They and others feel that park visitors ought to be able to see the horses used by Indians and early ranchers when Theodore Roosevelt ranched in the North Dakota Badlands. However, the NPS has no interest in preserving Nokota horses in the Badlands. Learn more about the Nokota Horse from Castle McLaughlin, Ph.D. Wyoming . Just as the Statue of Liberty is sometimes used as a symbol of New York and South Dakota proclaims itself the Mount Rushmore State , so is Wyoming the Cowboy State . The bucking horse logo has been depicted on Wyoming license plates since 1936, burning itself into the minds of drivers and passengers from fifty states and even foreign nations for over half a century.
Confusion surrounds the origins of Wyoming's most famous picture.
I while his unit was stationed in Bordeaux, France, in 1918. Another claim came from Leslie E. Wright, who said he created the symbol as a sign for his Dubois tavern. He then presented his design to Governor Lester Hunt. But Hunt himself claimed to have created the design while serving as Wyoming Secretary of State in 1935. When Hunt obtained a copyright issued in his name on the design, he was met with protests led by Ostrom and some of the WWI Wyoming veterans who served in the bucking bronco unit in France.