Cheyenne, Wyoming

Trekking along on our State Capitol tours, still moving westward, our next stop takes us to Cheyenne, Wyoming on August 15, 2011. The capitol sits north of downtown Cheyenne, built in Corinthian style with a central dome and portico reminiscent of the United States Capitol. The central dome is covered with 24 carat gold leaf and has been gilded six times. The rotunda is quite stunning, with a beautiful cherry wood staircase set against a checkerboard marble floor. The bison is prominent here, as one might expect, along with the sentiment of taming the Wild West, captured in "The Spirit of Wyoming", a bronze sculpture depicting a cowboy and his horse at odds against nature and its elements.