Casper was named one of the “Top Ten True Western Towns of 2008” by True West magazine. True West magazine was launched in 1953, and is published ten times per year. This annual award is given to towns that “have made an important contribution to preserving their pasts.”

Casper has always been proud of its history. Nearly 500,000 pioneers traveled through Casper on the Oregon, California, and Mormon Trails between 1840 and 1870. The Pony Express also dashed though Casper on its route between St. Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California during its short history in 1860 and 1861. Several of the reasons it did well are Fort Caspar and its brand new expanded museum and reconstructed Cavalry fort and the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center which commemorates the largest voluntary human migration in history and how the majority of those pioneers passed through the Casper area on their way to their destinations.