Days.

Visitors learn about Wyoming’s minerals at the Land Office.

BLM showcased two wild horses, which were adopted by an Illinois family at the end of the 10-day celebration.

A young cowgirl watches  paleontologist Dale Hanson clean a fossil.

What is bentonite used for? Is there still land available for homesteading in Wyoming? How much of the land in Wyoming is public? These and hundreds of other questions were answered at this year’s 111th annual Cheyenne Frontier Days.

For the third consecutive year the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) re-created a General Land Office in CFD’s Wild Horse Gulch, giving over 3,000 of the visitors a chance to learn more about the agency and its role in energy development.

BLM employees, dressed in clothing reminiscent of the late 1800s and early 1900s, welcomed the visitors. Once inside, visitors could watch a PowerPoint presentation on energy and mineral development in Wyoming, look at samples of uranium, bentonite, oil, trona and coal, and attend surveying and paleontology demonstrations.

STEP employee, Ashlie Kooper, worked at the General Land Office during the festival. "I enjoyed interacting with the public and met many people from all over the United States,” Kooper said. “It is always exciting to share the knowledge that I have gained while working here [BLM] with other people. People of all ages seemed very interested to learn about all of the wonderful minerals that Wyoming has to offer. Adults and children alike were able to walk away with a fact or two about Wyoming. I think it was neat to be a part of that."

BLM Petroleum Engineer, Jim Gazewood, said the General Land Office encouraged the public to relive the past and observe how the BLM has evolved into the agency it is today.

“The Land Office really provides historical connections that people can actually touch and feel,” Gazewood said. “History comes alive and in my mind the Land Office concept allows us to share that history of how the BLM arrived to its current day operations.”

Besides the displays inside the building, two wild yearlings were present to promote BLM’s Adopt-a-Horse program. These two horses were gathered at the Salt Wells Creek Herd Management Area in southwest Wyoming in January 2007. They were gentled by Steve Mantle in Wheatland until they were brought to Cheyenne in July. A silent bid was held and the horses were adopted by an Illinois family for $800 each.  

BLM Wyoming has already begun planning next year’s celebration and hopes to continue improving and updating the General Land Office in order to keep the public educated on the bureau.  The 2008 Land Office will be open July 18-27 at Frontier Park in Cheyenne.