we visit the sheridan county museum to hear about the impact home i had on the area. >> the history ofoal has its start in the path of wyoming and sheridan as a whole. times most people might not realize this, wyoming either tropical to subtropical regions. at one time we were actually an ocean. into theat factored deposits of fossil fuels within the state, whether they be natural gas, oil, coal. for history sets the stage modern-day sheridan. some of the first cropping's of coal are discovered here on private lands. the land owners have really , thevered things were seams were open on surface levels. they cannot only mine the coal for personal usage, they also began the business of taking that coal and they would offered for delivery to sheridan. residents in mine as much as they can carry back with them to town. that went on for quite a while until the burlington northern arrived. it was at that point sheridan experiences and economic boom. coal was one of the dominating factors of that boom because burlington wanted the coal not only for their trains, they wanted to be able to ship

the sheridan county museum to hear about the impacts call mining has had on the area. -- coal mining. -- coal mining has had on the area. >> it has its start in the past in sheridan and wyoming as a this area's history before it became a state. most people might not realize it, but wyoming used to be ather -- used to be subtropical reason and at one point we were in ocean. -- an ocean. that has all factored into the deposits of fossil fuels within the state, whether the national gas -- natural gas, oil, coal, and so that prehistory set the stage for modern day sheridan. 1880, the first outcroppings of coal or discovered in sheridan on private lane. the landowners at that time have that they could not only mine coal for their personal use, whether it is with their outbuildings and their homes, and they also begin the business of the taking of that coal. they would offer it for delivery to residents of sheridan or they offered it to a fee so residents could come out and mine as much coal as they could carry to town. that went on for a while until the burlington northern arrived in 1892.

. >> the 51st district encompasses the west half of sheridan county, all the way to the montana border. we have a little bit of everything. blue-collar neighborhoods in my district, lots of miners who

anything that is historic to sheridan county or the region itself.this collection, a bunch of items that pertain the miss .erica pageant in 195 to it was one man's attempt change racial discrimination policies. miss america was a brain child of howard sinclair and was a writer. he grew up near a reservation and when he was a young man he was adopted by a local tribe and adopted their ways. and so he felt that through his experiences, the native people did not reserve fer receive what they deserved. there are things downtown no indian trade allowed, no indians, no dogs and this was prevalent. >> and the queen, actually chosen by the crown. so when lucy was introduced into the rodeo stage, the crowd just erupted because of her handling of the horse and demonstrated that she was very skilled as a rider and the crowd, three different votes wanted her to be the rodeo queen and became the first rodeo queen that was native, which is a huge change. here we have the different 12 candidates for rodeo queen and the of them, you can see occasion. and lucy and ma

typically we take in paper items anything really historic related to sheridan county or the region itselfhe miss indian american collection is a bunch of items that pertain to the miss american pageant held in sheridan from 1953 to 1984. the story of miss indian american was one man's attempt to change racial discrimination policies in sheridan. miss america and all-american mindy and days was the brainchild of howard sinclair. he was a writer for the sheridan process. he grew up here the reservation and when he was a young man he was adopted by a local tribe and eventually developed a lot of native ways. his understanding of native people was tremendous. so he felt that through his experiences with the native people do not receive what they deserved. equal treatment being the forefront. at this point there were signs downtown saying no indian trade allowed. no indians, no dogs, this was prevalent throughout many towns near reservations in the west. the process started when howard sinclair had an opportunity with lucy leone to enter her as a rodeo queen contestant. lucy entered at a time

. >> the 51st district encompasses the west half of sheridan county, all the way to the montana border. we have a little bit of everything. blue-collar neighborhoods in my district, lots of miners who live in my district, ranchers as well. >> how would you describe to someone living in a different state some of the things you are concerned about regarding this district? >> i think the concerns i

county. announcer: our cities to her staff recently traveled to sheridan, wyoming to learn about its rich history. to watch more video from sheridan and other stops on our tour, visit c-span.org/cities to her. you're watching american history tv, all weekend every weekend on c-span3. tour.n.org/cities projectr: the manhattan was a research and a belt and project conducted in world war ii. it was disbanded one year after the wars and. next on american history tv, oak alge national lab veteran ekkebus talked about the world war ii nuclear weapons program known as the manhattan project, the program's aftermath and the impact on the main development facility in oak ridge, tennessee he focused on the years 1945 to 1950. the american museum of science and energy and oak ridge hosted this event. >> thank you very much. please to be here in the american museum of science and energy. the talk tonight is focusing on the first five years after the war. a great many changes have occurred. i'm including what i consider some of the less frequent he mentions topics of this. . there we have images of the beta ca

several factors went into the decline of coal in sheridan county. one was that stripmining became a more popular, requiring less manpower. additionally, the mines started to lose -- mines had started to lose finances. monarch suffered a fire that hampered production for a significant amount of time. in 1911, there was a financial crisis on a state and national level that affected coal prices. the community was offered a boost for a short time. at the end of the war, most of the mines closed. it was not until september 1 of 1953 that monarch as a community ceased to exist. sheridan coal company notified residents on may 1 that they had until that september to eventually get out. here at the museum, we do try to show the cultural aspect of these communities. they were not made to only be temporary institutions. they were supposed to last. we focus, for example, on the fact that each community had a band, and everyone played an instrument they were comfortable with. one band in particular was fairly massive. in this exhibit, we try to provide visitors

. >> the 51st district encompasses the west half of sheridan county, all the way to the montana border. we have a little bit of everything. blue-collar neighborhoods in my district, lots of miners who live in my district, ranchers as well. >> how would you describe to someone living in a different state some of the things you are concerned about regarding this district? >> i think the concerns i share are similar to a lot of people throughout the county and the rest of the state. we are facing issues of economic diversity -- how do we make sure we have high-quality, high paying jobs for the next generation? >> one of the things i was reading about people are concerned about in the state is the economy. can you describe to us what it is they are concerned about and what is going away that needs to be replaced? >> it is no secret we are an extractive industries state. they have treated as well, and several companies have paid the bills for 50 plus years, and it has been great. we have brand-new schools, really good infrastructure, but coal's best days are behind us. we are trying to figu

by 1910, he was interested in politics and was elected from sheridan county to be a wyoming state senator in cheyenne for a two-year term. in 1914 he ran for governor and was elected and became the second democrat to become governor in wyoming. he was well-known for working with the republican legislature. he was known for getting along with his opponents. he was a really popular governor and able to sign legislation providing for workmen's compensation, a pension act, setting up the state public utilities commission. he was really well-liked. halfway through his governor's term, he was elected as a u.s. senator even though he did not run. by 1916, individual states were allowed to elect to their u.s. senator's by popular vote. mr. kendrick and his eventual opponent, clarence d clark, were asked to run for u.s. senator but they both declined. ,he people did not really care and they were both nominated by a write in campaign. senator clark had been a 22 year veteran of the u.s. senate. a new senator as was to sign the declaration of war against germany in 1917. this was a heavy, personal d