Casper, Wyoming Wows ‘em

Named a 2008 Top Town By True West

Lt. Caspar Collins didn’t get much respect. Thanks goodness his namesake city has a lot of respect for its history.

Casper keeps alive the pioneer spirit that thousands carried through the area on the Oregon, California, and Mormon Trials and the Pony Express route, which is why we named it the Number 9 Top True Western Town of 2008.

The announcement comes in the January/February issue of True West Magazine, one newsstands January 15, 2008. The Number 1 Town is St. Joseph, Missouri.

In 2002, the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center was opened to the public to explain and commemorate the experiences of the people who traveled through Casper en route to points West. It’s a partnership including local and federal governments and a nonprofit organization, offering numerous interactive exhibits that tell the story of westward expansion. In fact, one can experience what it was like to cross the North Platte in a covered wagon, or how tough it was to walk hundreds of miles with the Mormon handcart immigrants. And that’s just one of the offerings for the thousands of modern day visitors.

“Casper saw an incredible amount of history during the pioneer days,” says True West Executive Editor Bob Boze Bell. “But just as important, the city keeps that heritage alive through preservation, restoration and a variety of museums and centers. Casper is a place to stop and enjoy the Old West.”

The Ft. Caspar Museum is one of them, a recreation (now 70 years old) of the old military post. A recent 6000 square foot addition of exhibit and classroom space cost more than $1.5 million—money that was raised by private contributions and some public monies. And downtown historic districts are maintained by cooperative efforts of the city, chamber of commerce, development authority and other agencies.

Past top town recipients: Helper, Utah (2007) and Sheridan, Wyoming (2006).

True West editors determine winners for this annual award based on criteria demonstrating how each town preserves its history through old buildings, museums and other institutions, events and promotion of historic resources.

The feature includes Towns to Watch for their good works in historic preservation and several legendary locales folks should know.

True West magazine is in its 55th year of leading the way in presenting the true stories of Old West adventure, history, culture and preservation. For subscriptions and more information, visit http://www.twmag.com or call 888-687-1881.

Contact: Mark Boardman

765-491-4063 mailto:mboardman@twmag.com