Wright is a relatively new town in Wyoming. As this area is mostly a semi-arid, high altitude grassland, settlement here didn't really begin until the Black Thunder Coal Mine (a surface/open pit mine) was opened in 1977. The Black Thunder Coal Mine is one of the largest coal mines in the Powder River Basin and one of the most productive coal mines in the US. There are several other major coal mines in the area and a new, coal-fired electric generating plant is under construction several miles out of Wright.