My favorite license plate is Wyoming’s. Can you tell me about its bucking horse logo?

My favorite license plate is Wyoming’s. Can you tell me about its bucking horse logo?

Anne McCamy
Springfield, Missouri

Wyoming has been using the bucking horse and rider logo since around 1918. Designed by First Sgt. George Ostrom, the logo first adorned a shoulder patch worn by WWI soldiers in the Wyoming National Guard. Since then, it has been worn by Wyoming Guard units that fought in WWII, Korea and Vietnam, and served in other out-of-state and overseas duties. The bucking horse and rider license plate debuted in 1936, and the logo was also included in Wyoming’s centennial celebration in 1990.

Although there has been much debate over who the rider is patterned after, most agree the horse is a legendary rodeo bronco named Steamboat—a “horse that couldn’t be rode.”

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Marshall Trimble is Arizona’s official historian. His books include The Arizona Trilogy and Law of the Gun.

If you have a question, write:

Ask the Marshall,

PO Box 8008, Cave Creek, AZ 85327

or e-mail him at marshalltrimble@sccmail.maricopa.edu