To define the American West is a daunting task for any scholar. Ideas of the American West permeate around its location, development, continuity and historical reference in time. The purpose of Wyoming Coal and Its Place in the American West is to identify the role assumed by Wyoming coal production concerning the American West. To better understand the contributions of Wyoming coal, three aspects will addressed; 1) Wyoming's territorial and state development, 2) the maturation and comparison of coal and other industries in Wyoming, and 3) defining the degree of impact coal played concerning Wyoming and the American West. Specifically, this examination will survey the early years of Wyoming history (1850-191 0) and inspect the development of Wyoming and to determine what role coal extraction played pertaining to the inception of the territory and later the state, especially in politics and economics. Furthermore, other institutions pertinent to Wyoming including pastoral, agrarian, and the railroad industries are discussed with respect to the development of each within the state and are compared concurrently with the development of coal mining in a chronological fashion. Lastly, the relationship between coal mining and other Wyoming industries is used to determine the levels of conformity, adaptation, and deviation of American West Historiography and the state's relationship with the west.