Named for the rivers that converge here. In 1906, the town was given the name of Wadsworth, for H. E. Wadsworth. The citizens later selected the name of Riverton, because of the confluence of the Popo Agie and Wind Rivers at that point. The Post Office Department accepted the latter name as official designation. Riverton is a farming town located on the Wind River. (WPA) In 1905 Mr. Fenimore Chatterton found that Montana was about to secure the right to divert all the water of the Big Horn River which would leave no water for reclamation of the 300,000 acres in the ceded portion of the Shoshone Indian Reservation. He immediately went to Washington and applied to the Secretary of the Interior for a permit to construct the necessary canals and reservoirs and to lay out a town site on the one hundred sixty acres where the town of Riverton is now located, all work to be done prior to opening the lands for settlement. He met with refusal, but when the lands were opened, the one hundred sixty acres designated by Mr. Chatterton were set aside as a town site. On August 14, 1906, the land was opened and persons who had previously located at Shoshone to await the day moved in and proceeded to survey and stake the blocks and lots. A group of Lander citizens opposed to the establishment of the town tried to stop the surveynot succeeding they induced the Indian Agent at Ft. Washakie, Mr. Wadsworth to use U.S. troops to run people off the town site. After ten days, Mr Chatterton had the matter straightened out through telegrams to Wyoming Senators, and the citizens returned. Meanwhile, the Lander group asked that the town be called Central City and the Northwestern Railroad named its station Wadsworth. Authorities in Washington settled the question by naming the post office Riverton, as being significant of its location on the bank of the Wind River. (Annals of Wyoming 15:1) This town was platted under the United States Town Site Law, and was named Wadsworth in honor of H. E. Wadsworth, the local Indian agent. This name was changed to Riverton, as it was thought to be significant of the location of the place, a town on the bank of a riverthe Big Horn. The town site is really one mile from this river. (Stennett, 1908) Another proposed name for the town was Central City. (Wind River Mountaineer August 24, 1906)
Other Names:
Wadsworth, Central City
County:
Fremont
Feature Category:
Manmade Features
More Reading:
Twentieth century pioneering : our frontier days experiences at Riverton, Wyoming. Allyn, Mary Julia Moore. [Cheyenne, Wyo.] : M. Allyn, 1956.; Riverton, the early years, 1906-1953. Bausch, Winnie. [Riverton, Wyo.] : Riverton Historical Research Committee, c1981.; Family stories, Riverton, Wyoming, 1906-1981. Riverton Senior Citizens Center (Wyo.) [Riverton, Wyo. : Riverton Senior Citizens Center : Early Riverton Group], c1981 Pioneer Printing & Stationery Co.)
