Wyoming Trivia (Renamed) (Laramie, Sheridan, Cody: inexpensive, nearby, democrat)

[Rescue3]

My informants tell me the property is located at 2201 Lincoln Way, Cheyenne, WY 82001, but samples of the contents are actually on display in Phoenix, AZ.

I'll be getting a search warrant forthwith.

The car was found in a railroad siding by the American Legion Post #6 in Cheyenne (which occupies the aforementioned address) and refurbished.

From postcards.com:

Merci Train Boxcar
Here's a side of WWII rarely mentioned in history books: personal mending. In 1948 the "Merci Train," a train of 48 boxcars (one for each state at the time) was filled with gifts for American people from the people of France in appreciation for the 1945 American "Friendship Train" of boxcars filled with food for the war-ravaged France. Drew Pearson, an American columnist came up with the idea for the American "Friendship Train", and French railroad worker and war veteran, Andre Picard, came up with the idea of the reciprocal "Merci Train." Today, Cheyenne's American Legion Post #6 discovered this dilapidated boxcar by the old train depot and restored it, although the whereabouts of its contents of gifts, remains a mystery. However, the Arizona Capitol in Phoenix has an exhibit of the contents of its boxcar -- glorious, exquisite French gifts -- but not the boxcar. So if you go to Cheyenne, you can see the exterior of a "Merci Train" boxcar and if you go to Phoenix you can see a sample of the contents of a boxcar. Between the two capital cities you can imagine what it must have been like when the the entire train chugged its way to each individual state.

And in pictures: Merci Train - Wyoming Page

[ElkHunter]

Outstanding Rescue3, good job. Excellent history on that old boxcar. I'm glad a brother post was able to get it, restore it, and place it for all to see.

By the way, each American Legion post is named after a soldier or sailor. The American Legion post in Tripp South Dakota has my uncles name engraved above the door in marble.

Your turn!

[Rescue3]

Elkhunter, you are challenging me more than you know...

Okay, here's a question: There are something like 23 counties in Wyoming, and 21 are named for people or resources found in the state.

What two counties are named for something that have absolutely nothing to do with Wyoming, and what are they named for?

(You have to get them both right to win...)

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by Rescue3

Elkhunter, you are challenging me more than you know...

Okay, here's a question: There are something like 23 counties in Wyoming, and 21 are named for people or resources found in the state.

What two counties are named for something that have absolutely nothing to do with Wyoming, and what are they named for?

(You have to get them both right to win...)

Uinta: named for Utah's Uintah Mountains, which are visible from many places in the county

Goshen: named for a biblical paradise. It appears there is some controversy over the origion of the name in the area known as Goshen's Hole. But it appears the biblical reference was what was in the minds of the state legislature when Goshen County was named.

http://wyld.sdp.sirsi.net/client/places/q$003dgoshen$002bhole$0026qf$003dSOURCE$002509Sour ce$002509Places$002509Places$0026qf$003dCOUNTY$002 509County$002509Goshen$002509Goshen$0026rw$003d0$0 026d$003dent$00253A$00252F$00252FSD_ASSET$00252F10 06$00252F1006850$00253AASSET$00253A0$00253A0$0026t e$003dASSET$0026tt$003dDIRECT$0026

Goshen Hole is a basin in the area which is to the south of a range of hills along the North Platte River. Originally known as Gosche's Hole, from the name of a French trapper who settled in that locality, it was corrupted into Goshen, Biblical "land of plenty," by early pioneers, probably on account of vast stretches of native hay, indigenous to the area, on which great herds of antelope grazed. (WPA) Goshen County, with Torrington as its county seat, was formed in 1911, and while it no doubt was named with the Biblical "Land of Goshen" in mind, historians disregard the fact that Goshen Hole was "Goche's Hole" almost a century ago. This large depression named for the Assiniboine chief Goche, Gauche, or Gaucher was far from "a land of plenty" when Parkman passed through there in 1846 after completing his stay in the Fort Laramie vicinity. He describes it as "a wide sterile basin." (Trenholm)

[Rescue3]

Ooooo... I should have been more specific.

We did Goshen last week, and the reference to the biblical garden of paradise was tied to the fertile soil in Goshen County - but you're right; it technically is another place.

I have a hard time giving you the other one because the mountains can at least be seen from many places in the county. But you're right - it is out of state.

So I'll give you qualified credit. But let's see if we can get the original question answered.

If we delete those two (from the 23), and I clarify that the two I'm thinking of have really, really nothing to do with Wyoming (think thousands of miles away...) what two counties were named for things nowhere near Wyoming?

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by Rescue3

Ooooo... I should have been more specific.

We did Goshen last week, and the reference to the biblical garden of paradise was tied to the fertile soil in Goshen County - but you're right; it technically is another place.

I have a hard time giving you the other one because the mountains can at least be seen from many places in the county. But you're right - it is out of state.

So I'll give you qualified credit. But let's see if we can get the original question answered.

If we delete those two (from the 23), and I clarify that the two I'm thinking of have really, really nothing to do with Wyoming (think thousands of miles away...) what two counties were named for things nowhere near Wyoming?

OK how about:

Albany County: named after Albany, New York, where many of the settlers came from.

Lincoln County: named after President Lincoln, who I don't think ever set foot in Wyoming.

[Rescue3]

Spot on!

You got exactly what I was thinking of. Lincoln County for Abraham Lincoln and Albany County, named by someone from Albany, New York.

So congratulations CptnRn - you get both credit and extra credit.

(I don't know the answer to this - Did Abraham Lincoln ever venture out to Wyoming?)

Of course, this makes the next one your question...

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by Rescue3

Spot on!

You got exactly what I was thinking of. Lincoln County for Abraham Lincoln and Albany County, named by someone from Albany, New York.

So congratulations CptnRn - you get both credit and extra credit.

(I don't know the answer to this - Did Abraham Lincoln ever venture out to Wyoming?)

Of course, this makes the next one your question...

I did a brief web search for "Abraham Lincoln visit Wyoming" and did not come up with any indication he had visited. He died in 1865, 3 years before Wyoming became a territory. The railroad did not reach Cheyenne until 1867, so I'm guessing Lincoln never made the trip. It was interesting to consider though.

OK new question: I was surprised to learn of this.

Raised for part of his life in Wyoming he graduated from the University of Wyoming with a Bsc in electrical engineering in 1921. He went on to obtain other advanced degrees and revolutionize quality control techniques and management methods in manufacturing and business. He is considered the father of modern quality control, his approaches were so successful they helped turn around the Japanese economy after WWII and turned them into world leaders in quality control. He was an American statistician, author, lecturer, professor and consultant who was considered a hero in Japan while still being relatively poorly known in the United States at the time of his death in 1993.

Who was he and what Wyoming town did he grow up in?

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

I did a brief web search for "Abraham Lincoln visit Wyoming" and did not come up with any indication he had visited. He died in 1865, 3 years before Wyoming became a territory. The railroad did not reach Cheyenne until 1867, so I'm guessing Lincoln never made the trip. It was interesting to consider though.

OK new question: I was surprised to learn of this.

Raised for part of his life in Wyoming he graduated from the University of Wyoming with a Bsc in electrical engineering in 1921. He went on to obtain other advanced degrees and revolutionize quality control techniques and management methods in manufacturing and business. He is considered the father of modern quality control, his approaches were so successful they helped turn around the Japanese economy after WWII and turned them into world leaders in quality control. He was an American statistician, author, lecturer, professor and consultant who was considered a hero in Japan while still being relatively poorly known in the United States at the time of his death in 1993.

Who was he and what Wyoming town did he grow up in?

Hint: Plan-Do-Check-Act

[ElkHunter]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

Hint: Plan-Do-Check-Act

I've been waiting for somebody to jump in with it, but I'll go ahead.

W. Edwards Deming, the management guru and father of the Japanese post-war industrial revival, spent much of his childhood in Cody and Powell and graduated from the University of Wyoming in Laramie in 1921. After World War II, he taught Japanese businessmen his principles of quality service and products, inspiring the Asian nation’s spectacular economic rise.