Cowboys and ranches
Cattle and sheep ranching filled Wyoming's open range, and real photo postcards of roundups, branding, chuck wagons, cowboys, sheepherders and ranch headquarters are popular with Western collectors. Photographers such as Charles Belden, who ranched near Meeteetse, made well-known images of cowboy life that appeared on cards.
Frontier Days and rodeos
Cheyenne Frontier Days began in 1897 and became one of the most famous rodeos in the country. Real photos of bronc riders, cowgirls, parades and Native American participants are collected, and early Frontier Days cards are especially popular. Smaller rodeos in towns such as Lander, Sheridan and Cody were photographed too.
The Union Pacific
The Union Pacific crossed southern Wyoming in the late 1860s, and towns such as Cheyenne, Laramie, Rawlins, Rock Springs, Green River and Evanston grew along it. Depots, roundhouses and trains appear on real photo cards. The Lincoln Highway later followed much of the same route, and early highway views are collected.
Coal and oil
Coal mines at Rock Springs, Hanna, Kemmerer, Sheridan and Gillette supplied the railroad, and coal camps were home to miners from many countries. Real photos of mines and camps are collected. Oil booms around Casper and the Salt Creek field created boom towns and refineries in the 1910s and 1920s.
Yellowstone
Yellowstone became the first national park in 1872. Early cards show stagecoaches, the Old Faithful Inn, opened in 1904, the Lake Hotel, geysers and visitors. Early real photos of stagecoaches and hotel life are more collectible than common scenic views. See national park postcards.
Dude ranches and Cody
Cody, founded with the help of Buffalo Bill Cody, and the dude ranches of the Big Horn Basin and Jackson Hole drew visitors from the East. Early cards of Cody, its Irma Hotel and dude ranches are collected.
Places and subjects to look for
- Cheyenne: Frontier Days, the capitol and the railroad.
- Union Pacific towns: Laramie, Rawlins, Rock Springs and Evanston.
- Casper and Salt Creek: oil fields and boom towns.
- Sheridan and the Big Horns: ranches, coal and dude ranches.
- Cody and the Big Horn Basin: Buffalo Bill's town and ranches.
- Yellowstone and Jackson Hole: early hotels, stagecoaches and ranches.
- Small towns with main streets and depots across the state.
Real photos versus printed views
Yellowstone scenery and later chrome tourist cards were printed in quantity. Real photos of ranches, rodeos, railroad towns, coal camps and oil fields carry most of the value in a Wyoming collection.
What is common
Printed Yellowstone geysers and canyons, Devils Tower and later chrome highway and dude ranch cards are plentiful.
Why early Wyoming cards are scarce
Wyoming had fewer than 150,000 people in 1910, the smallest population of any state. Photographers in its ranch towns, coal camps and oil fields often made only a few dozen copies of each view. Many of those cards were mailed far away, and some places they show have since faded. A real photo of a Wyoming roundup, camp or main street may survive in only a handful of copies.
Native American subjects
The Wind River Reservation, home to the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho, and participants in Frontier Days and other events appear on early cards. Cards with identified people and places are historically important.
Questions about Wyoming postcards
Are Cheyenne Frontier Days postcards valuable? Early real photos of riders, parades and participants are popular with rodeo and Western collectors.
Are Wyoming cowboy postcards collectible? Yes, especially real photos of roundups and ranch life.
Are early Yellowstone postcards worth anything? Early views of stagecoaches and hotels are more collectible than common scenics.
Do you buy collections with Wyoming cards? Yes, complete collections, by mail.