President: Theodore
Roosevelt 
Start Point:
Laramie - 10km Walk (YR0667) Jan 1 - Dec
31Knowing how much TR loved horseback riding, his Wyoming friends offered a horseback ride from Laramie to Cheyenne (a distance of 55 miles) which he accepted with enthusiasm. After hurriedly giving his speech at the steps of the Old Main Building at the University of Wyoming in Laramie, the President and his entourage set off at 9 a.m. at a good pace. The Wyoming State Tribune reported the May 30, 1903, ride using colorful language as was the practice of the day. Included in the entourage were some well-known personages of the day: Senator F. E. Warren (for which the current F. E. Warren Air Force Base is named), Deputy U.S. Marshal Joe LeFors, (he led a posse after Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid in Wyoming), the usual newspaper crowd that accompanies such things and other notables. As remarked by an observer, it appeared many of them had never been astride a horse before. The reporter described the President's riding attire in detail from his slouch campaign hat to his stout shoes, and remarked that the clothes looked well worn. From Laramie to Tie City, a distance of 15 miles, the President led at a rousing clip. Even if they wanted to, none would have dared to pass the President. Mounts were exchanged at several ranches along the way. The President set a speedy pace making several of the escorts look and feel uncomfortable. The third relay ended at Van Tassell's Ranch near Islay, where the President's train was waiting with the rest of his party. The party reached Cheyenne at 6:45 p.m. The road over Sherman Hill, as Wyoming residents know, reaches an elevation of over 8000 feet. The actual ride took 6 1/2 hours with the rest of the time taken for rest stops.
I-80 now connects the two cities and takes 45 minutes to traverse on a good day. Truckers still have a difficult time negotiating the steep climb to the highest point on the transcontinental Lincoln Highway marked by the bronze head of Abraham Lincoln and a modern rest area.
