# Wyoming is a big square state out west **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 28, 2008, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyoming-is-a-big-square-state-out-west/465576 "2008-09-28T14:05:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyoming-is-a-big-square-state-out-west/465576/1 "2008-09-28T14:05:54Z")
After reading the current thread about Wyoming-themed Halloween costunes, I realized that I know less about Wyoming than I do any other state in the Union. I’ve spent my whole life (70+years) on the east coast and all I know about Wyoming is that it is one of those big square states out west. Question: What state do you know the least about? ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyoming-is-a-big-square-state-out-west/465576/2 "2008-09-28T14:15:48Z")
Dakota. I don’t even bother thinking about the fact that there is a north and a south. Dakota. A Dodge truck for all I could care. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyoming-is-a-big-square-state-out-west/465576/3 "2008-09-28T15:06:45Z")
Iowa. ---
**Author:** ![kenner116](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecb155/32.png) [@kenner116](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenner116)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyoming-is-a-big-square-state-out-west/465576/4 "2008-09-28T15:16:52Z")
Idaho. I’ve been to Wyoming and South Dakota, so those are out. I will probably never go to Idaho in my lifetime. All I can think of related to Idaho is potatoes and Larry Craig. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyoming-is-a-big-square-state-out-west/465576/5 "2008-09-28T15:23:29Z")
Delaware. It has some… corporations? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyoming-is-a-big-square-state-out-west/465576/6 "2008-09-28T15:48:54Z")
Maine. It used to be part of Massachuesetts but that’s about all I know. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyoming-is-a-big-square-state-out-west/465576/7 "2008-09-28T15:57:53Z")
Vermont, I always get it confused on a map. Besides the fact it’s in the northeast I don’t know anything. ---
**Author:** ![AuntiePam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@AuntiePam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AuntiePam)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyoming-is-a-big-square-state-out-west/465576/8 "2008-09-28T16:18:52Z")
Vermont for me too. There’s a Vermont Country Store where you can buy things from the 1950’s, but that’s the only Vermont association I can think of. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyoming-is-a-big-square-state-out-west/465576/9 "2008-09-28T16:25:32Z")
New York. I know a lot about the city, but not much about the rest of the state. ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyoming-is-a-big-square-state-out-west/465576/10 "2008-09-28T16:27:34Z")
Delaware. Or Maryland–no one ever seems to be from there. I consistently mix up Alabama and Mississippi when needing to label them on a map. My needing to so label is not urgent or frequent, but still… ---
**Author:** ![laughingboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@laughingboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/laughingboy)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyoming-is-a-big-square-state-out-west/465576/11 "2008-09-28T16:34:08Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > I consistently mix up Alabama and Mississippi when needing to label them on a map. My needing to so label is not urgent or frequent, but still… Here’s a tip. One of them is bordered by a certain river… Montana or North Dakota for me. South Dakota is where Mt. Rushmore is, so I have that one covered 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyoming-is-a-big-square-state-out-west/465576/12 "2008-09-28T16:41:50Z")
Connecticut. ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyoming-is-a-big-square-state-out-west/465576/13 "2008-09-28T16:49:33Z")
Delaware and Rhode Island. I know nothing about either. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyoming-is-a-big-square-state-out-west/465576/14 "2008-09-28T17:01:22Z")
Wow…some of these are so funny to hear! It’s hard to believe that people in other parts of the U.S. don’t hear of Vermont and Maine and immediately get the following strong and particular associations: Vermont: Green, mountains, skiing, cheese, hippies, Ben & Jerry’s… Maine: Lobsters, the coastline, Acadia national park, “Ayuh,” Stephen King, L.L. Bean… For me, I probably know the least about Kansas and Nebraska. In fact, I used to not even be able to reliably tell you which was which on a map. I finally thought of a way to remember it–Kansas is closer to Ar-Kansas (Arkansas),\* which is a “southern” state. Therefore, Kansas is to the south of Nebraska. Anyway, I think of Kansas and Nebraska more in terms of their historical importance (The Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854) than in terms of their current importance. - for those of you who may not know, this correlation is less than obvious because the pronunciations of Kansas and Arkansas are very different. Kansas is like “kan-ziss.” Arkansas is more like “Ark-in-saw.” ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyoming-is-a-big-square-state-out-west/465576/15 "2008-09-28T17:02:27Z")
Wyoming. Is the capital Cheyenne? I probably don’t even know that. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyoming-is-a-big-square-state-out-west/465576/16 "2008-09-28T17:02:54Z")
> [@eleanorigby](#): > > I consistently mix up Alabama and Mississippi when needing to label them on a map. My needing to so label is not urgent or frequent, but still… I can help you with that one… The north-south borders of Alabama are both straight-ish. On Mississippi, one is straight-ish, one is squiggly. That squiggly border is the Mississippi River. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyoming-is-a-big-square-state-out-west/465576/17 "2008-09-28T17:07:26Z")
Oklahoma. While most other states elicit images of their landscape, people, or personalities in my mind, Oklahoma usually draws a blank. It’s conservative and very religious, but so are a lot of other states, and … uh, it looks like Kansas or Texas, and the food, well … uhhh … well, I’m stumped. At least with Delaware, I think of corporations, the oceanside, DuPont, the state’s size, and so on. Oklahoma, even when I’m driving through, just feels placeless. I remember eating in a Denny’s outside of Oklahoma City. I bought the local paper, and it was the thinnest I’ve seen for a city its size. Really, it looked like a small-town newpaper. That tells me there’s very little of interest going on in the state whatsoever. There’s nothing really unique about the place. > [@ultrafileter](#): > > ultrafilter New York. I know a lot about the city, but not much about the rest of the state. Think of Northeastern demographics (Italian, Polish, Irish, and very, very, very, very old-school Catholic), a Midwestern mindset and economy (farming, industry; politics are generally left-leaning with some social conservative leanings), and a New England-like landscape (rolling hills, heavily forested, quaint villages and towns). New York City plays no role in their day-to-day lives, except when college is in session and the Lawn Guylanders invade the nearest SUNY campus. It’s said the Jewish population of Buffalo (25,000 permanent residents) doubles when school is in session. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyoming-is-a-big-square-state-out-west/465576/18 "2008-09-28T17:44:12Z")
Iowa. I know it has corn, and I’m sure other types of grains. I always used to confuse it with Ohio on the map, but Iowa also has only one city I’ve heard of. I used to think Delaware, but now I know a few things about it. It was the first state, has a bunch of credit corporations in Wilmington, and it has a circular border, and steals the river from New Jersey. ---
**Author:** ![Lamar\_Mundane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lamar\_Mundane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamar_Mundane)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyoming-is-a-big-square-state-out-west/465576/19 "2008-09-28T17:51:02Z")
I’m surprised that people know that Mt. Rushmore is in South Dakota but apparantly are unaware of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2008, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyoming-is-a-big-square-state-out-west/465576/20 "2008-09-28T18:58:43Z")
Nevada. Outside of Las Vegas and Reno, I don’t know much about the state. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/wyoming-is-a-big-square-state-out-west/465576.md?page=2)