Featured EXHIBIT

"Soldiers of the Republic: Stories of the 11th Kansas Volunteer Cavalry"
March 21, 2023 to February 24, 2024

Fort Caspar Museum has organized an exhibit about the cavalry unit that was posted to Platte Bridge Station—now Fort Caspar—in the 1865 when Caspar Collins died in a battle with Indians.
In 1865, the 11^th Kansas spent six months in the area that is now Casper. Explore the history of the regiment from its time fighting in the Civil War to their final posting on the western frontier. Through 22 soldier biographies, you will learn about the individual Kansas soldiers—those who perished here and those who survived to return home.

Museum staff worked with museums in Kansas and private collectors to bring in objects for this exhibit. Here is your chance to see artifacts owned and used by the troops at Fort Caspar that have not been here since 1865. Local historian and author Johanna Wickman helped organize the exhibit and says, “Visitors will see items on view that were involved in the very battles that gave Casper its name.” On view will be tintype photographs, firearms, shoulder insignias, a saddle, guidon flag, and arrows from the Battle of Platte Bridge.

IN OUR CHANGING EXHIBIT SPACE

"Owen Wister's 'The Virginian'"

On view thru September 10, 2023

“The Virginian: Owen Wister’s Creation of the Great American Western Novel” will be available for viewing through September 10, 2023. Wister drew from his own experiences living in Wyoming as the basis for many of the events portrayed in the book.

The exhibit is on loan from the American Heritage Center in Laramie and was created from materials in the Owen Wister Papers.