Lander, Wyoming
Encyclopedia
Lander is a city in, and the county seat
of, Fremont County, Wyoming
, United States
. Named for transcontinental explorer Frederick W. Lander
, Lander is located in central Wyoming, along the Middle Fork of the Popo Agie River. A tourism center with several dude ranch
es nearby, Lander is located just south of the Wind River Indian Reservation
. The population was 6,867 at the 2000 census
.
Since 1998, Lander and Fremont County have been represented in the Wyoming State Senate by economist
Cale Case
(Republican
).
, thus originating the slogan "where rails end and trails begin." Originally intended to be a transcontinental mainline to Coos Bay, Oregon
or Eureka, California
, the line never went further west, and service to Lander was abandoned in 1972.
Lander is also home to the world's first professional rodeo, which continues to this day in coordination with the town's raucous Fourth Of July festivities.
Present day Lander is home to numerous State and Federal government offices, including the U.S. Forest Service (Washakie Ranger District, Shoshone National Forest), the Bureau of Land Management (Lander Field Office), the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and a Resident Agency of the Denver Field Office of the FBI, as well as the Wyoming Life Resource Center and the Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality. One of the country's major bronze foundries, Eagle Bronze, is located in Lander, as is the International Headquarters of the National Outdoor Leadership School
and other environment and land-related non profit organizations including offices of the Wyoming Outdoor Council
, the Wyoming office of The Nature Conservancy
, the Wyoming Wildlife Federation
, and Wyoming Catholic College.
In addition to the public sector and a traditional agriculture and grazing economy, the economy of Lander and the region are supported by substantial tourism. Located at the foot of the Wind River Mountains, Lander serves as a point of departure for camping, hunting, fishing, wilderness travel, climbing, and mountaineering. In addition to the wilderness climbing and mountaineering opportunities in the Wind River Range, rock climbing areas close to town (most prominently, Sinks Canyon and "Wild Iris," located at Limestone Mountain) attract significant numbers of rock climbers to Lander.
The town is one of the headquarters of Asthmatic Kitty Records, founded by Sufjan Stevens
.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 4.4 square miles (11.4 km²), all of it land.
Lander experiences a continental climate
(Köppen
Dfb) with cold, dry winters and hot, wetter summers.
of 2000, there were 6,867 people, 2,794 households, and 1,824 families residing in the city. The population density
was 1,554.0 people per square mile (599.9/km²). There were 3,036 housing units at an average density of 687.0 per square mile (265.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.81% White, 0.15% African American, 5.99% Native American, 0.32% Asian, 0.70% from other races
, and 2.04% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.48% of the population.
There were 2,794 households out of which 30.4% had child
ren under the age of 18 living with them, 51.5% were married couples
living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.7% were non-families. 30.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.91.
In the city the population was spread out with 24.1% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 26.7% from 25 to 44, 25.5% from 45 to 64, and 16.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 95.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $32,397, and the median income for a family was $41,958. Males had a median income of $30,602 versus $20,916 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $18,389. About 9.9% of families and 13.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.3% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over.
Wyoming Life Resource Center (WLRC), originally the Wyoming State Training School (WSTS), a residential facility for physically and mentally disabled people, is located in Lander. The facility was operated by the Wyoming Board of Charities and Reform
until that agency was dissolved as a result of a state constitutional amendment passed in November 1990.
The United States Postal Service
operates the Lander Post Office.
. Lander Valley High School is the main high school. It is located just west of Main Street after the demolition of the historic high school. Despite attempts to preserve the school the land was sold and is now a business complex. Pathfinder is the alternative high school.
In 2007, Wyoming Catholic College
, a four-year, coeducational, private college was founded in Lander. The college was only the second four-year brick and mortar
institution of higher education ever in Wyoming. It was designed to give students a general liberal arts education via a Great Books curriculum, while allowing them to develop morally and spiritually in a small Catholic community. It uses an Outdoor Adventure Program to take students into the nearby Wind River Mountains to teach leadership, decision-making skills, and to ignite their imaginations. The college received its Apostolic Blessing in 2005 from Most Reverend David L. Ricken, DD, JCL, the Bishop of Cheyenne
. At present, Wyoming Catholic College has achieved pre-accreditation through The American Academy for Liberal Education
.
County seat
A county seat is an administrative center, or seat of government, for a county or civil parish. The term is primarily used in the United States....
of, Fremont County, Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Named for transcontinental explorer Frederick W. Lander
Frederick W. Lander
Frederick West Lander was a transcontinental United States explorer, general in the Union Army during the American Civil War, and a prolific poet.-Birth and early years:...
, Lander is located in central Wyoming, along the Middle Fork of the Popo Agie River. A tourism center with several dude ranch
Dude ranch
The guest ranch, also known as a dude ranch, is a type of ranch oriented towards visitors or tourism. It is considered a form of agritourism.-History:...
es nearby, Lander is located just south of the Wind River Indian Reservation
Wind River Indian Reservation
Wind River Indian Reservation is an Indian reservation shared by the Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho tribes of Native Americans in the central western portion of the U.S. state of Wyoming...
. The population was 6,867 at the 2000 census
United States Census, 2000
The Twenty-second United States Census, known as Census 2000 and conducted by the Census Bureau, determined the resident population of the United States on April 1, 2000, to be 281,421,906, an increase of 13.2% over the 248,709,873 persons enumerated during the 1990 Census...
.
Since 1998, Lander and Fremont County have been represented in the Wyoming State Senate by economist
Economist
An economist is a professional in the social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy...
Cale Case
Cale Case
Cale Case is an economist, businessman, and politician from Lander in central Wyoming. Since 1998, Case has served in the Wyoming State Senate. From 1994 to 1998, he was a member of the Wyoming House of Representatives. He is considered a principal advocate in Wyoming of individual freedom and...
(Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
).
History
Lander was known as Pushroot, Fort Brown, and Fort Auger prior to its current name. On October 1, 1906, Lander became the westward terminus of the "Cowboy Line" of the Chicago and North Western RailwayChicago and North Western Railway
The Chicago and North Western Transportation Company was a Class I railroad in the Midwest United States. It was also known as the North Western. The railroad operated more than of track as of the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states before retrenchment in the late 1970s...
, thus originating the slogan "where rails end and trails begin." Originally intended to be a transcontinental mainline to Coos Bay, Oregon
Coos Bay, Oregon
Coos Bay is a city located in Coos County, Oregon, United States, where the Coos River enters Coos Bay on the Pacific Ocean. The city borders the city of North Bend, and together they are often referred to as one entity called either Coos Bay-North Bend or the Bay Area...
or Eureka, California
Eureka, California
Eureka is the principal city and the county seat of Humboldt County, California, United States. Its population was 27,191 at the 2010 census, up from 26,128 at the 2000 census....
, the line never went further west, and service to Lander was abandoned in 1972.
Lander is also home to the world's first professional rodeo, which continues to this day in coordination with the town's raucous Fourth Of July festivities.
Economy
National Outdoor Leadership School
The National Outdoor Leadership School , is a non-profit outdoor education school based in the United States dedicated to teaching environmental ethics, technical outdoor skills, safety and judgment, and leadership on extended wilderness expeditions...
and other environment and land-related non profit organizations including offices of the Wyoming Outdoor Council
Wyoming Outdoor Council
The Wyoming Outdoor Council is Wyoming’s oldest, independent, membership-based conservation organization. Wyoming native Tom Bell founded the group in 1967, along with Carrol R. Noble, Margaret E. “Mardy” Murie, Dr. Harold McCracken, Ann Lindahl and others...
, the Wyoming office of The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy
The Nature Conservancy is a US charitable environmental organization that works to preserve the plants, animals, and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive....
, the Wyoming Wildlife Federation
Wyoming Wildlife Federation
The Wyoming Wildlife Federation , established in 1937 and as of April 2010 with 5000 members, is Wyoming's oldest and largest statewide sportsmen/conservation organization....
, and Wyoming Catholic College.
In addition to the public sector and a traditional agriculture and grazing economy, the economy of Lander and the region are supported by substantial tourism. Located at the foot of the Wind River Mountains, Lander serves as a point of departure for camping, hunting, fishing, wilderness travel, climbing, and mountaineering. In addition to the wilderness climbing and mountaineering opportunities in the Wind River Range, rock climbing areas close to town (most prominently, Sinks Canyon and "Wild Iris," located at Limestone Mountain) attract significant numbers of rock climbers to Lander.
The town is one of the headquarters of Asthmatic Kitty Records, founded by Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens
Sufjan Stevens is an American singer-songwriter and musician born in Detroit, Michigan. Stevens first began releasing his music on Asthmatic Kitty, a label co-founded with his stepfather, beginning with the 1999 release, A Sun Came...
.
Geography and climate
Lander is located at 42°49′59"N 108°43′57"W (42.833035, -108.732633).According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 4.4 square miles (11.4 km²), all of it land.
Lander experiences a continental climate
Humid continental climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region typified by large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot summers and cold winters....
(Köppen
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by Crimea German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen himself, notably in 1918 and 1936...
Dfb) with cold, dry winters and hot, wetter summers.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 6,867 people, 2,794 households, and 1,824 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 1,554.0 people per square mile (599.9/km²). There were 3,036 housing units at an average density of 687.0 per square mile (265.2/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.81% White, 0.15% African American, 5.99% Native American, 0.32% Asian, 0.70% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 2.04% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.48% of the population.
There were 2,794 households out of which 30.4% had child
Child
Biologically, a child is generally a human between the stages of birth and puberty. Some vernacular definitions of a child include the fetus, as being an unborn child. The legal definition of "child" generally refers to a minor, otherwise known as a person younger than the age of majority...
ren under the age of 18 living with them, 51.5% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.7% were non-families. 30.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.91.
In the city the population was spread out with 24.1% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 26.7% from 25 to 44, 25.5% from 45 to 64, and 16.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 95.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.2 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $32,397, and the median income for a family was $41,958. Males had a median income of $30,602 versus $20,916 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $18,389. About 9.9% of families and 13.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 19.3% of those under age 18 and 9.3% of those age 65 or over.
Government and infrastructure
The Wyoming Department of HealthWyoming Department of Health
The Wyoming Department of Health is a state agency of Wyoming. It has its headquarters in the Hathaway Building in Cheyenne.-History:...
Wyoming Life Resource Center (WLRC), originally the Wyoming State Training School (WSTS), a residential facility for physically and mentally disabled people, is located in Lander. The facility was operated by the Wyoming Board of Charities and Reform
Wyoming Board of Charities and Reform
The Wyoming Board of Charities and Reform was a state agency of Wyoming that operated the state's charitable and penal institutions.-History:...
until that agency was dissolved as a result of a state constitutional amendment passed in November 1990.
The United States Postal Service
United States Postal Service
The United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States...
operates the Lander Post Office.
Education
Public education in the city of Lander is provided by Fremont County School District #1Fremont County School District Number 1
Fremont County School District #1 is a resplendent, immaculately conceived, ambitious, prestigious back-water public school district based in Lander, Wyoming, United States.-Geography:...
. Lander Valley High School is the main high school. It is located just west of Main Street after the demolition of the historic high school. Despite attempts to preserve the school the land was sold and is now a business complex. Pathfinder is the alternative high school.
In 2007, Wyoming Catholic College
Wyoming Catholic College
Wyoming Catholic College is a private, Catholic liberal arts college in Lander, Wyoming. It is the only private four-year institution of higher education in the state.-Accreditation:...
, a four-year, coeducational, private college was founded in Lander. The college was only the second four-year brick and mortar
Brick and mortar
Brick and mortar in its most simplest usage is used to describe the physical presence of a building or other structure...
institution of higher education ever in Wyoming. It was designed to give students a general liberal arts education via a Great Books curriculum, while allowing them to develop morally and spiritually in a small Catholic community. It uses an Outdoor Adventure Program to take students into the nearby Wind River Mountains to teach leadership, decision-making skills, and to ignite their imaginations. The college received its Apostolic Blessing in 2005 from Most Reverend David L. Ricken, DD, JCL, the Bishop of Cheyenne
Cheyenne, Wyoming
Cheyenne is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Wyoming and the county seat of Laramie County. It is the principal city of the Cheyenne, Wyoming, Metropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of Laramie County. The population is 59,466 at the 2010 census. Cheyenne is the...
. At present, Wyoming Catholic College has achieved pre-accreditation through The American Academy for Liberal Education
American Academy for Liberal Education
The American Academy for Liberal Education is a United States educational accreditation organization.- Accreditation :AALE provides two types of accreditation for higher education institutions that offer general education programs in the liberal arts...
.
Area attractions
- Sinks Canyon State ParkSinks Canyon State ParkSinks Canyon State Park is a Wyoming state park located in the Wind River Mountains, 6 miles southwest of Lander, Wyoming on Wyoming Highway 131. The park is named for a portion of the Middle Fork of the Popo Agie River...
- Shoshone National ForestShoshone National ForestShoshone National Forest is the first federally protected National Forest in the United States and covers nearly 2.5 million acres in the state of Wyoming. Originally a part of the Yellowstone Timberland Reserve, the forest was created by an act of Congress and signed into law by U.S....
- Wind River Mountains
- Red Desert (Wyoming)Red Desert (Wyoming)The Red Desert is a high altitude desert and sagebrush steppe located in south central Wyoming, comprising approximately 9,320 square miles...