Wyoming State Capitol in Cheyenne
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The construction of the capitol was from 1886 to 1890, prior to Wyoming gaining statehood. Born in 1867 in the path of the transcontinental railroad, the Union Pacific crews arrived as they laid the tracks westward. Cheyenne soon laid claim to a higher status than older Wyoming settlements.
The exterior approach to the front steps of the capitol features the State Seal in granite as well as two statues. The architecture of the building is renaissance revival, reminiscent of the National Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. The sandstone for the building came from a quarry in Rawlins, Wyoming and Fort Collins, Colorado. The building's cornerstone was laid on May 18, 1887. While standing in the center of the rotunda, looking up at the base of the dome directly overhead you see the stained glass, imported from England. From underneath it sparkles with blue, purple, and green hues, but the upper side glistens with red, yellow, and orange.
The Act to grant women the right to vote was passed by the First Territorial Assembly and signed by Governor John Allen Campbell on December 10, 1869. Wyoming was thus first government in the world to grant women the right to vote. Morris was also appointed as the first female Justice of the Peace in the territory during 1870.
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