Wyoming’s newspapers began with the Union Pacific railroad in 1867. The Wyoming Newspapers project from the Wyoming State Library has digitized hundreds of historic titles, free to search.
Wyoming obituaries in historic newspapers
The Cheyenne Leader was first printed in 1867, as the Union Pacific reached Cheyenne. Railroad towns such as Laramie, Rawlins and Rock Springs followed, and their papers recorded deaths among railroad workers, miners and ranch hands.
Coal mining in Rock Springs, Hanna and other towns brought immigrant workers whose deaths in mine disasters were reported in long lists, and the 1885 Rock Springs massacre of Chinese miners was covered by papers across the territory. Ranch country weeklies are often the only printed record of deaths on isolated homesteads.
The Wyoming State Library and the University of Wyoming Libraries launched a joint digital newspaper collection in 2021. The Wyoming State Archives in Cheyenne holds newspapers on microfilm along with state records.
Where to find Wyoming obituaries
Digitized Wyoming newspapers
- Wyoming Newspapers — Free digitized historic Wyoming newspapers from the Wyoming State Library.
- Plains to Peaks Historic Newspapers — Combined search of Wyoming and Colorado historic newspaper collections.
Archives and libraries
- Wyoming State Archives — Newspaper microfilm and state records in Cheyenne.
- Wyoming Newspapers, FamilySearch Research Wiki — Volunteer-maintained guide to Wyoming newspaper archives, indexes and microfilm, with county-by-county links.
Nationwide newspaper archives
- Chronicling America, Library of Congress — Free digitized newspapers from every state. Narrow a search to Wyoming and the years you need.
- Google News Archive — Free scans of hundreds of older newspapers, browsable by title and date.
- Internet Archive newspapers — Free digitized newspapers and microfilm uploaded by libraries.
- FamilySearch — Free obituary indexes, death records and the Social Security Death Index (free account).
- Find a Grave — Volunteer-built cemetery memorials, many with transcribed obituaries.
- Newspapers.com — Large subscription archive of U.S. papers. Many public libraries offer free access.
- GenealogyBank — Subscription archive of historic newspapers and modern obituaries.
- Legacy.com — Obituaries published since about 2000 in most U.S. daily newspapers.
Tips for finding an obituary in Wyoming
- Pin down the date and place first. A death index or death certificate gives the exact date and county, and then you only need to search the local papers for the following week or two.
- Search more than one town. Obituaries often ran in the paper where the person was born or had lived before, not just where they died. Small-town weeklies sometimes published a notice weeks later.
- Look beyond the word “obituary.” Older papers reported deaths under headings like “Died,” “Deaths,” local news and personals columns, funeral notices and cards of thanks. See death notices vs. obituaries.
- Try every spelling. Search initials, nicknames and misspellings, and for married women in older papers, search the husband’s name (“Mrs. John Smith”). Digitized text often misreads old type.
- Ask a librarian. Many public libraries and state archives will look up an obituary for free or a small fee, and newspaper microfilm can often be borrowed through interlibrary loan.