The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1929-09-20
ON The TRAIL
THRU WYOMING
(By c. B. Marshall)

(By G. B. Marshall)
AS introductions were made
when we started for the Sal
Creek field from Casper, we found
our host for the day "a Ton
Kassis, son of a former WillistoI
business man, who now owns 6
department store in Casper. Ton
Kassis is a student at Notre Dame
university and gave us a lot o.
interesting information.
About Casper and the Oil Fields
Not far from the present city
of Casper the first frame building
erected in Wyoming was built in
1872 by Robert Stuart and a party
of fur traders. From this time
until the Mormon immigration the
place was visited frequently by
trappers, traders and adventures
At the time of the Oregon i'm
migration it was known as the
Upper crossing of the Platte"
From 1S47 to 1858 it was known
rs "The Mormon Crossing and
Ferry" In 1858 a bridge was
built and the place became "Plat-
tie Bridge Crossing" Caspar Col
Inns, a lieutenant of the 18th Ohio
Cavalry lost his life in a battle
with Indians here in July, 1865.
The fort which had until that
time been called "Platte Bridge
Station" became Fort .Caspar. We
did not learn how the spelling of
the name later vas changed to
Casper. The first railway train
came into Casper in June, 1888
and the city was Incorporated the
following year. About eight or
ten years ago, when the oil boom
was at it's height, Casper grew up,
if not overnight, at least in the
space of a very few months. Dur
ing this period it ranked first in
population in the state and the
song of hammer and trowel could
be heard almost "a hours out of
every day. No one knew how
many carpenters and masons there
were in the city, but all of them
were busy. During the last few
years the city has settled back
into it's permanent stride. There
are some fewer people than there
were formerly but there is less
of a floating population.
Mistaken Weather Bureau
They told us it never got so very
hot in Wyoming, but, oh, how
they-were mistaken. This Is
from a u. S. Weather Bureau re-
port: Hot waves are unknown,
cold waves not frequent But
the weather man evidently hadn't
been in Casper or Midwest when
the thermometer, a very conser-
vative one at that, registered 104
in the shade of Teapot Dome or
some other equally scandalous
heap of rocks. Had it been in.
California, no doubt the weather
would have been considered "un-
usual" but in Wyoming it was
simply unheard of. To tell the
truth, about the only people who
were able to take the situation
coolly were members of our party
who hailed from CaleXico, down
on the southern border of Cali
fornia, right across the line from
Mexicali. Isn't this heat awful"
gasped someone. why / don't
mind it" replied the lady from
Calexico. But most of us did.
What matter to Us that day that
six weeks later these same hills
would be hidden with snow.
The Wyoming speed limit is 80
miles an hour, but on a stretch of
wonderful oiled road between Cas-
per and Salt Creek it vas difficult
for some of the drivers to make
their cars behave, though most of
them held the speed down. No
accidents were wanted that day,
nor were there any. After bowl
ing along over sandy plains and
between formations of various
sorts we were driven up onto the
top of a bluff overlooking the city
and the word was passed Every
body out" So out we got and
were marched willy nilly across
the burning sands to a spot near
q watertank where we had our
picture taken. AS the sun beat
down on our heads and the neat
Of the sand burned through the
soles of our shoes, we could feel
a bit of sympathy for the bare
foot penitents who make their