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The original
settlement in the area that would become Gillette was a
small tent town west of present day Gillette. This
community known as Donkey Town became a temporary base
camp for survey crews from the Burlington and Missouri
Railroad who were planning to build a line through
Northeast Wyoming in the late 1880s. Engineer and
surveyor Edward Gillette was in charge of surveying the
area. The original survey was to follow Donkey Creek and
move to the south of present day Gillette, but Edward
Gillette found a shorter route that saved the railroad
five miles of track and thirty bridges. The railroad was
grateful for the savings and honored Edward Gillette by
naming the new town after him. |
