Widely recognized for its jagged snow-capped peaks and Cowboy spirit, Wyoming is a state of firsts. It is home to the first National Park (Yellowstone), first National Monument (Devil’s Tower), and first J.C. Penney, but it is perhaps less known for another significant first—being first to grant women the right to vote.
The name Esther Hobart Morris isn’t as ingrained in history as Susan B. Anthony or Elizabeth Cady Stanton, but perhaps it should be. Widowed before she was 30, in 1844, Morris made the trek from her home in upstate New York to Illinois, where her late husband had acquired property. There, she found she was unable to settle his affairs because women were not allowed to own or inherit property. That experience left an indelible mark and helped pave the way for women’s suffrage.
The West was calling. The Civil War had ended and the country was growing. Westward expansion was in full swing. The transcontinental railroad was being built and gold rush boom towns were popping up in remote mountain passes. Those with the pioneering spirit headed West to stake their claim.
By the spring of 1868, Esther had remarried, and her new husband, a well-to-do merchant named John Morris, and her son from her first marriage headed West to open a saloon in the boomtown of South Pass City, Wyoming Territory. She joined them the following year. It was there, it is said, in the spring of 1869, in her log cabin, Morris held a tea for candidates vying to represent the new Territory of Wyoming. There, she extracted a promise from the competing future-lawmakers that if elected, they would introduce legislation to give women suffrage.
That fall, during the first territorial legislature, newly elected representative William Bright introduced a bill in Cheyenne, giving women the right to vote and hold public office, and—on a split vote—it passed. It was sent to Governor John A. Campbell, where a few days later—on Dec. 10, 1869—he signed it into law.
The move was so controversial, it delayed Wyoming’s path to statehood. After being invited to join the union only if women’s suffrage was revoked, the Wyoming Territorial legislature famously replied: “We will remain out of the Union one hundred years rather than come in without the women.”
It wasn’t 100 years, but 21 years later, in 1890, that Wyoming became the 44th state—and the first to allow women the right to vote, own property and more. This earned Wyoming the moniker “The Equality State,” and Esther the title, “Mother of Women’s Suffrage.” It would be another 50 years before the rest of the country would follow suit, passing the 19th amendment in 1920, granting all women the right to vote.
This year, Wyoming will celebrate the 150th anniversary of this historic legislation with events planned throughout the state. Cheyenne celebrates Statehood Day on July 10 with the reopening of the renovated State Capitol Building.
Later in the year, on December 10—the actual 150th anniversary of the passing of the initial legislation—a grand ceremony is planned with a full day of activities at the historic Capitol, where a statue of Morris stands. The public will be able to tour the Capitol building in Cheyenne, in all her newly restored grandeur and—for the first time—visit the newly renovated Supreme Court Chambers, where the historic constitutional convention was held and history was made.
Make plans to visit Cheyenne this year to celebrate the Year of Wyoming Women.