Gillette, Wyoming
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Gillette (, '' jih-LET'') is a city in and the
county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...
of Campbell County, Wyoming, United States. The town was founded in 1891 as a major railway town on the
Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwest, Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, CB&Q, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of ...
. The population was estimated at 33,496, as of July 1, 2023, making it the 3rd most populous city in
Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...
after
Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...
and Casper. Gillette's population increased 48% in the ten years after the 2000 census, which counted 19,646 residents after a boom in its local fossil fuel industries. Gillette is centrally located in an area involved with the development of vast quantities of
coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...
, oil, and coalbed methane gas. The city calls itself the "Energy Capital of the Nation"; Wyoming provides nearly 35% of the nation's coal. However, a decline in coal use in the U.S. has led to a decline in the local economy, leading some local officials to look for other industries or employment opportunities. As a major economic hub for the county, the city is also a regional center for media, education, health, and arts.


History

Before its founding, Gillette started as Donkey Town, named after Donkey Creek, and then was moved and called Rocky Pile after Rocky Draw. Gillette was founded in 1891 with the coming of the
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, CB&Q, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado ...
and incorporated on January 6, 1892, less than two years after Wyoming became a state. Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad changed the name to Gillette, after Edward Gillette, a surveyor for the company. In November 1895, a fire destroyed most of the city. Only two saloons, two stores, and a restaurant survived. A group of families from Mathews County, Virginia, and
Gloucester County, Virginia Gloucester County ( ) is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 38,711. Its county seat is Gloucester Courthouse, Virginia, Gloucester Courthouse. T ...
, settled in the town between 1895 and 1905, all of whom were members of the Episcopal Church, and there has been an Episcopalian presence in Gillette ever since. During this same era a group of immigrants from
County Antrim County Antrim (named after the town of Antrim, County Antrim, Antrim, ) is one of the six counties of Northern Ireland, located within the historic Provinces of Ireland, province of Ulster. Adjoined to the north-east shore of Lough Neagh, the c ...
,
Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...
(in what has since become
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...
) also settled in Gillette, these settlers were
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a historically Reformed Protestant tradition named for its form of church government by representative assemblies of elders, known as "presbyters". Though other Reformed churches are structurally similar, the word ''Pr ...
s of Scottish descent, this population was referred to as " Scots-Irish" in the United States, however this was not a term used in Ireland. Norwegian immigrants arrived in the town during the same era, all of whom were
Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
. There were also a small group of settlers from rural
New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...
, these were old stock "Yankee" New Englanders who were members of the
Congregational church Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...
. In 1974, U.S. psychologist ElDean Kohrs used the town as the basic example of what he called the Gillette syndrome, the social disruption that can occur in a community due to rapid population growth. During the 1960s, Gillette's population doubled from 3,580 to 7,194. Kohrs proposed that this fast increase caused increased crime, high costs of living, and weakened social and community bonds. Some of Kohrs's claims about the energy industry's influence have been disputed, since similar increases in divorce rates, welfare usage, and crime were also seen in other rapidly growing areas of the country. Gillette annexed the
census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...
Antelope Valley-Crestview on January 1, 2018. Antelope Valley-Crestview's population was 1,658 at the 2010 census and it had an area of 4.9 mi2 (12.7 km²).


Geography

Gillette is located at (44.282660, −105.505256). It is situated between the
Bighorn Mountains The Bighorn Mountains ( or ) are a mountain range in northern Wyoming and southern Montana in the United States, forming a northwest-trending spur from the Rocky Mountains extending approximately northward on the Great Plains. They are separa ...
to the west and the
Black Hills The Black Hills is an isolated mountain range rising from the Great Plains of North America in western South Dakota and extending into Wyoming, United States. Black Elk Peak, which rises to , is the range's highest summit. The name of the range ...
to the east, in the Powder River Basin. According to the
United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...
, the city has an area of , of which are land and is water. Few trees were in Gillette when it was founded. The native trees,
box elder ''Acer negundo'', also known as the box elder, boxelder maple, Manitoba maple or ash-leaved maple, is a species of maple native to North America from Canada to Honduras. It is a fast-growing, short-lived tree with opposite, ash-like compound l ...
and cottonwood, were found along creeks. The oldest surviving non-native trees were planted in the 1940s. The earliest were almost exclusively
elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus ''Ulmus'' in the family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical- montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ...
, cottonwood, white poplar,
green ash Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combi ...
, Colorado blue spruce, and
ponderosa pine ''Pinus ponderosa'', commonly known as the ponderosa pine, bull pine, blackjack pine, western yellow-pine, or filipinus pine, is a very large pine tree species of variable habitat native to mountainous regions of western North America. It is t ...
. In the 1960s, crab apples, honey locust,
catalpa ''Catalpa'' (, ), commonly also called catawba, is a genus of flowering plants in the family Bignoniaceae, native to warm temperate and subtropical regions of North America, the Caribbean, and East Asia. Description Most ''Catalpa'' are decidu ...
, European mountain-ash, and other evergreens were planted. Nurseries started to sell trees in the 1970s, which further increased tree diversity.


Skyline


Climate

Gillette has a borderline
humid continental Humidity is the concentration of water vapor present in the air. Water vapor, the gaseous state of water, is generally invisible to the human eye. Humidity indicates the likelihood for precipitation, dew, or fog to be present. Humidity depe ...
(
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
: ''Dfa'') and cool semi-arid (
Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...
: ''BSk'') climate characterised by hot summers with pleasant mornings, and generally very cold, though very variable, winters. The city lies in USDA plant hardiness zone 5a ().


Demographics

As of 2000, the median income for a household in the city was $69,581, and for a family was $78,377. Males had a median income of $41,131 versus $22,717 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the city was $19,749. About 5.7% of families and 7.9% of the population were below the
poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...
, including 6.2% of those under age 18 and 14.1% of those age 65 or over.


2010 census

As of the census of 2010, 29,087 people, 10,975 households, and 7,299 families resided in the city. The
population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...
was . The 12,153 housing units averaged . The racial makeup of the city was 92.2% White, 0.4% African American, 1.2% Native American, 0.7% Asian, 3.2% from other races, and 2.2% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 9.5% of the population. Of the 10,975 households, 38.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.2% were married couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 7.0% had a male householder with no wife present, and 33.5% were not families. About 24.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.61 and the average family size was 3.09. The median age in the city was 30.6 years. 28% of residents were under the age of 18; 10.9% were 18 to 24; 30.6% were 25 to 44; 24.8% were 45 to 64; and 5.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 52.3% male and 47.7% female.


Arts and culture

The volunteer board called the Mayor's Art Council runs the Avenues of Art program. The program pays artists to display sculptures for sale. Each year newly selected works are shown at the Donkey Creek Festival, where visitors can meet the artists. 113 sculptures are currently on display through the Avenues of Art program and 289 have been shown since 2004. Participating artists have included Jane DeDecker, Gary Lee Price, and Benjamin Victor. A second program, Sculpture Walk, is operated by the Sculpture Committee. Started in 2018, it pays artists to display their sculptures for sale at Mount Pisgah Cemetery. The city chose to increase investment in the arts program during the
Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of market decline in economies around the world that occurred from late 2007 to mid-2009.
and mayor Louise Carter-King describes the investment as a quality of life one.


Annual cultural events

A free multi-day event, Donkey Creek Festival is held in every June at the Gillette College. It includes the Avenues of Arts reception, concert, car and motorcycle show, disc golf tournament, and 5K run and walk. There are art and food vendors and alcohol is available at a
beer garden A beer garden (German: ''Biergarten'') is an outdoor area in which beer and food are served, typically at shared tables shaded by trees. Beer gardens originated in Bavaria, of which Munich is the capital city, in the 19th century, and remain co ...
. The festival has grown significantly since starting in 2006. The Gillette chapter of PFLAG hosts an annual pride event to support the local
LGBTQ LGBTQ people are individuals who are lesbian, Gay men, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, or questioning (sexuality and gender), questioning. Many variants of the initialism are used; LGBTQIA+ people incorporates intersex, Asexuality, asexual, ...
community. Previous years have included a potluck, picnic, and bowling. In 2019, PFLAG held the Pride Drag Show at AVA Community Art Center as part of its pride event.


Tourism

In 2021, 7,338 people visited the Gillette Convention and Visitors Bureau. While hunters always use the center, most visitors asked about coal mine tours and museums. Of the 569 visitors in 2018 who identified where they were from, 473 were from 46 states and 96 were from 23 other countries.


Sports


Wyoming Center at the CAM-PLEX

The Wyoming Center at the CAM-PLEX is a 9,000 seat event center located just outside of Gillette. Ground was broken in 2006 and it was completed in 2008. It hosts both sporting and community events. The center can be divided into 3 rooms by using moveable soundproof walls; which retract if more space is needed for a certain event. More walls can further divide the center into 9 rooms. The Frontier and Equality Halls (located in the west and middle parts of the center, respectively) are used for various purposes; while the Spirit Hall (located on the east side) is used for
ice skating Ice skating is the Human-powered transport, self-propulsion and gliding of a person across an ice surface, using metal-bladed ice skates. People skate for various reasons, including recreation (fun), exercise, competitive sports, and commuting. ...
and
hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...
. As stated before, it can be taken down should an event need more space. The center currently hosts the National High School Finals Rodeo, amateur wrestling, and are hosts for the Wyoming Cavalry, of
American Indoor Football American Indoor Football (AIF) is a professional Indoor American football, indoor football league, one of the several regional professional indoor football leagues in North America. The AIFL began as a regional league with six franchises on the ...
. The Cavalry use the Equality Hall of the CAM-PLEX for their home games. The seating capacity is 4,000 for Cavalry games. It once hosted the Gillette Mustangs, formerly of Champions Indoor Football.


Other facilities

The Campbell County Recreation Center is a 190,000-ft2 facility that was established April 2010. This facility includes a 42-ft climbing wall resembling the
Devils Tower National Monument Devils Tower (also known as Mato Tipila or Bear Lodge) is a butte, laccolithic, composed of igneous rock in the Bear Lodge Ranger District of the Black Hills, near Hulett, Wyoming, Hulett and Sundance, Wyoming, Sundance in Crook County, Wyomi ...
. Also, an 81,000-ft2 field house that contains basketball courts, a six-lane track, swimming and diving facilities, and five indoor tennis courts. The Campbell County Ice Arena contains an ice rink for ice hockey and ice skating plus an area for curling. The Energy Capital Sports Complex site has four fast-pitch softball fields that can be converted for Little League baseball. The fields use Slitfilm synthetic turf with sand-rubber infill. A 28,000-ft2 protected spectator viewing area has a grass play area. A 2.4-mi recreation trail runs around the complex. Since the grand opening in 2015, the complex has hosted many tournaments, including the Razor City Showcase softball tournament and the 2016 Wyoming ASA State softball tournament.


Government

Gillette is governed by an elected mayor and a city council of six members. Gillette is split into three wards, each represented by two council members. The mayor and council members serve four-year terms. Under the mayor and city council, the city government consists of the city attorney, municipal court, and city administration. The city administration consists of several departments and their divisions. The departments are Human Resources, Finance,
Police The police are Law enforcement organization, a constituted body of Law enforcement officer, people empowered by a State (polity), state with the aim of Law enforcement, enforcing the law and protecting the Public order policing, public order ...
, Development Services, Public Works, and Utilities. The city council holds regular sessions on first and third Tuesday of every month in the Council Chambers at City Hall. The council also holds agenda review meetings and meetings before regular sessions. All meetings are open to the public except executive sessions. The council members are Gregory Schreurs and Tricia Simonson for Ward 1, Tim Carsrud and Billy Montgomery for Ward 2, Nathan McLeland and Shay Lundvall for Ward 3. The sale and production of liquor is regulated by the city. The number of licenses is capped by population by state law and due to scarcity have been sold privately for as much as $300,000.


Education

Public education in Gillette is provided by Campbell County School District Number 1. It is home to Campbell County High School and Thunder Basin High School. Gillette College, a two-year college, is part of the Northern Wyoming Community College District. Gillette has a
public library A public library is a library, most often a lending library, that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil servic ...
, a branch of the Campbell County Public Library System.


Media

Gillette has one newspaper, the '' Gillette News-Record'', published by Ann Kennedy Turner. It was originally two papers, the ''Gillette News'' and the ''Campbell County Record''. The ''News-Record'' became a daily on July 14, 1975. Over the air digital television stations available in Gillette include KOPA-CD on RF Channel 9 (ABC). Wyoming Public Television (PBS) is available on K26NL-D, channel 26. CBS programming from
Casper, Wyoming Casper is a city in and the county seat of Natrona County, Wyoming, United States. Casper is the List of municipalities in Wyoming, second-most populous city in the state after Cheyenne, Wyoming, Cheyenne, with the population at 59,038 as of th ...
can be seen on channel 16, K16AE-D. NBC programming from
Rapid City, South Dakota Rapid City is the county seat of Pennington County, South Dakota, United States. It is located on the eastern slope of the Black Hills in western South Dakota and was named after Rapid Creek (South Dakota), Rapid Creek, where the settlement deve ...
is available on channel 22, K22AD-D. Gillette also receives a moderate signal from KHSD-TV (Fox) on channel 5, and a weak signal from KQME (MeTV) on channel 11 and KSGW-TV ABC on channel 12. Gillette Public Access Television is Gillette's only TV station. It is a traditional PEG cable-access station operated by the city. It can be viewed on Charter Communications Cable channels 189 (Education), 190 (Public Access) and 192 (Government).


Infrastructure


Healthcare

Campbell County Memorial Hospital in Gillette is part of Campbell County Health. The hospital has 90 beds for acute care and is certified as an area trauma hospital.


Police

The Gillette Police Department consists of several divisions including Administration, Animal Control, Communications Center, Detectives Division which includes
school resource officer The United States Department of Justice defines school resource officers (SRO) as "sworn law enforcement officers responsible for the safety and crime prevention in schools". They are employed by a local police or sheriff's department and work cl ...
s (SRO), Evidence, Patrol Division, Records, and Victim Services. Police headquarters are located in City Hall, but the Animal Control division is located at the Animal Shelter on 950 W Warlow Dr. It consists of one Animal Control Supervisor, three Animal Control Officers, and two Animal Shelter Assistants. In addition to enforcing animal-related ordinances Animal Control sells pet licenses and acts as an
animal shelter An animal shelter or pound is a place where stray, lost, abandoned or surrendered animals – mostly dogs and cats – are housed. The word "pound" has its origins in the animal pounds of the agricultural communities, where stray livestock w ...
both housing pets and providing adoption services.


Military

At Gillette is a Wyoming National Guard armory. The A Battery, 2nd Battalion, 300th Field Artillery of the Wyoming National Guard are based in Casper, Gillette, and Lander. Also, the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System unit is based in Gillette. In recent years, soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, 300th Field Artillery have been deployed for
Operation Iraqi Freedom The Iraq War (), also referred to as the Second Gulf War, was a prolonged conflict in Iraq lasting from 2003 to 2011. It began with the invasion by a United States-led coalition, which resulted in the overthrow of the Ba'athist governm ...
,
Operation Enduring Freedom Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) was the official name used by the U.S. government for both the first stage (2001–2014) of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) and the larger-scale Global War on Terrorism. On 7 October 2001, in response ...
, and
Operation Freedom's Sentinel Operation Freedom's Sentinel (OFS) was the official name used by the U.S. government for the mission succeeding Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) in continuation of the War in Afghanistan as part of the larger Global War on Terrorism. Operation ...
.


Transportation

Northeast Wyoming Regional Airport (GCC) is served by
United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. is a Major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois that operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and six ...
operated by
SkyWest Airlines SkyWest Airlines is an American regional airline headquartered in St. George, Utah. SkyWest operates and maintains aircraft used on flights that are scheduled, marketed and sold by four partner Mainline (air travel), mainline airlines. The comp ...
. SkyWest currently operates six flights daily in and out of Gillette to
Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...
. Intercity bus service to the city is provided by
Jefferson Lines Jefferson Lines (JL or JLI) is a regional intercity bus company operating in 14 states in the Midwest and the West of the United States. History The company is operated by Jefferson Partners L.P., located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Jefferson P ...
.


Highways

* * * * * * *


Notable people

*
Jacob M. Appel Jacob M. Appel (born February 21, 1973) is an American polymath, author, bioethicist, physician, lawyer, and social critic.Nagamatsu, Sequoia "A Few Words with the Ubiquitous Jacob M. Appel" ''Prince Mincer'' Journal http://primemincer.com/ con ...
(born 1973), author, poet, bioethicist, physician, lawyer, social critic * Wade Brorby (born 1934), Gillette attorney, 1961–1988, United States federal appellate judge, 1988– * John Chick (born 1982), professional football player, 2006–2017 * Alicia Craig (born 1982), distance runner *
Mike Enzi Michael Bradley Enzi ( ; February 1, 1944 – July 26, 2021) was an American politician who served in the United States Senate from Wyoming as a member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party from 1997 to 2021. Prior to his te ...
(1944–2021), Mayor of Gillette, 1975–1982, Wyoming State Senator, 1993–1997, and
United States Senator The United States Senate consists of 100 members, two from each of the 50 U.S. state, states. This list includes all senators serving in the 119th United States Congress. Party affiliation Independent Senators Angus King of Maine and Berni ...
from Wyoming, 1997–2021 * Joe Clifford Faust (born 1957), author * Bob Harris (1915–1989), professional baseball player, 1938–42 * Burke Jackson (born 1949), Wyoming rancher, member of the
Wyoming House of Representatives The Wyoming House of Representatives is the lower house of the Wyoming Legislature, Wyoming State Legislature. There are 62 Representatives in the House, representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts across the Wyoming, st ...
, 2004–06 * Mark Klaassen (born 1973),
United States Attorney United States attorneys are officials of the U.S. Department of Justice who serve as the chief federal law enforcement officers in each of the 94 U.S. federal judicial districts. Each U.S. attorney serves as the United States' chief federal ...
for the District of Wyoming * Tom Lubnau (born 1958), Gillette attorney, member of the
Wyoming House of Representatives The Wyoming House of Representatives is the lower house of the Wyoming Legislature, Wyoming State Legislature. There are 62 Representatives in the House, representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts across the Wyoming, st ...
, 2005–2015, and Speaker of the Wyoming House of Representatives, 2013–2015 * Weston Ochse (born 1965), author * Clint Oldenburg (born 1983), professional football player, 2007–2012 * Sue Wallis (1957–2014), poet, member of the
Wyoming House of Representatives The Wyoming House of Representatives is the lower house of the Wyoming Legislature, Wyoming State Legislature. There are 62 Representatives in the House, representing an equal number of single-member constituent districts across the Wyoming, st ...
, 2007–2014 * Ryun Williams (born 1969), women's basketball head coach, Colorado State * Sundance Wicks (born 1980), men's basketball head coach,
University of Wyoming The University of Wyoming (UW) is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Laramie, Wyoming, United States. It was founded in March 1886, four years before the territory was admitted as the 44th state, ...


In popular culture

In David Breskin's bildungsroman ''The Real Life Diary of a Boomtown Girl'', Randi Bruce Harper is raised by parents in the Wyoming "oil-field service business"; as an adult, she drives a Wabco haul truck "down in the pit" while living with her husband in Gillette. Randi is a member of the first all-female blasting team, the "Boom-Boom Girls". The Manticore facility is set in Gillette in the cyberpunk TV show ''Dark Angel'' and the books based on the show. Several
fan fiction Fan fiction or fanfiction, also known as fan fic, fanfic, fic or FF, is fiction typically written in an amateur capacity by fans as a form of fan labor, unauthorized by, but based on, an existing work of fiction. The author uses copyrighted ...
stories were written with Gillette central to the story because of the reference. Marcus Sakey, in his ''Brilliance'' trilogy, lists Gillette as one of the three entrances (along with Rawlins and Shoshoni) to the New Canaan Holdfast, a large portion of Wyoming land owned by "abnorms". In an interview with ''HorrorHound'' magazine, actor and musician
Bill Moseley William Moseley (born November 11, 1951) is an American actor, primarily known for his performances in horror films. His best-known roles include Chop Top in '' The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2'' (1986), Otis B. Driftwood in Rob Zombie's ''Firefly ...
of the band
Cornbugs Cornbugs was an American avant-garde metal band formed in 1995. Comprising vocalist Bill "Choptop" Moseley, guitarist Buckethead, drummer Pinchface and keyboardist Travis Dickerson, the band released five albums, two DVDs, and three compilatio ...
said he was the great-grandson of Edward Gillette and named their studio album ''Donkey Town'' in honor of
Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad was a railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States. Commonly referred to as the Burlington Route, the Burlington, CB&Q, or as the Q, it operated extensive trackage in the states of Colorado ...
's decision to change the name of Donkey Town to Gillette as a reward for Edward Gillette's surveying work. On December 5, 1998, Cheryl Trover, a math teacher at Campbell County High School, kidnapped and tied up her children, shot her husband John Trover with a .22-caliber pistol, and stabbed him to death with a hunting knife. She had stolen the gun from her lover of four years, John Riley, the principal at the same school. She then set fire to her pickup truck and lied to police about who committed her crimes. Once police suspected her, she killed herself with a .270 rifle at a friend's house. The events were dramatized in the crime story TV shows ''Redrum'' and ''Murderous Affairs''. The
Drive-By Truckers Drive-By Truckers are an American rock music, rock band based in Athens, Georgia. Two of five current members (Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley (American musician), Mike Cooley) are originally from The Shoals region of northern Alabama and met as ...
' song "21st Century USA", from their 2020 album ''The Unraveling'', is about a layover the band had in Gillette. It describes the bleak landscape of small US towns, and the hardships of living there.


Sister cities

After the mayor of Gillette visited a coal conference in China, a delegation from
Yulin, Shaanxi Yulin ( zh, s=榆林 , p=Yúlín , ‘’’local pronunciation: y³⁵ˌljʌŋ’’) is a prefecture-level city in the Shaanbei region of Shaanxi province, China, bordering Inner Mongolia to the north, Shanxi to the east, and Ningxia to th ...
, came to Gillette. These meetings eventually led the two communities to become sister cities in 2012.


References


External links


City of Gillette
{{Authority control Cities in Campbell County, Wyoming Cities in Wyoming County seats in Wyoming Micropolitan areas of Wyoming Mining communities in Wyoming Populated places established in 1892 1892 establishments in Wyoming