A display at the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center in
Wyoming. (BLM) Pulling Together to Preserve History By Mike Abel
Dust, heat, wind, cold . . . hardships, joys, triumphs,
challenges . . . the adventure, the gamble, the seemingly
endless march—all were experienced by travelers heading westward
along the Oregon, Mormon, California, and Pony Express Trails,
and all are part of a great story. Many paths and many
characters all converged on the east to west journey along the
North Platte River at the site of present day Casper, Wyoming.
Here, over 160 years after the first organized Euro-American
footsteps, the stories are still told, no longer by campfire and
on horseback, but through the BLM’s National Historic Trails
Interpretive Center (NHTIC). On the eastern edge of the Rockies,
it is still many days journey to South Pass. Where the tall and
short grass prairies have been left far behind and high desert
plant and animal communities abound, the river corridor is
restricted to a mere one-half mil