HOLLYWOOD has a lot to answer for. Down the decades, movies have both idealised and mythologised our perceptions of the US. California is endlessly seen as a paradise of beaches, Chicago is associated with gangsters and bootlegging, while New York seems synonymous with canyons of skyscrapers and an in-your-face attitude.

So what of Wyoming? Anyone even remotely acquainted with the cinema will probably conjure up images of stagecoaches, Indians, John Wayne and a thousand Western movies, and, well, they'd be right.

Wyoming is the ninth largest state, yet is the least populated in America. It's a huge, empty region where pronghorn antelope outnumber people and where rough, tough wranglers and ranchers were once prone to shoot first and ask questions afterwards.

History also confirms some of the cinematic impressions, for this is pioneer country all right, where the first settlers came through on the Oregon Trail, where the Native Americans were driven out, and where cattle ranch wars raged violently. Nowadays, though, the cowboys are becoming an endangered species, as rare as the gold dust sought after by latter-day prospectors.

Ironically, in the same way that the economics and greed of cattle ranchers and sheep homesteaders drove out or destroyed the Native American population, the traditional cowboy has since been replaced by oil workers or mineral contractors.

Nevertheless, though the reality may have changed somewhat, the romance of the Western novel continues, with nostalgic place-names such as Laramie and Buffalo.

Beyond the towns, the sheer emptiness of Wyoming is stunning, with more evocative-sounding names such as Bighorn, Medicine Bow and the Grand Teton mountain ranges. If you suffer from agoraphobia you may feel less inclined to venture out here, for this is a landscape of wide open plains and endless sagebrush, which is so familiar you may feel you've been here before.

In fact, most of us have, well certainly through the medium of the television screen, for the scrubby plains running to the Colorado Plateau, were the part of America which John Wayne felt best defined the West, and it is not surprising to discover that his introduction to an adoring public began with the 1930 epic production of The Big Trail, which was filmed in Jackson.

The days when outlaws plagued homesteaders and ranchers may have long gone, but the essence of the West continues beyond the vehicle license-plates, whose emblem is a hat-waving cowboy astride a bucking bronco. Head for the city of Cheyenne, the state capital, and you will find that cowboy culture is alive and well. Along with numerous ranch-wear outlets and country and western dancehalls, you can experience the world's largest outdoor rodeo, chuckwagon races and the Old Cheyenne Gunfight during the annual Frontier Festival.

If such shows feel a little contrived, it's worth remembering how often the Wild West has been mythologised. The town of Cody takes its name from one William Frederick Cody, otherwise known as ''Buffalo Bill'', a character whose exaggerated claims were first published in popular ''dime novels'' back east. He furthered his own notoriety by creating the world-famous Wild West Show, a fictional jamboree which enthralled European audiences for 10 years. A more realistic account of his career can be found among numerous artefacts from his life, in the Buffalo Bill Historical Centre, which contains the nation's most comprehensive collection of Western Americana.

It's simply impossible to be economical with the truth, when it comes to the sheer drama of the Wyoming landscape, and the northern territory of the state is awesome. Congress recognised this in 1906, when they designated the Devil's Tower, a petrified core of volcanic rock, as the nation's first national monument. Despite this, it took another Hollywood epic to bring this hauntingly beautiful monument to the attention of the American public, when Steven Spielberg used the outcrop for the extraterrestrial spaceship landing in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

Entering the Black Hills, an unexpectedly verdant mix of forest and rivers, it is surprising to learn that at around an elevation of 6000ft, this is one of the lowest points in Wyoming. Nearby is Sundance Mountain, where the Sioux held their annual sun dance religious ceremonies, but it is the town of the same name, which added yet another character to the lexicon of cinematic heroes.

It's worth a short visit to see the town museum which displays mementoes of Harry Longabaugh, who, by spending some time in the local jail, became forever known as the Sundance Kid.

Given the obviously male-dominated list of cowboy heroes, it's easy to believe that women didn't get a look in, but unlikely as it may seem, Wyoming is also known as the Equality State. It was the first state to give women the vote, appointed the first female jurors and elected the first female governor.

Such worthy ladies were joined by the more notorious Calamity Jane, and the lesser known Cattle Kate, who was prone to putting her brand on other people's stock. She eventually rose to fame when justice finally caught up with her - she was the first woman to be hanged in Wyoming.