Ames Monument

A 60-foot pyramid of rough granite stands alone on the high plains of southern Wyoming, raised to honour two railroad financiers to a design by Henry Hobson Richardson.

The Ames Monument is about 20 miles east of Laramie, south of Interstate 80 at the Vedauwoo exit. The American Heritage Center at the University of Wyoming gives its elevation as 8,247 feet and says it stands at what was once the highest point on the Union Pacific route. Wyoming State Parks describes a four-sided pyramid, 60 feet square at the base and 60 feet high, designed by Henry Hobson Richardson, with an interior passage that is now sealed. The north face carries one-foot-high letters reading "In Memory of Oakes Ames and Oliver Ames." Two bas-relief portraits of the brothers by sculptor Augustus Saint-Gaudens face east and west near the top; Wyoming State Parks says time and possible vandalism have damaged some of their features.