LCCC Archives: Find It in Our Collection

The History of Laramie County Community College- Started in 1968, Laramie County Community College-Cheyenne Campus is a premier 2-year college located in the southwestern corner of Wyoming.  

A Night with the Basque Sheepherders of Wyoming-The Basque people came from a secluded section of Europe situated between the countries of France and Spain.  They immigrated to Wyoming at the turn of the 20th century and settled in and around the Buffalo, Wyoming area.  They became successful sheepherders and had integrated into American society relatively well.  Aside from their auspicious assimilation to the American economy and culture, the Basque-Americans retained many of their original cultural traditions.  Dancing and language are very important to the Basque-American population.  In 2005, Laramie County Community College Ludden Library hosted an event to celebrate this wonderful and rich community.  It was coined as An Evening of Diversity: The Basque Sheepherders of Wyoming.  

The Holocaust- From 1933-1945.  The Holocaust was the systematic extermination of the Jewish population of Europe. As the Nazi German Wehrmacht marched across Europe before and during World War II, it removed any of the Jewish inhabitants that resided in those countries.

Heart Mountain Confinement Camp. From 1942-1945.  The Roosevelt administration felt the the Japanese-American citizenry of the Western coastal states were an immediate threat to the security of the United States after the attack on Pearl Harbor.  In order to remove the threat, the President came up with Executive Order 9066, which allowed authorities to remove Japanese-Americans to be imprisoned at various locations in the interior of the United States.

The Blizzard of 1949-  January 1949, for 4 days snow storms with high winds pelted the western plains from southern Colorado and Kansas to Canada.  These storms were fierce in their nature, and ended up shutting down the region.  In many places along the plains, supplies needed to airdropped for humans and livestock so that both could survive.   

Chinese Americans in Wyoming- Chinese Americans came to Wyoming for the opportunities with the Union Pacific Railroad.  They stayed in the territory and later in the state for coal mining.  Thriving Chinese communities began to spring up in towns like Evanston and in Rock Springs in Wyoming.  Tensions with the white communities were evident, and later legislation was implemented that pushed them out of the state and country to go back to China. 

Buffalo Bill Cody- A legendary character, William Cody was a Pony Express rider, a scout for the U.S. military, and an overall frontiersman.  He later realized his admiration for acting and began his Wild West Show.  The show ran in various forms from the 1880's through 1913 and was extremely popular. Buffalo Bill Cody died in 1917.  

Ranches of Southeastern Wyoming- The Remount Ranch is located west of the city of Cheyenne, Wyoming along Interstate 80.   This area has a long history.  The ranch has been owned by several people, it was homesteaded in the 1890's, later was purchased by the author of "My Friend Flicka" and "Thunderhead" Mary O'Hara, and today it is owned by a private entity that runs a cattle ranch there.