Rock Springs

Rock Springs, city, Sweetwater county, southwestern Wyoming, U.S. The city is located on Bitter Creek, at an elevation of 6,270 feet (1,911 metres) among sagebrush plains and hills, 13 miles (21 km) east of Green River city. Named for a nearby saline spring, it began as a stage stop in 1862; after the arrival of the Union Pacific Railroad in 1868, it developed as a coal-mining and ranching centre. In 1885 violence broke out against Chinese miners, who were willing to work for low wages; their homes were burned, some 28 Chinese labourers were killed, and many more fled or were run out of town. Federal troops were called to quell the riots and protect the Chinese; the troops remained there until 1898. It was in Rock Springs that the outlaw Butch Cassidy (Robert LeRoy Parker) held a job in a butcher’s shop and derived his adopted nickname, Butch. Soda ash (from nearby trona deposits), oil, natural gas, and livestock are the economic mainstays. Western Wyoming Community College (1959) is there, as are the Rock Springs Historical Museum and the Western Wyoming Natural History Museum, the latter of which specializes in prehistory. Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area lies to the southwest, and Rock Springs is the gateway to scenic areas to the north including Jackson Lake, the Wind River Mountains, the Grand Tetons, and Yellowstone National Park. Inc. 1888. Pop. (2000) 18,708; (2010) 23,036.