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The Ames Monument
Near the summit between Cheyenne and Laramie
approximately 1.5 miles south of I-80 Exit 329
Near the summit between Cheyenne and Laramie
approximately 1.5 miles south of I-80 Exit 329
This 60-foot tall limestone pyramid was built in 1881 to honor Oliver and Oakes Ames, two brothers who were largely responsible for the financing of the Union Pacific Railroad. A great deal of scandal accompanied some of their methods for appropriating funds. A congressional investigaton failed to account for missing money. Costing some $65,000 to build, in the days when a large mansion cost less to build, the monument itself caused quite an uproar. The railroad that the Ames brothers helped to build once passed nearby, but when it was rerouted to the south, both the monument and the little town of Sherman were abandoned. The Ames brothers died under a cloud of suspicion. Only the monument and a small cemetery remain.
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