Casper's roots are buried in commerce. The town began as a ferry site on the Oregon Trail in 1847, when a group of immigrants from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who were camping realized that there was money to be made by boating travelers across the North Platte River. The idea caught on, and in the early 1850s a toll bridge was built; soon a military post was established to protect the span and its traffic. Learn More...