WASHINGTON, D.C. – A significant piece of Wyoming history will now be featured in Senator John Barrasso’s daily Senate life.

Senator Barrasso (R-Wyo.) is the proud new occupant of the Senate desk first used by Francis E. Warren, Wyoming’s first Senator and namesake of the F. E. Warren Air Force Base in Cheyenne.

“This is the desk that was brought into the Senate when Wyoming became our nation’s 44th state,” Barrasso said. Until that time, the Senate had 86 desks for 86 Senators. This is the desk that was given to Wyoming’s first U.S. Senator”

“This desk has been a part of our state’s heritage since the first day of Wyoming statehood,” Barrasso said. “The work Senator Warren did on this desk laid the foundation for our great state. It’s a part of Wyoming’s past, and now it’s a part of Wyoming’s future.”

Senator Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) allowed Senator Barrasso to reclaim Wyoming’s first desk when a desk with significant historical value to Alabama became available to Senator Shelby.

When the British burned the United States Capitol in 1814 during the War of 1812, the old Senate Chamber was severely damaged and the original furnishings destroyed. The Senate ordered new desks from Thomas Constantine, a New York cabinetmaker.

All the original Constantine desks remain in use in the Senate Chamber today. Historians trace the occupants of each desk by reading the names carved inside the desk drawers. 13 U.S. Senators sat at this desk since it was brought to the Senate at the time of Wyoming’s statehood.