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4205 Fort Caspar Road · Casper, Wyoming 82604 · Toll-Free Reservations: (888) 243-7709
In Wyoming: (307) 234-3260 · Fax: (307) 473-2955 |
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Wyoming joins the high plains to the Rocky Mountains. The area remains visibly unchanged from the time of the early hunter, who stalked Mammoth 12,000 years ago, or the pigmy Indians who stalked the Mountain goat. Wyoming is a vision of rolling hills and great mountain underneath an expansive blue sky. One can imagine thundering herds of buffalo or gold miners trekking west in search of the mother lode. The American Indian left a legacy across Wyoming and they still live here. About all that is left of the original heritage is a few stone Teepee rings, rock art, and many mysteries that archaeologists have yet to decipher. While a few Europeans made it west in the 1740's, it wasn't until Lewis and Clark and Francois Larocque explored the area that others arrived. Fur traders came first and very few got rich. The beaver fur trade didn't last long, being replaced by buffalo hide trade in the 1840's. Dreams of a new life out West brought 300,000 emigrants across the plains from St. Louis, Missouri, along the Oregon Trail through Wyoming. Not many people stopped for long in Wyoming, but a few of the trading posts evolved into communities still present today. Whether it was the Overland Trail, Pony Express, Telegraph Lines, or Union Pacific Railroad, all chose to traverse Wyoming to get West across the Rockies. The way of life for the American Indian was changed forever, as was America. With the end of the Indian wars in the 1870's and the Trail of Tears winding its way through Wyoming, most of the original inhabitants were placed on Reservations. The cattleman began to see opportunity in Wyoming in the 1860's and with the construction of the railroad, large scale ranching appeared and by 1890 sheep began to crowd cattle on the ranges. The resulting range wars provide movie highlights of Wyoming history. The gold fever that struck much of the west in the late 1800's spread to Wyoming with the strikes at Miner's Delight and Atlantic City. Now the tourist can visit the places of quick success and note the ghosts of the past. Oil, gas, uranium, and trona together with irrigated agriculture and ranching are the gold of present day Wyoming. The people of Wyoming are proud, hospitable, and innovative. They invite you to enjoy their state but expect you to care for it as much as they do. |
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