Wyoming's proudly–proclaimed nickname – and its official state motto, 'Equal Rights' – lose some of their kudos when you realise that the reason women were granted the right to vote, in 1869, was (to quote State Symbols USA) "so there would be enough voting citizens to meet the population requirement for statehood."
To be fair however, Wikipedia reports that women first served on juries in Wyoming (Laramie in 1870); Wyoming had the USA's first female justice of the peace (Esther Hobart Morris, South Pass City, in 1870); and it was the first state to elect a female governor – Nellie Tayloe Ross, who took office in January 1925.
Wyoming was the 44th US state, joining the Union in 1890. Although it's the tenth largest in area, it's the least populous of the 48 contiguous states, and this makes it the least densely populated by some margin.
Wyoming has its own registered trademark: the silhouette of a cowboy on a bucking horse (known officially as the Bucking Horse and Rider). This, according to State Symbols USA, is what led to another nickname – the Cowboy State – although this must surely have a lot to do with the state's position at the very heart of the Wild West, not to mention its nomination of Rodeo as the official state sport.
© Haydn Thompson 2021