[5] Arvada, Wyoming, is located on the west bank of the Powder River, about fifty miles northwest of Gillette.

From 1888 to 1891, a stage line that ran from Sundance to Buffalo crossed the Powder River on a ferry boat at the future site of Arvada.

[6] The town of Suggs, Wyoming, was established on the east bank of the river in 1891, and a post office opened September 14, 1891.

Suggs quickly became an "end of tracks town" with bars, brothels, and gambling establishments.

[6] During the Johnson County War of 1892, a group of Buffalo Soldiers from Fort Robinson took the train to Gillette, and marched to Suggs.

There the black soldiers built "Camp Bettens" in spite of a hostile and racist local population.

[7] The Arvada area has deposits of coal at a shallow depth, and in the early days, local wells produced natural gas in solution in the drinking water.

Public education in the community of Arvada is provided by Sheridan County School District #3.