Prior to his death on July 26, 1885 Lt. Caspar W. Collins made several diagrams of military posts in Dakota Territory. This reconstruction was based on his diagram of the fort.

In November of 1865 the post known as Platte Bridge Station was officially renamed Fort Caspar in honor of Lt. Collins.

The Battle at Platte Bridge
Early on the morning of July 16, 1865 Lt. Caspar Collins led a troop of men to reinforce an army supply train coming into Platte Bridge Station. Only a mile west of the post, the group was ambushed by members of the Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapahoe nations.

The Indians were anxious to avenge the losses they sustained at the Sand Creek Massacre the previous year. They hoped to destroy Platte Bridge Station in this attack.

The Indian force heavily outnumbered the group led by Collins. During the retreat, four men were killed including the twenty-year-old lieutenant.

The Army renamed Platte Bridge Station in honor of the young hero. Since a new post in Colorado had recently been named in honor of Caspar Collins’ father, Col. W.O. Collins, the name Fort Caspar was chosen.

The Battle of Red Buttes
A desperate battle to save a supply train ended tragically the same day as the Battle at Platte Bridge. Sgt. Amos Custard and his men were bringing five supply wagons from the Sweetwater Station near Independence Rock. The group came into view of Platte Bridge Station from the direction of Red Buttes about noon on July 26, 1865.

Unaware of the morning’s skirmish, Custard barely had time to assume a defensive position when a large group of Indians attacked. The four hour battle ended when the Indians overran the soldier’s position.

The next day a detachment from Platte Bridge Station found the bodies of Sgt. Custard and 20 of his men. The only survivors were three of the five men on advance patrol from the supply train who made their way here to safety.

Casper Army Air Base
The summer of 1942 work was begun on an air base in the Casper area. In four months, four thousand workers constructed two hundred buildings, laid utility lines, built streets and laid out runways heavy enough for the largest military planes. On August 15, 1942, the first plane landed at the base. The official opening was on September 1, 1942. Major James A. Moore, a World War I veteran, was commanding officer. The base was built to handle four thousand military personnel. It became a training area for B-24 Liberators. A massive range was created to the west of the base for bombing practice. The air base was officially designated as the Casper Army Air Base. The base served as a training center until it was closed on March 7, 1945. The field became the Natrona County International Airport. This replaced the first airport, Wardwell Field. Many former base personnel stayed in the Casper area helping the city to prosper in the post-war years.

Eadsville
Eadsville, a mining ghost town, is situated 12 miles due south of Casper on top of Casper Mountain. It was founded by Charles W. Eads in 1891 after he had staked a 600’ x 1,500’ mining claim around a large spring. Word had spread that large deposits of precious minerals were found — gold, silver, lead, and copper. Lots were sold in the town in 1891 - 1892, and about a dozen cabins were built. Foundations of three cabins still remain today. Some 40 to 50 people lived there hoping to find a bonanza of gold and silver. Some copper was mined, and traces of gold and silver were found. Asbestos and feldspar were economically mined. The “spar” is still being mined today after nearly 100 years.

The miners finally gave up and abandoned the town in 1905-6. Numerous artifacts were uncovered in an archeological excavation of 7,800’.

Casper-Natron County-State Founding
On April 9, 1889, application was made to have the town of Casper incorporated. John Merritt made the application in Rawlins, Wyoming since Casper was in Carbon County at that time. On July 8, 1889, Casper was incorporated and George Mitchell was elected as the town’s first Mayor.

The first act to separate Natrona county from Carbon County was presented to the Wyoming legislature in 1888. The county was officially organized on April 8 1890. Natrona County derives its name from the mineral, natron, which is carbonate of soda.

The Territory of Wyoming was formed on July 25, 1868, after separating from the Territory of Dakota. In 1869, the first Territorial Legislature passed the first Woman’s Suffrage Bill in the Union, thus allowing women in Wyoming the right to vote. Wyoming became a state on July 10, 1890. The word, Wyoming, comes from a Delaware Indian word meaning “Upon the Great Plain.”

Railroads
The first passenger train arrived in this area on June 15, 1888 as part of Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad System at the site of an “old town” that would later become Casper, Wyoming. A depot was built after the tracks were extended from the “old town” at present “A” & McKinley streets, to the area of Center and Collins streets. By 1891, extra cars were added in order to handle the traffic involved with mining ventures on Casper Mountain. The Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley, or locally called Wyoming central Railroad, extended passenger service on to Shoshoni, Riverton, and Lander by 1906. The line eventually became part of the Chicago & North Western Railroad system.

The Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad, commonly referred to as Burlington, reached Casper in October, 1913. The link through Wind River Canyon connected its Big Horn Basin line with the lines in southeastern Wyoming. Their depot in Casper was built in 1915. West of Casper, the consolidation of the parallel lines of the North Western and Burlington in 1942-23 made possible the salvage of 30,000 tons of rails for the war effort and the elimination of 87 miles of North Western Tracks. Burlington Northern now has 84.8 miles of track in Natrona County. This railroad has the distinction of being built from west to east in Natrona County.

Ella L. Watson (“Cattle Kate”)
On Sturday, July 20, 1889, Ella L. Watson, popularly known as “Cattle Kate”, was hanged with James Averell in Spring Canyon. The site is located 50 miles southwest of Casper near Independence Rock.

Ella and Jim had adjoining homesteads on Horse Creek which flows through the Pathfinder Ranch. This energetic couple had built up a sizeable herd of cattle, and Jim had established a road house on the Sweetwater River, located near the Oregon Trail and the Rawlins to Fort McKinney Stage Road.

One story of this hanging is that Jim Averell was a saloonkeeper who encouraged ranch hands to drink and carouse. Ella, in this story, raised a fine herd of cattle by exchanging her “favors” for young cattle “appropriated” by the ranch hands. The ranchers hung the two to rid the area of rustlers and troublemakers.

Another story claims Averell and Watson homesteaded on prime water rights and were honest law abiding citizens. Jim and Ella were hanged because the ranchers felt the land that was homesteaded was their own grazing land and wished to obtain the valuable water rights.

Guinard Bridge
The center piece of the Platte Bridge Station and Fort Caspar was the bridge built here by Louis Guinard in 1859-1860 and used until Fort Caspar was abandoned in 1867. The bridge superstructure stood on 28 timber cribbings filled with rock and gravel. Not counting the approaches, the bridge was 810 feet long and 17 feet wide. The total cost of construction was estimated at $40,000 dollars. The toll for wagons to cross was $1.00 to $6.00, determined by the height of the river. An additional toll was charged for animals and people. This bridge symbolized the changes being shaped by the expansion of America during the middle 19th Century.

Salt Creek Oil Field
The famous Salt Creek oil field is located in Natrona County, 40 miles north of Casper. Representative Stephen W. Downey was the first man to acquire land at Salt Creek in 1883, after the discovery of the Jackass Spring oil seep. The discovery oil well in the area was drilled in March of 1889 in the Shannon pool. Mr. Shannon later built a small oil refinery in Casper in 1895 to process his oil.

The main Salt Creek oil field was opened with the discovery of oil at the Dutch No. 1 location in October, 1908. It initally produced 150 barrels of oil per day. As the field was developed and expanded, many of the Salt Creek wells were famous for being gushers. After 20 wells were producing oil in Salt Creek, Franco-Wyoming Oil Company decided to build a 5,000 barrel of oil per day refinery on 20 acres located immediately east of Highland Cemetery. Transportation of large amounts of oil to the Casper refineries was a problem until the completion of two pipelines in December 1911.

For some time Salt Creek was the largest light oil field in the world. The Teapot Dome oil field of President Harding’s tenure in the 1920s is located nearby.

Old Pioneer Military Cemetery
Lt. Caspar Collins was killed July 26, 1865 about three miles from this spot. His body was removed by relative to his old home in Hilllsboro, Ohio. Bodies of soldiers killed from 1858 to 1867 were reburied at Fort D. A. Russell in 1899. Some still interred here are unknown. The roster shows of 103 men. 92 were under 23 years of age. Lt. Collins was not yet 21. Casper was named after Caspar Collins.

Platte Bridge Cemetery
You may be surprised that no one is buried under these stone markers. They represent some of the soldiers who died while stationed at Platte Bridge Station (Fort Caspar). The army removed the bodies originally located here and reinterred them at Fort D. A. Russell in 1899.

In 1926, members of the Civilian Conservation Corps unearthed three skeletons while working at this site. These bodies were reburied under the large monument to your left.

It is almost certain that other people are buried on the fort grounds. During the days of the great emigration along the Oregon Trail, this area served as a pioneer cemetery.

The “Mormon” Ferry
First commercial ferry on the Platte River was established 1/2 mile south of here in June 1847 by “Mormon” pioneers on their way to the valley of the Great Salt Lake. Brigham Young directed nine men to remain to operate the ferry. They wee Thomas Grover, Captain John S. Higby, Luke S. Johnson, Appleton M. Harmon, Edmund Ellsworth, Francis M. Pomeroy, William Empey, James Davenport and Benjamin F. Stewart. The first passengers were Missourians bound for Oregon. The ferry was made of two large cottonwood canoes fastened by cross pieces and covered with slabs. It was operated with oars. The ferry operated until 1852.

Site of old Platte Bridge
South side:
Built by Louis Guinard 1858-59. Immediately south and west are the sites of Platte Bridge Station. First overland telegraph, stage and Pony Express stations on the old Oregon Trail.

North side:
One half mile north and west across North Platte River on the tableland occurred Platte Bridge fight July 26, 1865 in which Lt. Caspar W. Collins, 11th Ohio Vol. Cav., and Privates George W. McDonald, Co. I, George Camp and Sebastian Nehring, Co. K., all of 11th Kan. Vol. Cav. were killed.

Also killed the same day near here were Privates James A. Porter and Adam Culp, both of Co. I, 11th Kan. Vol. Cav.

Goose Egg Ranch
The Goose Egg Ranch first received some notoriety when Owen Wister featured it in his book, The Virginian. In the novel, this is where the cowboys exchanged the babies’ blankets, and after the dance, the mothers carried home the wrong children. The ranch and house site were located 10 miles south of Casper on the north bank of the North Platte River, at Bessemer Bend.

The Searight Brothers built the house in 1883 and lived there until 1886. The lumber, hardware, and materials used in the construction of the building was hauled by freight teams from Cheyenne, a distance of more than 225 miles. They then sold the ranch to J.M. Carey a future Governor of Wyoming.

The beautiful stone home slowly deteriorated, and despite efforts by local historians to save the ranch house, the building was demolished in July, 1951.

Bridger and Bozeman Trails
The discovery of gold in Montana in 1862 created a rush of miners traveling to Virginia city. The most direct routes were through Wyoming on the Bridger and Bozeman trails. In the spring of 1863, John Bozeman, a miner from Georgia, pioneered a route leaving the Oregon/California/Mormon Trail near Fort Fetterman and traveled east of the Big Horn Mountains through the Powder River Country. This area was hunting grounds claimed by the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho, who were determined to keep the white man out of this region. Except for Indian resistance, Bozeman’s route was by far the easiest route to travel.

Jim Bridger, in 1864, aware of the Indians’ determination to keep the emigrants out of the Powder River country, pioneered a route leaving the Oregon/California/Mormon Trail west of Platte Bridge Station. Traveling north through the Big Horn Basin and west of the Big Horn Mountains, Bridger’s route passed through friendly Shoshoni and Crow lands The Bridger Trail, though little used, proved to be a safe alternative to the more dangerous “Bloody” Bozeman Trail.

The determined resistance by the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho claimed many lives from 1863 to 1868, climaxing with the Fetterman disaster in December of 1866. The federal government consented to the Indians’ demands with the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 by closing the Powder River country trails and forts.

Pony Express
Today you stand where the Pony Express ran in 1860-61, when daring riders on swift horses carried the mail between St. Joe, Missouri and Sacremento, California.

A January 30, 1860 news release read: “Have determined to establish a Pony Express to Sacramento, California, commencing 3rd of April. Time ten days.” Horses had never crossed half the American continent in ten days. Stage stations, such as Platte Bridge Station, became a Pony Express Station, each averaging 12.5 miles apart. At these stations, tired horses were exchanged for fresh ones. Riders stayed at home stations, some 40 to 70 miles apart.

Young riders signed on the ride because of this San Francisco advertisement:

Wanted
Wanted skinny wiry fellows not over eighteen. Must be expert riders willing to risk death daily. Orphans preferred. Wages $25 per week. Apply, Central Overland Express….

Despite death defying rigors of summer heat, winter blizzards and Indian attacks, riders anxiously awaited the Pony’s first run on April 3rd. Mail pouches, relayed from pony to pony at each relay station, were shuttled across the 1900 mile expanse on schedule, with letters and telegrams delivered on April 13th. Although it lasted a mere 19 months, it shall forever remain one of the truly remarkable feats of the old west.

Richard Bridge and Military Complex
The military camps and Richard Bridge were located in the bend of the North Platte River about one-mile north of Evansville, Wyoming. Locally known as Reshaw’s Bridge, the area is marked by a historical sign.

John Richard (Reshaw) constructed a toll bridge in 1852-53 to offer a crossing for the Oregon/California/Mormon Trail emigrants. ON November 2, 1985, members of the 4th Artillery, 6th Infantry, and 10th Infantry arrived at the Richard trading post and established a military camp. In January, 1856, the camp became known as Fort Clay. From February through June the name was changed to Camp Davis. Special Order No. 9 on March 6, 1856, directed the garrison to ”…protect the bridge and other interests in that part of the country.” The camp at Richard Bridge was abandoned in November of 1856.

The area was again garrisoned by members of the 4th Artillery in July, 1858 when they established Post at Platte Bridge. The post was informally called Camp Payne by the troops and was abandoned in April, 1859. The next time troops were garrisoned in this area, they located at Fort Caspar near Guinard’s Bridge.

The Mormons
Brigham Young led the first group of Mormons west from winter quarters in Nebraska in 1847, finally settling in the Salt Lake Valley. When these pioneers crossed the river here, they left nine men to operate a ferry. This ferry served fellow Mormons as well as Oregon and California bound emigrants and provided much needed money and supplies for the settlements in Utah.

In October of 1856 Natrona County’s greatest tragedy began at what is now Bessemer Bend and continued to Martin’s cove near Devil’s Gate. The sixth Mormon Handcart Company, under Captain Edward Martin, struggled through an early Wyoming blizzard. Over 135 persons perished in this 50 mile stretch.

Of handcart travel, Chislett’s narrative states, “Many a father pulled his cart, with his little children on it, until the day preceding his death. I have seen some pull their carts in the morning, give out during the day, and die before the next morning.”

Oregon/California/Mormon Trails
From 1840 to 1869, over 350,000 emigrants traveled past this area on the Oregon/California /Mormon Trails. The promise of free land, sudden riches, or religious freedom caused these pioneers to endure great hardships. Thousands of persons died in the quest and are buried along this old pathway.

Only two graves in Natrona County are identified by name as trail dated burials. This is unusual due to the fact that hundreds of persons died while traveling through our county. Drowning, disease, and accidents took a toll in our area, especially between this point and Devil’s Gate.

The peak of migration was in 1852 when 70,000 persons passed this spot, most on their way to the Callifornia gold fields. These trails contributed to the largest overland migration in history.

Military Explorers
John C. Fremont, the “Pathfinder”, was born in 1813 and explored a large portion of central Wyoming including the Casper area. He made an independent survey to the Wind River Mountains of Wyoming in 1842, and the 13,743’ Fremont Peak of the Wind Rivers is named in his honor. Fremont tried unsuccessfully to navigate the North Platte River through a canyon southwest of Casper in August of 1842. The boat capsized, resulting in the loss of important mapping equipment, journals, registers, maps and supplies. Subsequently, he received the dubious honor of having this area come to be known as Fremont Canyon. Through the recommendation of Fremont, the government purchased and garrisoned Ft. Laramie in 1849.

Benjamin L.E. Bonneville passed this point in the summer of 1832 during the exploration of the central Rockies. Bonneville, an American soldier, was born in France in 1796 and served with the 7th U.S. Infantry. In 1832 he led an expedition of 110 men and 20 wagons along the North Platte River, thus becoming the first to take wagons through South Pass. In 1833 he found an oil seep at Dallas Dome near present day Lander, wyoming. The drilling of the No. 1 Murphy well in 1884 kicked off the production of oil in Wyoming.

Robert Stuart Cabin Site
Approximately eight miles southwest of here, Robert Stuart built the first cabin in the state of Wyoming. The cabin was built in a three day period in early November,1812, at a site on the North Platte River at Bessemer Bend.

Robert Stuart was a member of the John Jacob Astor fur trading company that was under the command of William Price Hunt in 1812. After Astor’s ship, the Tonquin, blew up in the Pacific Ocean and killed the crew, news was sent back to Astor via Robert Stuart. His route would take him over the Rockies from the mouth of the Columbia River to St. Louis.

Stuart’s cabin was built of stone with a buffalo hide roof. According to his diary, it was 8’ wide, 18’ long, and 3’ high. A hole in the center of the hide roof let the smoke escape. Following a visit by Arapahoes and learning of Crow Indians nearby, Stuart and his party abandoned their camp on December 13, 1812. They proceeded to present day Torrington, near the Wyoming-Nebraska border, where they spent the remainder of the winter.

Indians of Wyoming
At the time of the great migration of emigrants through Wyoming to the Pacific coast and Utah, Indians were the largest group of residents in wyoming. Many of these tribes such as Utes and Blackfeet, were semi-permanent and nomadic, traveling in and out of wyoming as warrior-hunting societies. The roaming buffalo supplied the Indians with all their subsistance, and the introduction of the horse provided the mobility to hunt the buffalo in great numbers.

The Shoshoni were located in the western part of Wyoming, generally in the Green River valley. The Crows were living in the Big Horn and Powder River Basins in northern Wyoming and southern Montana. The Cheyenne, Arapaho, and Sioux claimed the southeast part of Wyoming, an area heavily traveled during the emigrant migration.

The coming of the emigrants in great numbers was accepted peacefully by the Crow and Shoshoni, but the Sioux, with the help of the Cheyenne and Arapaho, resisted fiercely. From 1853 until 1877, the Sioux and their allies fought this intrusion in numerous battles until final defeat forced them to accept the invasion and reservation life. In Wyoming, the Wind River Indian Reservation is home for the Arapaho and Shoshoni.

Old Fort Caspar
Originally known to trappers and explorers (1830-1847) as Upper Crossing of the North Platte River, it became the Mormon Ferry in 1847. Guinard built a bridge here in 1858, and troops from Platte Bridge Station guarded the telegraph line and protected emigrants on the “Oregon Trail”. July 26, 1865, the station was attacked by hordes of Indians. Lt. Caspar Collins led an heroic attempt to rescue Sgt. Custard’s wagon train, but sacrified his life in aiding a fallen soldier. The station was renamed “Fort Caspar” in his honor. Abandoned in 1867 ,the fort and bridge were burned by Indians. The old fort was restored on its original foundations in 1936.

Mormon Ferry
Brigham Young arrived at a point near this site with the Mormon Pioneer 72-wagon company of 143 men, three women and two children on June 12, 1847. Strong winds and high water (150 yards wide and 10 to 15-feet deep) made crossing the river difficult and extrmely dangerous. After various attempts to cross and frustrated by slow progress, Brigham Young commissioned the construction of a larger ferry boat. After just three days, the ferry was complete and had been provided as well with two oars and a rudder for control. Brigham Young realized that subsequent Mormon companies would require the ferry to cross the North Platte, and he also appreciated the revenue-generating potential of helping other pioneers cross the river. Wilford Woodruff recorded that “…President Young thought it wisdom to leave a number of the brethren here and keep a ferry until our Company Came up. Emigrants will pay for ferrying $1.50 cents per waggon…”(sic).

On June 19, one week after their arrival, Brigham Young named nine men to remain and operate the ferry.

“….A Company have gone back about three miles to make two canoes on which they intend to build a boat to be used here till the next company comes up. Another company also went about half a mile up the river to make slabs or puncheons to lay on the canoes. A while before dark the brethren returned from below with two good canoes twenty-five feet long each and nearly finished and ready to put together…”

William Clayton, 1847
“…I was called to go with 16 or 18 others down the river in search of Timber for Canoes, as the President said he was tired of experimenting with Raft after going about 3 miles we found two cottonwood trees near together of which we constructed two canoes 23 feet long, put them on the Wagons & hauled them up to camp at night…”

Norton Jacob, 1847
“….Meantime a set of hands was busy preparing two canoes, two and a half feet in diameter and 23 feet long, which, when coupled about five feet apart with cross timber covered with puncheons and manned with oars, made a boat with which three men could cross a wagon with its load…”

Erastus Snow, 1847
“….at first tried the plan of floating our wagons by extending ropes down the river and attaching them to the end of the tongue, but the current would roll them over as if they were nothing but a log, wheels and bows appearing alternately upon the surface of the water, and two lashed together by means of poles placed under them shared the same fate… The plan was abandoned as being too dangerous. The next plan was to try small rafts, but the difficulty of polling a raft in so deep and swift water was such that the wind, aiding the current, would not infrequently sweep them down from one to two miles before it would be possible to make the other shore… In attempting to drag rafts across the current with ropes, the current would draw them under… Prest. Young stript himself and went to work with all his strength, assisted by the Dr. and brethren, and made a first rate White Pine and White Cotton Wood Raft… The new raft was in operation all day and worked well…”

Wilford Woodruff, 1847
“…to the upper crossing of the Platte River. Here we had considerable trouble as the river was very high and rapid… It was decided to make two large canoes and lash them together for a ferry boat… We selected two large trees, three feet through. Of these we made two large canoes, 30 feet long. We then cut two other trees and hewed them down to two inches thick and straightened the edges, making planks of them 14”wide and 30’ long… We then ran it across the river, which was quickly and easily done. In this way, the wagons were all soon over; the stock we swam across…”
Lewis Barney1847

Pioneer Party
“The boats were managed by means of large ropes stretched across the stream, then with pulley blocks working on the before named rope, then guy ropes attached to each end of the boat and to the two blocks with pulleys, then drop one end of the boat so that the force of the current pressing against it will push the boat across, then reverse the process and the boat will recross in about five minutes,”