Rock Springs is a city in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, USA. It has a population of some 24,000 people and is the 5th most populated city in Wyoming. It is rich in coal and has a large refining plant which provides employment for many. We booked into our RV Park which was surrounded by hillls.
The RV Park was all gravel with few trees.
Afer setting up we were off to lunch. So around the corner from the RV Park we found a restaurant.
Having lived in TX and eating at lots of Mexican Restaurants we were impressed by this pretty place.
Their margarita's are almost as big as those in TX.
From there we travelled downtown to the Rock Springs Historical Museum which in its early life had been the City Town Hall, the police station, the fire station and the Jail.
In the area of the Jail the stories of Butch Cassidy and Clamilty Jane and many other notables are there to be read.
Calamity Jane.
This is the book which itimizes the many crimes of the inmates.
The Jail comes with a padded cell.
It has musical instuments and something for everyone.
The town grew up as a rich coal area and to this day continues to produce coal and has a huge refinery outside of town.
It is also had a railroad which became the Union Pacific which took employees from not only America but from overseas. This "Golden Spike" was were the railroad joined up with the Union Pacific.
With the advent of the Pony Express they preferred orphans as employees.
This is the area of the Fire Station.
There is also a display of elegant dresses of the period. At this time weddings were celbrated mostly in June as it seems that the women had their annual baths in May which meant they were still smelling nice by the time they were married.
There are clothes from all around the world. Scottish.
This is what th e new immigrant bought with them and there were many of them so in 1910, a concerned effort was made to "Americaize " them through language and citizen classes. Immigration quotas were imposed 1924.
Slovenion
A US Army Nurse Corps uniform 1941. Nurses worked closer to the front lines in WW11 than ever before. nurses received 1,619 medals,citations and commendations during the war. 17 medals were awarded posthumously to nurses who died aas a result of enemy fire.
The uniform of John Martin Angelovic. Electrician 1st Class who disappeared on the U.S.S Cyclops during WW1 in the Burmuda Triangle.
In 1890 , the Wyoming Legislature granted 30,000 acres for a hospital for the miners who became disabled or incapacity to labor while working in the mines of the state. Unfortunately it was destroyed by fire in 1897. It was subsequently rebuilt and eventually became the Sweetwater Country memorial Hospital which closed due to the nursing program being discontinued.
There is also one of the earlist CPAP machines on display.
The Indians also feature here.
A bed of the time.
It was a fantactic museum with so much history.
Cheers,
Ross and Beverley
