Blue+Book+Vol+V+Foreword

// This introduction was written by Governor Dave Freudenthal to accompany the // Wyoming Blue Book, Volume V //edited by Dr. Phillip J. Roberts (2008).//
 * Blue Book Volume V Introduction **

You are holding in your hands the latest update to a rich collection of facts and stories that paint a colorful picture of Wyoming's fascinating past.

Since the original was published in 1943, the Wyoming Blue Book has informed researchers, historians, librarians, students and history buffs about our state's development.

These volumes continue to be important because our history remains central to our view of who we are as citizens of this state, and where we've come from. As much as we embrace our new world of supercomputers and clean coal technologies, we also appreciate our roots that reach back to times when life here may have seemed less complicated but still offered its own unique set of challenges.

Inside these blue-bound volumes you will find detailed information about our state's government from territorial times through today. This update offers an additional volume to the collection, with new information on elected leaders, the state's demographics, county governments and our educational system.

From my office in the Capitol, it's remarkable to read about the state's early Legislative Assemblies and see illustrations and photographs of the diminutive buildings where they were held. I also find it intriguing to read early descriptions of the state that guess at the number of trees that could be harvested for timber from our forests, and the amount of valuable natural resources that could be harvested from the ground.

Wyoming has now seen more than a century of such development and we enjoy the benefits of our natural resource-driven economy, yet we value preservation alongside development. We can achieve a balance between growth and conserving all that makes Wyoming special.

As I'm fold of saying, people don't come to Wyoming to go to the opera. It is our wild places and our vast, open spaces that continue to draw people here to visit and to stay. As we work together to shape our future, we can draw on valuable lessons from out first 117 years, and the Wyoming Blue Book provides a wonderful glimpse into that past. I hope you enjoy thumbing through it.

Dave Freudenthal Governor