Rawlins, like Laramie to the east and Green River to the west, began as a Hell-on-Wheels town when the Union Pacific Railroad pushed through Wyoming in 1868-69. When state officials moved the prison from Laramie, it went west to Rawlins and that facility – called the Territorial Prison – is now a museum where you can take a historical or haunted tour, view artwork created by inmates, even sit in the death house (kinda gruesome, when you think about it, but a good way to give notice to unruly children that they need to mind their Ps and Qs). The Carbon County Museum, just down the street from the Territorial Prison, has clothing, photographs, and social items representing the history of the area. Unique items are shoes made from outlaw George Parrott's hide (yep, he was skinned and the hide tanned after he was hung by a lynch mob in 1881) and one of the original Wyoming state flags.