Photo credits:  Nancy Cerroni, John Bernhisel, Wendy Kuper, Erin Stiver-Henson, Simmons Family, Skye Mader, Cody Mural Museum

The Big Horn Basin has been occupied by indigenous people since prehistoric times. The Crow Tribe has occupied the area since the 1700's. John Colter, George Drouillard, General William Ashley and others crossed through the area as early as 1807. 

Permanent settlements settlements began in the 1870's.  By the 1890's there were school buildings in Burlington, Sheet's Flat, Fenton, Emblem and Otto.  The first schools in Cowley, Byron, Deaver and Frannie were built about 1900.  

In 1975 the state officially approved the creation of Big Horn County School District #1

....which consolidated former districts #30 (Deaver-Frannie), #20 (Burlington – Otto), #3 (Bryon) and #28 (Cowley).
A Look at Our History

In 1969 the Wyoming legislature reorganized Wyoming School Districts to provide for improved and more equalized educational opportunities for all pupils in the state.  Funding was based on mineral royalties found within the district's boundary, Burlington was included with Byron.  This allowed Burlington and Otto to share some of the oil dollars.  A long strip of land connects the north and south end of the district from Byron through the hills to Burlington. 

In 1975 the state officially approved the creation of Big Horn County School District #1 which consolidated former districts #30 (Deaver-Frannie), #20 (Burlington – Otto), #3 (Bryon) and #28 (Cowley).

The new district adopted the Motto “Quality education through unity in the District.”

The District continued to maintain schools that were in existence at the time of the reorganization which included separate high schools at Deaver, Cowley, Byron and Burlington. Associated with each high school was a junior high. K–6 elementary schools were operated in Cowley, Frannie, Byron and Burlington.

In 1983 the board consolidated the high schools in Deaver, Cowley and Byron, creating the Rocky Mountain High School which was located in Byron.  Three junior highs were combined into Rocky Mountain Middle School in Deaver. K–5 elementary schools were organized for Frannie, Cowley, and Byron.

In the Fall of 2005 the new Rocky mountain Elementary School was officially opened and students from Deaver, Frannie, Cowley and Byron were able to enjoy being part of the new Rocky Mountain Elementary School in Cowley. Elementary schools of Frannie and Byron were closed.

In 2010 the new Rocky Mountain Middle/High School began operation and 6th  – 12th  grade students  from Byron, Cowley, Frannie and Deaver now benefit from the new building on the East end of the Town of Cowley. Schools in Deaver and Byron were closed.

Although the K-12 school has remained in Burlington during this time, they have had multiple new buildings built during this time.  The Burlington School is one of the most beautiful in the state and is an example of efficient organization.

 A new stone building was erected to house the Big Horn Academy in 1916 (pictured above). In 1925, the name was changed to the Cowley High School. The school's mascot was the Jaguars. The Cowley High School remained in the Big Horn Academy building until 1983. Due to the declining enrollment, the school in Cowley was closed in 1983.

Beginning in 1984, the town's students began attending the consolidated Rocky Mountain High School in Byron, Wyoming, with students from Byron, Deaver and Frannie. For the 2010-2011 school year, the Rocky Mountain High School was moved to Cowley, with the completion of a new high school in Cowley.
On September 26, 1910, the Big Horn Academy was opened in Cowley, as the first High School. The first class to graduate from the Big Horn Academy was the class of 1912, consisting of 13 students. The first four-year graduating class was in 1915.

List of Superintendents 
Alan Bair
Grant Sanders
Ron Macarthur
Jim Woodward
Kevin Mitchell
Shon Hocker
Ben Smith 
Matt Davidson