Statue of Edward Gillette is unveiled
GILLETTE (WNE) — The community gathered on the corner of Second Street and Gillette Avenue Wednesday evening for the unveiling of a new sculpture.
“The Surveyor,” a tribute to Edward Gillette, was a project of Gillette Main Street in conjunction with Gillette Rotary.
The sculpture was created by local artist Tom Ford.
Gillette started with the name “Donkey Town,” and was later renamed for Edward Gillette, who surveyed the area for the future railroad industry and convinced the railroad to come through Donkey Town.
In the late 1880s, Gillette’s team was surveying a route between Donkey Creek and Hay Creek in eastern Wyoming Territory. The team found a route that saved the company significant money because it was five miles shorter, needed less grading, and needed 30 fewer bridges, according to WyoHistory.org. The men were excited to potentially get a bonus for their good work.
Instead, the chief engineer wrote to the crew that Donkey Town — the tent town on Donkey Creek — would be renamed Gillette as a reward.
Gillette’s team moved west ahead of the construction of the rails and surveyed the route into the Sheridan area in fall 1890. There was much debate among people about which of the communities in the area would get the railroad and all the benefits it would bring. Would it be Sheridan? Big Horn? No one knew for sure. The recommendation was in the hands of Edward Gillette and his team.
“The Surveyor” sculpture has Edward Gillette looking to the southwest as he surveys the terrain that will eventually become Gillette, Wyoming.
This story was published on July 3, 2026.
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