 Did you know it is thought that Wyoming was home to one of the most important copper mines in the West from the late 1880s to early 1900s? Copper deposits were discovered in the Sierra Madre Mountains in South Central Wyoming in 1874. A decade-long copper boom did not occur until sheepherder Ed Haggerty discovered a more significant copper deposit in 1897. The copper boom brought people, money, and engineering achievements. A steam and gravity-powered tramway was constructed to transport ore from the ferris Haggerty Mine to the Boston-Wyoming Mill and smelter constructed in Riverside in 1902. The tramway traveled east and gained nearly 1,000 feet in elevation to cross over the continental divide. The tramway then descended over 3,000 feet to the eastern flanks of the Sierra Madres and on down to the smelter. The tramway was considered an engineering marvel and was the longest in the world at the time. Each of the 840 buckets on the tramway could transport up to 700 pounds of ore. The extraction of copper at the mine ceased in 1908. To learn more and to view sections of the aerial tramway, visit the Grand Encampment Museum. From the University of Wyoming Extension, I'm Wendy Kelly, Exploring the Nature of Wyoming.