field because that is how the state is. is nice we can represent that right here in a small way in the capital. there is a lot of fun doing tours with the kids and helping them to understand the history of the state and how excited they are to come and see the elected officials. >> american history tv is visiting cheyenne wyoming, established in 1867 as a supply depot for the union pacific railroad. hosted by our charter cable partners, c-span's city tour staff recently visited many sites so casing -- sites showcasing the history. >> we are at the wyoming

governor's mansion bills in the early 1900s. she is quite famous in wyoming and should be nationally. first claim to fame was she was the first woman to serve as a governor of a state and country. she then went on to become director of the united states. >> she grew up in a very poor family in missouri and later on she moved to omaha nebraska. she taught kindergarten for a very short time. she went down to tennessee to see some relatives. met william bradford ross, a

young attorney who lives there. after the marriage they moved to cheyenne. will was fascinated by politics. he ran for governor in 1918 and then ran again in 1922. elected as a governor in another state. late over and laramie in september, giving a talk about the importance of -- he becomes ill. at first it doesn't seem that serious but then it becomes an acute case of appendicitis. so they perform surgery and things go from bad to worse.

since he died about a month before the next general election the rule was somebody would have to run and win in the general election to serve out his last both parties had to select a candidate. man nameds sought a eugene sullivan, speaker of the house for a term. he was going to run for the republicans. thoughtcratic party that nellie taylor ross would be a good candidate. he had been very close to her husband. .he had been very engaged

they thought i could put up a good fight against mr. sullivan. she was at first a little unsure. one thing george said was that nellie -- she did appear to be quite ambitious. she did agree she would run to fill out her husband's last two years. wyoming does have a long history of granting rights and having various -- the first state to grant women the right to vote in 1890. in 1920, just a few years before running for governor, there was

a town hall in jackson. there were many opportunities for women to vote and get involved and to serve in an office. she would say the most important role for a woman is as a wife and a mother. she often mentioned that. it waso thought important for everybody, women, men, whatever, to be involved as citizens. because there are only three weeks before the election and because she was in mourning, she was not going to go around the campaign. here and reporters would come to her and they would

some major her about issues in wyoming. that was the campaign on nellie 's part. a movingven called picture company by someone who wanted to come to the mansion and take a movie of her baking bread and sweeping the floor. would that be worth your while to compare? that was really amazing. she received more votes that year than anybody else.

>> she wanted to carry on what her husband had started. she had her own ideas when she became governor. been a horrible disaster. 100 miners died in a explosion. this is a very trott -- a very trying time in history. banks were failing right and left. she wanted to protect the banks. she wanted to make sure all that

money was well spent. nellie's greatest impact as -- she was asked to give talks, being the first woman governor. they are really promoting the state across the country. no man governor has the demands made of him that are made of me. end to the interview. everybody.ice to i am sure many people in this state and from outside common to see what kind of person i am and they write to me from everywhere.

many such requests i cannot ignore. another 2000 shriners were going through cheyenne. and now i message comes from governor harrier. "i am afraid to do it and yet i cannot refuse so i don't want them to think i can't your co--- can't." 1926an for reelection in and she lost that election. she lost by little bit more than 1300 votes. one reason she may have lost in 1927 is because there were republican women who are questioning what she had ever

done for women. she was able to point to the and places70 people in wyoming state government and she only appointed 52 women. many of the others were mining extractors -- mining inspectors. there weren't many of these that could have gone to women. that was used together in the election. her as ad we reelect woman when she hasn't done much for her own? somese she had garnered fame she joined the circuit and travel the country and gave a as theabout her time first woman governor. this is one paragraph that she

would say in the early part of her speech. it created some excitement when it woman's bonnet was thrown into the arena for the office of governor. there are those that exclaimed with amazement that a woman should have the to narrate to offer herself to so important a position. leaders of the opposite party tried by subtle methods to sway and once they launched the slogan it was no place for a woman. she did become involved in national politics. she became the vice chair of the national democratic committee. she was involved with women and what they were doing with politics. when franklin roosevelt was

running for president in 1932 nellie became active in that campaign. after roosevelt became president nellie had hoped to get an office in his administration. she was hoping to become secretary of the interior. unfortunately for nellie that went to frances perkins who he selected as a as the secretary of labor. nellie did not succeed in becoming a cabinet member but appointed the first woman director of the u.s. mint. >> -- i have some magic power that i can direct the flow of this into bond buying.

the revival of our happiness lies in the policies that president roosevelt is sponsoring. thate didn't serve in capacity for 20 years, from 1933 until 1943. she retire which was in her early 70's. she was nearly 50 when her husband died. from 1925 until 1953 is quite amazing. she is really well known in legacy and there is a thewhat she did as well as other women firsts stood wyoming had. i think it is pretty clear that

wyoming, for many years, was a rightsin women and their and even somewhat in politics. >> american history tv is featuring wyoming's state capital. of the city is home to the cheyenne frontier days. it has since turned to america's largest outdoor rodeo. the event has drawn famous guests including a fellow bill and president theodore roosevelt. if together with our charter cable partners c-span's city to her staff recently visited many sites exploring the city's rich history. learn more all week and long on american history tv. >> we spoke with republican governor matt mead inside the statpi