Thank you for planning a field trip to the Wyoming State Capitol Complex to visit the State Museum, State Capitol, State Supreme Court, and/or the Historic Governor's Mansion! This webpage will give you, your fellow teachers, and your chaperones all the information they need to make sure your students have a fun, educational, and successful field trip! Make sure you read all the info below, and then share this link with every adult coming on the field trip.  

Capitol Complex Map:

Where to Drop Off Students:

There are only two designated (and safe) locations for your buses to drop off your students.

• Capitol: Students should be dropped off behind the Capitol, in the Designated Bus Lane off 26th Street.
   
• Museum, Governor's Mansion, and/or Supreme Court: Students should be dropped off in the Designated Bus Lane at the Museum, off Warren Ave.  
   
• If your school is splitting up and going to the Capitol and another location, have the bus drop off the Capitol group first, then head over to the Museum.
   
• These drop off locations are marked in Orange on the map above.      

Where to Park:

There are two designated bus parking locations.

• Museum: You can park up to two buses in the Museum's Bus Lane. Even the bus that dropped off students at the Capitol can be parked here... as long as your students have a Field Trip with the Museum booked as well. 
   
• Capitol, Governor's Mansion, and/or Supreme Court: If your school does not have a Field Trip at the Museum booked, your buses need to be parked at the parking lot on the Northwest corner of Pioneer Avenue and 25th Street. This is also overflow bus parking if the Museum Bus Lane is ever full.
   
• Please note, if you are going to the Governor's Mansion or Supreme Court - but not going to the Museum - your students will be dropped off at the Museum, but your buses will be parked at the Pioneer Avenue Parking Lot.
   
• These parking locations are marked in Blue on the map above. 
   

What to Do About Lunches: 

If you have requested to eat at the Capitol Complex, here are your directions.

• Every group should bring their lunches to wherever they are going to first, in the morning.  
   
• If you requested a place for lunch, you have an indoor location assigned to you. This location is shown on your "Tour Plan" - attached to your calendar invite. A staff member for that location will show you where you are eating.
   
• You are more than welcome to eat on the Museum lawn, Capitol lawn, or Supreme Court lawn.
   
  • Please do not eat or play right near the Museum flagpoles, as there are office spaces right on the other side of those windows.
     
• Please remember to throw away all trash and clean up after yourselves.

Where Staff Members Will Meet You:

Capitol Complex staff members will meet you and your students at the designated spots below, at your scheduled time.

• Capitol: Staff will meet the morning group near the Designated Bus Lane, behind the Capitol. Staff will meet the afternoon group in front of the Capitol, to the right of the giant State Seal.
   
• Museum: Staff will meet all groups inside the main doors of the building.
   
• Mansion: Staff will meet all groups in front of the Mansion, outside the building. 
   
• Supreme Court: Staff will meet all groups in front of the Court, outside the building. 
   

What to Do If You're Early:

Capitol Complex Staff are unable to begin your program earlier than you are scheduled. Oftentimes, volunteers are leading these tours and may only be scheduled to arrive five minutes before your tour is scheduled to begin. With that in mind, here are a few notes about arriving early.  

• If you arrive early, feel free to play on the Museum, Capitol, or Supreme Court lawns. Once again, please do not play directly near the flagpoles at the Museum.
   
• If your group needs bathroom breaks, you may use the bathrooms at the Museum, Capitol, or Supreme Court - beginning at 8:00 AM. However, please do not let your groups roam the buildings before your program. 
   
• If you have a larger amount of time before your group is scheduled to begin, you may:
   
  • ​Visit the Museum Galleries - beginning at 9:00 AM.
    
    
  • Check out the "Capitol Grounds Exploration" activities at the bottom of this page.
     
• Please be sure you are at your meeting place by your scheduled start time.
  
   

What to Do If You're Running Late:

Your Field Trip may be tightly squeezed between another school's program. So, please arrive on time if at all possible. But, we understand things happen. With that in mind, here are a few notes about running late.  

• If you are running 5 minutes late or more, please send your staff contact a text or phone call. Phone numbers are listed in your calendar invite.
   
• If possible, we will try to adjust your times to accommodate for the late arrival.
   
• If we have another program after yours, we may need to shorten your program to ensure we are still ending at the correct time.
   

Introduction:

Your Tour Plan may have time scheduled for "Capitol Grounds Exploration." This allows your group to walk around the Capitol Complex and look at the art and other interesting things around the complex. You can also use these activities if you arrive early or end up with extra time. Each location in the complex has a couple things listed below. Every item (within each location) can be found without having to cross a street. 

State Museum:

• Orienteering Course:
   
  • If you're looking for an activity that may take a bit more time, you can have your students try their hands at the Museum's "Art in Nature" orienteering course. Head into the museum and ask the volunteer at the front desk for copies of the orienteering course and for compasses. Your students can then plot their way across the Museum's south lawn as they learn about native trees and find historic sidewalk sculptures - carved into the actual sidewalk. These sculptures were created in the late 1930's by the Works Progress Administration. The WPA was a part of the New Deal, and paid unemployed people to carry out public works.   
     
• Sculptures:
   
  • Find the boot statue outside the Museum's front door. It is titled "Licensed to Boot," was created by art teachers Connie Norman and Chad Blakley, and was donated in 2004. There are 24 different 8-foot-tall boots around Cheyenne! Please don't let the kids touch the boot or climb on it.
     
  • On the Southwest corner of the Museum lawn, find the "Wyoming Heritage" art piece. This was created in 1984 by James W. Knadler. While it is showing its age, the artwork shows pictures of different moments of Wyoming history. Have your students check out the different pictures and see if any of the pictures depict something they're learning about in school. 
     
• Memorials and Monuments:
   
  • ​On the Northwest corner of the Museum lawn, you'll find the first of three memorials - the Wyoming Remembers memorial. It gives thanks to servicemen and servicewomen who gave their lives to help protect the United States. According to the US Department of Veteran's Affairs, there are currently 47,000 veterans who live in Wyoming. That is equal to 11.4% of our adult population. This means that Wyoming has the second highest veteran percent of all US states! As of 2022, there were even 230 veterans from WWII and 960 veterans from the Korean War in Wyoming. According to the Department of Defense, as of 2021, there are 3,362 servicemen and servicewomen in active duty or reserve here in Wyoming. Most of them are in the Air Force. 
     
  • Nearby, you'll find the monument to the Wyoming Army and Air Force National Guard. This was erected in 1994 to honor National Guard members from Wyoming. The Department of Defense reported that there are 2,854 men and women in these branches living here in Wyoming, as of 2021. 
     
  • If your school is celebrating America's 250th birthday (July 4, 2026), you might want to take a peek at the small "Patriot's Marker." It memorializes the Revolutionary War and our nation's first steps as a country.
     
• Group Picture:
   
  • Take a picture of your class or your group outside the State Museum.
    

State Capitol:

• Capitol Construction Chat:
   
  • For an activity that will take a little longer, you can talk to the students about how the State Capitol was built in three different stages. Take a look at the educational signage in front of the Capitol. Have the students find the parts of the building that were built in 1888, 1890, and 1917! Make sure you have your students feel the stone wall of the Capitol; those stones were put in place over 100 years ago! 
     
• Sculptures:
   
  • See if your students can find the statue celebrating Wyoming's centennial, back in 1990. It is called "Buffalo," and was sculpted by Dan Ostermiller. Before Europeans invaded North America, we had about 60,000,000 bison roaming the continent. By 1884, we were down to 325 bison left in the world. Luckily, bison did not go extinct; you can find 500,000 of them in North America today. Only 15,000 the world's North American bison are considered "wild" and "free roaming." Of those, 5,000 are in Yellowstone National Park.  
     
  • I bet you can guess which statue was donated by the Wyoming Stock Growers Association. Find the little calf sculpture in front of the Capitol. This artwork was created by Jerry Palen in 2005. Most years, there are about 1,300,000 cattle in Wyoming. Our last census counted about 577,000 people in Wyoming. So, we have 2.25 cattle for every human! Wyoming also has about 335,000 sheep!
     
  • Now find the sculpture that is a favorite of many students, the "Spirit of Wyoming." This amazing work of art was sculpted in 1986 by Edward Fraughton. Cowboys were a big part of Wyoming's history. While often romanticized, true cowboys filled Wyoming during the end of the 1800s and early 1900s. Today, Wyoming is also home to the largest outdoor rodeo in the world - Cheyenne Frontier Days! 
     
• Great Seal of Wyoming:
   
  • Outside the Capitol building's front steps, your students can find the Great Seal of Wyoming. 
     
• Group Picture:
   
  • Take a group picture of your class or group, outside the Capitol. The best place for this picture is around the back of the Capitol, near the Capitol Bus Lane. 

State Supreme Court:

• Time Capsule:
   
  • On the righthand side of the sidewalk that heads leads to the front doors of the Supreme Court, you'll find a time capsule. It was placed in the ground in 1975, so 2025 marks 50 years that it's been buried. However, it won't be opened until the year 2075! Talk to your kids about what life in Wyoming looked like 100 years ago, and what it might look like 100 years from now.
     
• Sculptures:
   
  • Outside the Supreme Court, you can find a sculpture of Esther Hobart Morris. This artwork was created by Joel Turner in 2022. Morris was the first female Justice of the Peace in the entire country. She was appointed in 1870, one year after women were granted the right to vote in Wyoming. Women would not be able to vote nationwide until 1920, when the 19th Amendment was ratified. You'll find a large sculpture of Esther Hobart Morris inside the Capitol. 
     
  • Next to Esther Hobart Morris, you'll find a sculpture of Justice Willis Van Devanter - also created by Joel Turner in 2022. Devanter had a controversial career. For example, in his younger years, he served as a lawyer who helped to block prosecution of the assassins hired by the Wyoming Stock Grower's Association during the Johnson County War. Later, he served as Chief Justice for the Wyoming Supreme Court and as a justice on the US Supreme Court.
     
  • If your students look up high on the Supreme Court building, they'll see multiple sculpted reliefs on the building. Have your students walk around the front of the building and see what is pictured in these reliefs.
     
  • On the southwest corner of the Supreme Court lawn, you'll find a sculpture titled "Native Girl" that was created in 2022 by George Lundeen. Native American people lived in the land that is now Wyoming for about 13,000 years before Europeans first arrived on this continent. Everywhere you walk in Wyoming was once Native land.
     
  • Near "Native Girl," you'll find a historic marker for the Deadwood Trail. This marker was erected in 1957 to commemorate the Deadwood Trail, also known as the Cheyenne - Black Hills Trail. For 11 years (before railroads connected the two cities) stage coaches took people from the railroad hub of Cheyenne, Wyoming to the gold rush town of Deadwood, South Dakota. This entire journey would take 50 long hours. This land rightfully belonged to the Sioux and Arapaho people, based on the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty. But, after gold was found in the Black Hills, the US government ignored the treaty they signed. 
     
• Group Picture:
  
  • Take a group picture of your class or group, outside the Supreme Court.
    ​

Historic Governor's Mansion:

• Flaw in the North Wall:
   
  • Check out the north wall of the Mansion. They began laying the bricks for the building from both ends, at the same time. So, when they got to the middle, it didn't quite line up. The workers had to cut tiny little bricks to make the two halves of the wall fit together. Have your students find this "Flaw in the North Wall".
     
• Sculpture:
  
  • There is one statue in front of the Mansion, and that is of Nellie Tayloe Ross. Nellie Tayloe Ross was a Kindergarten teacher who married William Ross; he was elected to be the 12th Governor of Wyoming. When he died in office, she was overwhelming elected to replace him as Wyoming's 13th governor. She was the first female governor in the United States, and the only female governor that Wyoming has ever had. She went on to become the first female Director of the US Mint, serving from 1933 to 1953. 
     
• Group Picture:
  
  
  • Take a group picture of your class or group, outside the Historic Governor's Mansion.