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Interesting Facts
- In addition to black bear, mountain lion, fox, and elk, the area around Casper hosts a variety of feathered species. Bird-watching is a popular pastime, and the Audubon Center at Garden Creek is a 460-acre preserve with many diverse species. Birds are so popular in Casper that residents celebrate their flying friends each year with a Christmas Bird Count in December and a Birdathon in May.
- While it may be easy for you to handle the name "Caspar," some of the city's earliest residents struggled with the spelling. Thus, we have Casper, Wyoming, named in honor of the US Army outpost that once stood there. The outpost, in turn, was named after Caspar Collins, a young lieutenant killed in battle when his party was ambushed by the Lakota and Cheyenne. Because Army correspondences were so sporadic in those days, Casper and Caspar became interchangeable. When the city received its charter in 1889, it was as Casper. And the name has stuck ever since...
- In the mid-1800s, everybody from families of homesteaders to gold-seekers made their way through Wyoming in hopes of finding something more than what they left behind. In a manner of speaking, Casper is the place where they all met – the place where the important roads heading west merged. Indeed, the famed Oregon, Mormon, California, and Pony Express Trails converged in Casper before heading west through the Rocky Mountain's South Pass. Today, much of what remains of the trails is maintained by the Bureau of Land Management and is accessible by the general public via the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center.
- Around the time World War I wound down, sleepy Midwest, Wyoming (located a few minutes' drive north of Casper), ceased being a slow-paced frontier community and became a bustling town of more than 15,000 people – boasting such modern amenities as electric lights and one of the country's only lighted football fields. The reason for this unprecedented growth? Oil, of course. Crude was discovered in Salt Creek some time around 1887, and by the 1920s, 20% of all petroleum produced in the United States came from the Salt Creek Oil Field.
- The true lifeblood of Casper and the rest of Central Wyoming is without doubt the North Platte River, whose cool white waters offer a myriad of leisure opportunities throughout the year, from fishing and hunting to rafting and kayaking. The river, which begins as a mere trickle outside of Walden, Colorado, actually flows north into Wyoming before making a big turn east and joining the South Platte (which also originates in the Colorado Rockies) in Nebraska to form the Platte River.
- If you're in Casper in early June, take the time to reduce the volume on your TV or shut down your car, and you may hear the distant galloping of hoofed feet. That'd be the sound of the Pony Express. No, the Central Overland and California Pikes Peak Express Company isn't resuming its famed runs between Sacramento and St. Joseph, MO; however, each summer, the National Pony Express Association re-lives the legendary ride with what's regarded as the longest equestrian event in the US.
- When accolades never stop rolling in, the chamber of commerce's job is ridiculously easy ... From being recognized as an All-America City Finalist in 2002 to earning praise in 2003 from "Sports Illustrated" for its overall commitment to sports programs to winning high marks from "Forbes" in 2004 for its business sense, Casper has grabbed headlines and top-billing from a number of organizations in the first few years of the new millennium. Indeed, some places manage to sell themselves.
- A geological rarity, Hell's Half-Acre is a 150-foot deep gorge located off Highway 20 some 50 miles west of Casper. This daunting landscape is marked by sharp, jagged rocks that protrude skyward in seeming celebration of the destructive powers of wind and water. In fact, Hell's Half-Acre is so eerie – so otherworldly – that it was used as the setting for alien battle scenes in the motion picture "Starship Troopers."
- In 1847, Brigham Young led 72 wagons and more than 140 members of his Latter-day Saints Church west from the Missouri River. The group blazed one of the earliest trails through Casper, fording the North Platte River on their way to the South Pass and an eventual destination on the shores of the Great Salt Lake.
- Now, Casper may have gone big-time in some ways, thanks to its blossoming restaurant scene and the Broadway-style shows that take the stage every now and then at the Casper Events Center. But make no mistake: Wyoming's second-largest city is still a cowboy town at heart. If you need proof, look no further than the Wonder Bar, one of downtown's most popular watering holes. While upstairs may pulsate with the sound of Top 40 beats, the main level is as rough and tumble as ever. In fact, cowboys are still allowed to steer their steeds right up to the bar ... as long as the horses are toilet-trained, that is!
