Past Wyoming Inventor Fun Fact Archive

Anson Mills, a Captain of the Eighteenth Infantry and Brevet Lt. Colonel of the U.S. Army stationed at Fort Bridger, Utah Territory received the oldest "Wyoming" patent. Patent number 67,898 for an Improvement in Cartridge-Belts was issued on August 20, 1867. Fort Bridger is currently located in Uinta County, Wyoming.

The oldest known "Wyoming" patent the PTDL has found is patent number 81,414. S.W.Y. Schimonsky of Cheyenne, Dakota Territory, patented an improved car-brake on August 25, 1868. Click here to view this patent at the USPTO.
Patent number 81,414 is now the second oldest Wyoming patent. An older patent – number 67,898 – was issued in 1867 at Fort Bridger, Utah Territory.

The first patent issued to a resident of the Territory of Wyoming was patent number 101,711. George C. Choate of Wyoming Station, Albany County, in the Territory of Wyoming, patented an improvement in shovel-handles on April 12, 1870. Click here to view this patent at the USPTO.

The first patent issued to a resident of the State of Wyoming was patent number 440,473. James N. Farlow of Lander, Wyoming, patented a new and improved friction wrench on November 11, 1890. Click here to view this patent at the USPTO.

The first Wyoming woman to receive a patent was Myrtle M. Wallin of Rock Springs. She received patent number 664,597 for a Work-Holder on December 25, 1900. Click here to view this patent at the USPTO.

The only Wyomingite to ever receive a plant patent was Richard N. Asay of Thayne, WY. He received patent number PP12188 along with Dale E. Kester of Davis, CA in 2001. Click here to view this patent at the USPTO.
Richard N. Asay, along with Thomas M. Gradziel and Dale E. Kester of Davis, CA, received a second plant patent on November 26, 2002. PP13286 is for an Almond tree named `Winters`.

According to a U. S. Patent and Trademark Office report Buttons to Biotech: U.S. Patenting by Women, 1977 to 1996, Joan D. Sheridan of Cheyenne was the 19th most prolific woman inventor between 1992 - 1996. She received 20 patents.

William F. (Buffalo Bill) Cody received patent number D49949 on November 28, 1916. This recently discovered design patent for a Bit was a previously unknown fact about Buffalo Bill.

The most prolific inventor in the Wyoming Inventors Database is Remington Arms gunmaker John D. Pedersen. Between 1909 and 1944, he received 68 patents under the name John D. Pedersen and an additional patent under the name John Douglas Pedersen. However, his most famous invention, the "Pedersen Device", was top-secret and not patented.

Perhaps Wyoming's most famous invention - the hydraulic gallows - was never patented. Cheyenne architect James P. Julien designed the hydraulic gallows in 1892 and it was used most notably to execute Tom Horn in 1903.

Elmer Lovejoy of Laramie was a bicycling enthusiast who designed and built Wyoming's first automobile in 1898. His three patents relate to automatic door openers.

Forty-one patents have been identified as being issued to foreign citizens living in Wyoming. Check the note field of the record for citizenship information.

The top 5 patenting cities in the decade after Wyoming became a state were:

1. Cheyenne 44
2. Laramie 16
3. Evanston 10
4. Rawlins 7
5. Casper 5

Top 5 Wyoming Cities, 1867-2009:

1. Cheyenne - 565 total patents
2. Casper - 561 total patents
3. Laramie - 481 total patents
4. Sheridan - 266 total patents
5. Jackson - 244 total patents

Top 10 Classifications on Wyoming patents, 1975-2009: 

1. Wells (Class 166)
2. Land Vehicles (Class 280)
3. Liquid Purification or Separation (Class 210)
4. Chemistry of Inorganic Compounds (Class 423)
5. Chemistry: Molecular Biology and Microbiology (Class 435)
6. Typewriting Machines (Class 400)
7. Coating Processes (Class 427)
8. Stock Material or Miscellaneous Articles (Class 428)
9. Land Vehicles: Bodies and Tops (Class 296)
10. Electrical Computers and Digital Processing Systems: Multicomputer Data Transferring (Class 709)

982 Wyomingites received patents between 2000-2009

242 Wyoming patents were issued between 2000-2009 without an assignee

Top 5 Assignees for Wyoming Patents, 2000 - 2009:

As of Dec 31, 2009, the Wyoming Inventors Database includes: Total Patents = 4688