History of Wyoming
The UP reached the town of Cheyenne, which later became the state capital, in 1867. The railroad eventually spanned the entire state, boosting the population, and creating some of Wyoming's largest cities, such as Laramie, Rock Springs and Evanston. The railroad needed coal, which was discovered in quantity in the southwestern part of the state, especially around Rock Springs. In 1885, a murderous riot known as the Rock Springs Massacre broke out when white miners drove out Chinese miners employed by the Union Pacific Coal Company in Rock Springs.
Grace Raymond Hebard
Hebard made her way west in 1882 to Cheyenne, eight years before Wyoming became a state in 1890. Hebard arrived at the future capital city in the company of her mother and brothers; Fred, Lockwood, and her sister, Alice. She became part of the social scene with other young people at the newly constructed Cheyenne Club, where cattle barons, often wealthy Europeans, held sway over Cheyenne. Yet general violence and roughness were still common. Rowdy cowhands wearing guns in the saloons and prostitutes openly plying their trade in brothels made for a sometimes raucous downtown. Citizens were known to hand out their own form of retribution, however, if things got out of hand. For example, in 1883 a crowd lynched an accused murderer, leaving him hanging from a Cheyenne telephone pole.