- It's amazing to think that in this instance, the entire career field of having stewardesses on airplanes, or in this case flight attendants now of all kinds on any airline in the in the entire world, that entire career field started here in our state, and in our capital city.
Having grown up here in Cheyenne, Wyoming, everybody looks at that airfield that sits in the middle of our city, and wonder why is it there?
Cheyenne had an important part to play with the creation of our national airline transport system, the way that transformed the city of Cheyenne, and later on what the contributions of these people in Cheyenne made to the development of our modern concept of air travel, is outstanding.
- [Narrator] The US military was the first to utilize Cheyenne as an aviation hub.
They conducted an air reliabiliy test to prove that aircraft could be used to protect both coasts of the United States.
- And so they found this location which was perfect, it could be supplied by train.
It was right next to a military post that had a lot of land around it.
And then also the fact that it was again, thanks to the railroad, a landmark that the pilots could follow without getting lost when relying on sometimes very unreliable gear, they would be able to transit the continent from Chicago to San Francisco by just following the Union Pacific Railroad.
- [Narrator] Otto Praeger, of the United States Postal Service took note of this air reliability test.
He thought air travel could be a way to make mail delivery much more efficient - This test by the army was able to prove that, it was possible to have something go coast to coast in daylight hours in as little as 21 hours.
And so, it was decided that they would move a new civilian airfield to this plateau about a mile north of the state capitol building.
And that is where the airfield is today, and the city has grown up around it.
But, from the very get go this was a very well placed location.
- [Narrator] In 1926, the Kelly Airmail Act was passed.
Airmail service would now be privatized.
Part of the Act stipulated that these commercial entities that took on airmail routes would also be required to carry passengers.
- The company that was really interested in buying the largest of these airmail routes; ours was this company by the name of Boeing Aircraft Corporation under Bill Boeing, the legendary aircraft designer.
And so he began to build airplanes that would be able to do both carry airmail and people.
They were some of the first airliners that he ever developed.
One of the first, was basically a biplane a little bigger than the airmail planes that came before called, the Boeing 40.
You know, the pilot sat outside in the wind, 'cause that's where the pilots thought they should be.
But the place that he put the people was between the pilot and the engine in the fuselage of the plane, in a space that could hold four people surprisingly, but it's really small.
but it's really small.
If people were brave enough to try this, and there were some daredevils who are willing, you would not have help as a passenger from the pilot.
He couldn't hear you, until he landed at the next location.
- [Narrator] Bill Boeing decided to build his company's headquarters in Cheyenne due to its central location along the airmail route.
- And when he did that, that made Cheyenne the largest aviation depot in the Rocky Mountain region.
At the same time that he was doing that, he designed another airplane.
And this one was called the Boeing 80, also designed to carry passengers but this time inside an enclosed cabin.
Even the pilot and copilot were able to sit on the inside and it had three engines, and it was supposed to be pointed like a Pullman car on a railroad.
You had walnut paneled walls, you had wicker seats with leather cushions.
You had China sconces with brass fixtures, it was absolutely luxurious.
But unfortunately, even with this brand new airplane, they still could not convince people to fly.
- [Narrator] Steve Stimson, office manager of Boeing Air Transport's San Francisco office, presented the idea of using stewards in flights, like on ocean liners,- to take care of passengers needs.
- And as he was formulating this idea, a woman walks into his office looking for a job in aviation.
She was a recent graduate nurse from French Hospital in San Francisco, her name was Ellen Church.
Well as he started thinking about these ideas, he was struck upon this idea with her help that instead of having male stewards, what if you had female stewardesses?
Who would be willing to go back, take care of the passengers and he supplied this idea to his superiors in Cheyenne, Wyoming, they realized that maybe this would be a perfect thing to try to encourage the flying public to do this amazing step of getting into the air.
And so, they hired eight young ladies, to fly to Cheyenne, Wyoming, where the airline would train them on the finer points of what would be necessary What would it be to be a steward or stewardess, on an airplane.
They trained them for four days in May of 1930.
They eventually took off and four flew from Cheyenne to San Francisco, four takeoff from Cheyenne to Chicago.
Neither the passengers or the crews took very long to realize just how valuable these young ladies were.
And very shortly Boeing Air Transport saw an uptick in people that wanted to fly on their airline.
Other airlines saw this as well, and liked the service and began to do this too.
- [Narrator] The stewardess school was an experimental idea Nobody knew exactly what form it was going to take.
- Mr. Stimson actually was very important in trying to get this done from the very beginning he did this with Ellen Church.
They designed what would be necessary to be good stewards, or stewardesses rather on these aircraft.
Early stewardesses had this amazing panoply of things that you can't imagine that stewardesses or flight attendants would do today, they would have to be registered nurses, they were responsible for checking bags, weighing the passengers loading the bags onto the aircraft, dusting the window sills, tightening down the seats after every landing to make sure that they didn't come loose on the next landing.
Of course, they served food, they swatted flies, but they are also seen in many instances, pushing airplanes into hangars and helping refuel the aircraft.
Stuff that sounds absolutely remarkable today.
And so, it was a matter of trial and error over decades to eventually get to the profession that we understand it today.
There was one rule that stuck with the stewardesses from the very beginning, was the fact if you got married, you had to resign.
And so, this is something that continued from the 1930s all the way up until 1974 that no stewardess with any airline was allowed to be married, but that also meant the turnover was incredible.
- [Narrator] In 1930, large scale mergers were happening within the airline industry.
Boeing Air Transport became part of what is now United Airlines.
United was headquartered in Chicago, but maintained an operations base in Cheyenne.
- All the aircraft that United Airlines flew, no matter which one of these branches that they used to belong to, were brought to Cheyenne, Wyoming for maintenance.
- [Narrator] During the early days, there was one stewardess per plane.
When united started using the Douglas DC-3, the amount of passengers doubled, and the United started using more than one stewardess on each flight.
- By the time we got the DC-3 into United Airlines inventory.
The federal government mandated that for every 10 people on a plane, there must be a stewardess, that became kind of a new standard that was regulated.
- [Narrator] Shortly after the United merger, the company decided to move the stewardess school to Chicago.
Cheyenne served as the company's maintenance base and modification center through World War Two.
After the war, these facilities moved from Wyoming to San Francisco.
- All of the airlines basically came to the conclusion that it was far better and more efficient to fly from somewhere to somewhere.
So why not go from Chicago to San Francisco in a straight flight and these aircraft that could make the distance, they no longer had to stop in the middle and refuel.
With all the changes, they didn't wanna let Cheyenne swing in the wind or leave us out in the cold.
They wanted to continue their relationship with our community here in Wyoming.
with our community here in Wyoming.
And so, beginning in 1947, they started implementing the training program, the training school for United here at Cheyenne.
And they had dormitories for the ladies, they had a cafeteria for them.
They had classrooms, they had mock ups of this new DC-4 airliner that they would be able to train these new stewardesses in and the instructors that they brought were all professional stewardesses that were actually in the airline.
So the training level went from four days at the beginning and here 1947 The training was up to five weeks.
And what they had to be trained in, was for a brand new aviation industry.
Because now after World War Two, And so flight was now a given in modern life.
and they needed something I believe in the first year 600 new stewardesses in that year to meet the new demand.
Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, and for Cheyenne, the end came for this connection with United Airlines in 1961.
United decided that it was a good idea to build a brand new school for the stewardesses right next to their headquarters back in Chicago.
And so unfortunately, after graduating upwards of 7000 stewardesses, eventually United decided to close that business and Cheyenne has been poor for it ever since.
- [Narrator] Mike and fellow researcher Starley Talbot have written two books about the history of aviation in Wyoming, including one published in the summer of 2020 about the stewardess training program in Cheyenne.
- I thoroughly enjoyed everything that I discovered about, what happened here in our city, that at one point, we were the center of the aviation world, that all the airlines used to come to Cheyenne, and go to the Plains hotel to have the meetings that would define the future course of the industry for that year.
Instead of Denver, or instead of San Francisco or Chicago, they came here and the fact that, it was here in Cheyenne that we had this stewardess profession, that now every airline in the world that holds its salt is a major carrier for passengers or otherwise must have flight attendants to take care of their passengers that started here.
I think that's a feather in our cap that we don't talk enough about and we really should be proud about our contribution.
(soft instrumental music) - [Narrator] Traveling across the wide open expanses of Wyoming, it's easy to see why it's called the Cowboy State.
The distinctive bucking bronc and rider are everywhere from the state's license plate, the field at War Memorial Stadium, to the US Mint's commemorative quarter.
That quarter also reads "The Equality State" and serves as the official state nickname, echoing the state motto of equal rights.
Every third Monday of January, Wyoming celebrates its heritage as the first state to grant women the right to vote in 1869.
For many, the third Monday in January is observed for another very significant reason, honoring the birth of civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Former state legislator Liz Byrd said this day signified a personal struggle embodied in the symbolism of the day itself.
(soft whoosh) Harriet Elizabeth Rhone was born April 20th, 1926 in Cheyenne.
Her Wyoming heritage dates to territorial days when newly freed black slaves looked to the Western frontier for work and a new life.
- Most of the African Americans here came with the railroad or buffalo soldiers.
We had a lot of pioneer settlers that came to Wyoming but didn't stay.
Now, my grandfather, he witnessed statehood in 1890.
He was told as a young boy that if he went to school and got an education, that people who were educated could succeed.
So he really believed that, he and his brother both.
So of course, they would to school and they became educated.
My dad used to read to me, and my favorite story was "The Little Red Hen."
So every night, I would always ask for "The Little Red Hen," and one night he said, "Don't you know another story?"
And I said, "I like that one the best."
So when I went into 1st grade, I took my book with me, and so I told Miss Warren, I said, "I can read."
And she said, "I didn't know that, Elizabeth."
And so I said, "Well, if you would let me read my book to the class, I'll show ya."
I took my book.
I was so excited, and so she stood behind me very patiently.
And so then when I finished, the children just clapped.
They thought I was really the greatest, and I thought I was, too.
So then she took the book and turned it upright because all the time it had been upside down.
And she said, "Elizabeth," she said, "you did such a marvelous job."
She said, "But if you hold it this way and look at the pictures and the words this way," she said, "you can even do a better job the next time."
And you know what?
Because she was so kind and didn't tell, I said, "You know, she's really great."
And that was the day that I decided I was gonna be a teacher just like Mrs. Warren.
When I graduated in 1944, I went over to the University of Wyoming to register and just knowing that I wanted to be a teacher.
I had no problem with getting my classes.
But when it came down to housing, oh, they would be very happy to find me a place to stay.
I was really surprised about the University of Wyoming.
My whole family, they were really quite surprised.
I felt very crushed about that, so I went down here to Greeley.
Did you know they had the same kind of policy for African Americans or minorities at Greeley State Teacher's College, too?
So my dad was working for Union Pacific Railroad, and I said to my dad, "Can you get me a pass to go on the railroad to any school in the United States to America?"
He said, "Yes, I can."
So I took all 48 States and put 'em in a jar except for Wyoming and Colorado.
I shook the jar up, and out came West Virginia.
I get this real nice letter from West Virginia State College.
So when I got down there, everybody was telling everybody, "You've got a student from Wyoming."
Everybody wanted to see the girl from Wyoming.
Not only that, I wore my Western jacket down there, too, so they would really know that I was from Wyoming.
That's the first time I had ever been around that many black children in my life.
And I said, "Oh Lord, thank you for letting me come to West Virginia State College."
I said, "I really think I'm in heaven."
Because I had been with these students and they had been so nice to me and everything, I enjoyed my four years down there very much.
When I graduated from West Virginia State College, I came home.
I went over to the administration building here in Cheyenne.
With this certificate and everything, I'll just go over there and show I'm in the school district, and boy, I'll get me a job just like that.
But that didn't happen.
It just did not happen.
And they had their own personal policy in the Department of Education.
They had no African-American teachers.
I won't let this defeat me.
They had jobs out at Warren Air Force Base.
I was to work in service dock B.
While I was working over there, they called me and asked me would I like to try out for instructor training over in the schools?
I was so happy, I want you to know, of being in that school.
Now I was a permanent GS-7, a regular classroom instructor and everything.
Those years were really my very best.
I really got to know myself.
I was proud to have the job.
10 years later, I go back to public school.
They still aren't ready for an African-American teacher in the public school here.
Governor Hickey was the governor at that time, and so I went over to see the governor.
He said, "Do you really wanna teach?"
And I said, "Yes."
He said, "You'll have a job."
- [Narrator] Liz was hired in 1949 as the first fully certified African-American teacher in Wyoming.
She would spend the next 27 years teaching in Laramie County District Number 1.
She also had time to earn a Master's degree from the college that it turned her away so many years earlier, the University of Wyoming.
- My dad was very close with all of us.
So one day he said to me, "Do you know, Elizabeth?"
He said, "Why don't you run for the legislature?"
And I was really taken off my feet.
I said, "Well, Dad," I said, "I really don't know that much about politics."
"I want you to go out and put your name in," and I did.
So in the meantime, while I was running for the primary, they found out my dad had cancer.
I did so well in the primary.
I said, "How did my dad know that I could do that?"
Well, he went into the hospital, and he died between the primary and the general election.
So I said, "I really owe it to my dad."
So I really got out and worked for the general.
I said, "He rides on my shoulder everyday," and he does for the rest of my life.
And so I was very successful for all of those years because my dad was always with me.
- [Narrator] Liz Byrd became the first African-American woman to serve in Wyoming's legislature.
After four terms in the House, she went on to become the first black woman elected to the Wyoming Senate, serving two terms.
- I think everyone, everyone in the whole world should learn to live with each other.
You see, for awhile, prejudice and segregation, most of my life, I had experienced that.
And I remember the first time that I went to Washington, DC, I could not drink at the same fountain in the United States Capitol.
- [Narrator] Mrs. Byrd's time in the state legislature was devoted to furthering the advancement of education and children's issues.
But our most notable achievement came with the passage of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.
- That was the greatest challenge, and I think it was a challenge for many of the legislators because after so long, they said, "Are you gonna bring that bill back?"
I kept saying, "Yes, I am," and I did.
- [Narrator] In 1991, Wyoming joined the majority of other States in America in recognizing the holiday, Equality Day, which was signed into law by Governor Mike Sullivan.
- [Elizabeth] I never met Dr. Martin Luther King, but I was hoping that all of us, every individual could live together, be honest with each other, be fair with each other.
And see, fairness and honesty are the things that make the world go around, and have respect for one another.
And you see, if people would learn to do that, and if everyone from every country would learn to do that, we would no longer have wars.
(moving instrumental music) There's something really magical about fire in general.
It brought people together when we first made fires as a form of safety.
And you can gather as a group and be around it.
And when I light up my my props, I definitely feel like an electricity happen.
I hear the fire rolling with the air as it's moving.
I feel like my whole soul is on fire.
All right.
I'm.
You put the powder on the back.
Yeah.
I work at my family's ranch.
I'm the fifth generation.
My dad didn't have any sons.
They had three girls, so I was the son I spend most of the day working with.
My dad and my family usually running equipment to doing mechanical work.
I mean, sometimes you're, you know, 2:00 in the morning, you're going literally 24/7.
You have to really love it as much as I do love it.
I'm such a creative person that it was also hard.
So growing up with dance, like, I loved it, but it's really kind of a clicky group of people that usually get into it where you're like, really thin.
And I was never naturally skinny.
Like, I'm pretty tough.
When I go work out a ranch and I live out there, so you've got muscle and you don't mind getting dirty, so I never really felt quite.
Like, I didn't fit in with the dance group and even with theater.
I love theater, but I don't have a good singing voice, so I didn't leave a whole lot of room for me as far as acting goes.
I never really figured out how my love of theater and danc would really coordinate with the rest of my life, especially with farming.
I went to Hawaii when I was, I think, 16, 15 for the first time, and that's when I first saw like the Polynesian fire spinners.
And I was like, Wow, this is just so cool, like really feeling like the flames and hearing it kind of move and was just like, I need to do this as an adult.
Like, there's no way my parents would even let me right now, but that is super cool and then just kind of forgot about it until I went to a small burn.
It's like a local burn, kind of like Burning Man was blown away by the fire spinners and they handed me their staff and it was like electricity just rushed through my body.
Like, I could feel it in my heart, just like exploded.
And I was like, What is this?
This is amazing.
I mean, maybe when you see your child for the first time, you kind of feel like that rush of love.
And it was very similar to that.
And I just knew I had to do this.
And I was like, How did you?
How do you how did you get into this?
What do you what do I what I got to do?
It was like, Oh, you just bought the prop online and just started playing with it was like, perfect done.
And so I went home and immediately bought a staff and just could not stop playing with it.
I mean, like hours.
I remember the very first time I spun fire, I practiced for a month.
I think it's like 14 degrees outside, but I really wanted to do it hand like gloves on three layers.
Yes.
So good.
I would work on the ranch and I would bartend, and then I come home and I would practice my staff.
I had realized that I was flexible before, but I wasn't anymore to be able to pull off certain moves, I needed to be more flexible.
It's not just like a physical thing, but it's a 100% mental thing too, to be able to break down and move to the point where you can do it on fire safely and not be afraid of getting hurt.
Or if you kind of mess up when you're doing that move to know how to get out of it, if you're playing with fire, you're going to get burned.
There's definitely times where I've learned fire safety that I was like, What am I doing?
Why am I doing this?
I just love it so much that they have to keep going.
I mean, I've never felt like something really call to me as much as fire spinning dead.
It just felt right.
Like it just really.
Yeah, this is what you have to do.
Like the world was offering it to me.
Like, Here you go.
You asked for it.
And here it is.
My parents were like, Oh, you're like, really talented.
But that's not going to make you any money like you need to get a real job.
It's basically the same story I hear on my life is that art is really neat.
You're really great at it, but you're not going to be financially well off because of it.
The love of the ranch to kind of like pulls at your heartstrings.
You're like, Well, I want to leave, but I can't, because I love this place that my family needs help.
Sometimes they get like those see the doubts.
But I mean, at the same time, it's kind of a bit of fuel thin like, OK, let me prove you wrong.
You just have to drive towards it and they'll stop you But otherwise.
My parents, when I first heard fire spinning thought I was crazy, you know, like this isn't going to last long.
She's just going through a weird phase.
That's definitely changed now.
I think they've like my mom.
I was terrified of me spinning fire, but now she kind of helps me get gigs or can tells people about what I'm doing.
Like with my dad now, if I'm like, Hey, I got a gig this weekend, he's like, "OK" and lets it go, which is great .
Ha ha ha ha ha.
I always wanted to be on screen and entertain people.
And if I can do that going around the world and spinning fire and bring some joy like what I experienced when I was like 16, I'd be supe happy to do that.