Riverton, Wyoming

Riverton is in a funny position: it sits down in the valley between the Wind River Mountains to the south and the Owl Creek Mountains to the north, on land ceded from the Wind River Indian Reservation and incorporated under the laws of Wyoming. But the city is completely surrounded by Reservation lands. This has led to legal/jurisdictional disputes in the past. The city straddles the confluence of the Big and Little Wind Rivers, a natural meeting of old trade routes.

Riverton is also home to Central Wyoming College, one of the finest 4-year colleges in Wyoming. There's also the Rendezvous [hot air] Balloon Festival in Riverton every July, the annual Fremont County Fair at the begining of August and the Wild West Winter Carnival in February. September brings on the annual Cowboy Poetry Gathering.

There was a famous mountain man rendezvous at Riverton back in 1830, and a second, bigger one in 1838. Folks like Jim Bridger, William Sublette, Jedediah Smith, Dick Wootton and Kit Carson showed up in 1838. Every July now in Riverton, folks host the "1838 Mountain Man Rendezvous," an event featuring a live encampment of modern mountain men and games of skill, with food and dancing, lots of dancing.