Read Our Story
Sometime, in the late 1800's, this house was built on a hill at the base of Casper Mountain, just 1.2 mi. driving distance to the center of what we now know as the City of Casper, Wyoming. In those days, the surrounding land was owned by the Carey Brothers Ranch, and Casper was only a settlement. Because of the central location in the State, with the North Platte River running through it, Casper became the ideal place to start a town. In 1889, when Casper was incorporated, it consisted of a dirt street and a few wood-framed buildings such as a dry goods store, a hotel, a few bars, and brothels, lots of brothels. The town's business catered mostly to the ranchers, settlers and those just passing through. It was a hard and lawless land and the real Wild West.
Over twenty years ago, I was visited by an elderly gentleman who asked if he could see the house. He told me he lived in this house with his family as a child, until he was about nine years old. We walked through the house as he recalled his memories, and when he told me that this house, including the outhouse, was the only building for "as far as the eye could see", I had to do the math, which led to research and the history of Casper. With this elderly gentleman's memories of years ago, with the evidence found during the reconstruction process, together with the recorded history at hand, I was able to fill in some pieces of information and surmise my own story of this old house.
Back in the late 1880s with pioneers settling in, Casper began, and with it came the "Sand Bar District", which has much colorful history. Still referred to as "The Sand Bar", where the many brothels or cribs were located, served the cowboys, outlaws, cattlemen, and later, the oilmen. Some of the well-to-do Madams would occasionally seek solace from their work at unidentified residential homes outlying the town.