Historic Train from Denver to Cheyenne for Frontier Days

It was 142 years ago on the Nation’s Birthday that General Grenville M. Dodge and his crew platted what is now known as Cheyenne, then in the Dakota Territory, later in what is now the state of Wyoming.  Named for the Indian tribe that dominated the Great Plains, Cheyenne, like many of the towns built to support the growth of the Union Pacific railroad west, was intrinsically linked to the railroad.

Fittingly then in the summer of 1897, Cheyenne was coaxed by a Travelling Passenger Agent for the Union Pacific Railroad to have a festival that would become a destination for an excursion train. Little did the agent realize that it would be drawing folks there for over a hundred years to come.  Held annually, this year’s Cheyenne’s Frontier Days is the 113th celebration of the event, whose centerpiece is what is claimed to be the largest rodeo in the world. 

Tweeters have been tweeting in droves about the event.  Among them is the Tweep for the Union Pacific Railroad whose tweet concerned the legendary steam locomotive No. 844 that pulled a special fund-raising train into Cheyenne from Denver on Saturday, July 18 celebrating the historic link between Cheyenne and the Union Pacific. 

Check out the video of the train making it's way to Cheyenne this past weekend on YouTube.

Cheyenne's Frontier Days event continues through next weekend, July 26.