Dayton, WY

Dayton sits at the meeting of the Tongue and Little Tongue rivers on the east side of the Bighorn Mountains. The town was a stage stop on the Bozeman Trail, took its name from founder Joe Dayton Thorne in 1882, and incorporated in 1906. At the 2020 census, 822 people lived here. Main Street keeps the history close at hand: Hans Kleiber’s relocated studio cabin stands near the Dayton Mercantile, a reminder that the old route and present-day errands share the same few blocks.

Dayton’s local record has a couple of memorable firsts. Susan Wissler became Wyoming’s first female mayor, and the town held the state’s first rodeo in the early 1890s. Sheridan County School District 1 serves Dayton and nearby Ranchester together, while U.S. 14 points travelers toward the Bighorns. In town, the 1911 fire-watch tower in the town park survives as Dayton Bell Tower; beyond it, Tongue River Canyon follows the river through country once used to float timber downstream. The result is a town with a very specific map: Main Street, two rivers, a canyon, and the mountain road between them.