Cowley, WY

Cowley is a Big Horn County town at the foot of the Bighorn Mountains, and its whole story starts with water. In 1900, a group of Latter-day Saint settlers came north to establish a town, arriving in May and beginning the 37-mile Sidon Canal from the Shoshone River. They named the community for Matthias F. Cowley, built log homes, and opened a school by January 1901. Around here, the irrigation ditch is as important to the town story as the streets.

That founding is still visible in the town's working landmarks. The Cowley Heritage Center and Pioneer Museum shares the former LDS church administration building and tithing office with town offices, holding family photographs, school records, tools, and a veterans archive. Big Horn County School District #1 serves the town, with Rocky Mountain High School and Middle School in Cowley. Each July, Cowley Pioneer Day brings the pioneer story back onto the calendar around July 24. Cowley is a mountain-front town with a canal behind it, a museum in its civic center, and a school-and-community life built by the first settlers.