This month WyoHistory.org shares stories about the World War II-era Casper Army Air Base and some of the pilots, soldiers and others who helped protect our country’s freedoms during that time. Remembering the efforts of these topflight veterans—and of the people of Casper, who welcomed them—seems especially appropriate with Independence Day approaching this week.
 
The pilots at the Casper Army Air Base quickly learned about Wyoming’s winds when they took to the air, but windmills had been used here for many years before that to pump water for livestock and for locomotives. Today, wind turbines are generating power throughout the state.
 
Aerials to zephyrs: a brief history of the Casper Army Air Base
The Casper Army Air Base was built quickly in 1942 to train bomber crews for World War II combat. The facility trained more than 16,000 men before the end of the war. Its population grew to a third of the size of Casper’s, bringing prosperity and a lively social life to the town. Read more of Wyoming Veterans Memorial Museum Director John Goss’s article at http://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/aerials-zephyrs-brief-history-casper-army-air-base.

See also Nicolaysen Art Museum Curator Eric Wimmer’s previously posted article: “Painting Wyoming’s Past: The Casper Army Air Base Servicemen’s Club Murals” athttp://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/painting-wyoming’s-past-casper-army-air-base-servicemen’s-club-murals.

Joye Kading oral history
Joye Kading served as secretary for the successive commanding colonels in charge of purchasing, building and operating the Casper Army Air Base during World War II. In this 2011 interview from the Casper College Western History Center, Kading recalls her experiences and describes many of the wartime photographs she collected in a scrapbook.
http://www.wyohistory.org/oral-histories/joye-kading.
 
Wyoming’s windmills 
 Wind is constant in Wyoming, but ways of harnessing its power have changed over time from wooden windmills pumping water for railroads and livestock, through small, wind-charged battery plants on 1920s ranches to the huge wind turbines spiking our skylines today. Learn more in Casper writer Tom Mast’s article “Pumping Water to Powering Homes: Harnessing Wyoming’s Wind” at
http://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/wind-power.
 
Coming soon—Historic Indian Wars tour narratives 
WyoHistory.org recently teamed with an app developer in Wilson, Wyo., to create GPS-triggered audio narratives for eight sites featured on our Historic Indian Wars tour. These narratives will be available soon to smartphone users who download the TravelStorysGPS™ app.

WyoHistory.org Assistant Editor Lori Van Pelt narrates the audio segments. The locations include forts Laramie, Caspar, Phil Kearny, Fetterman and Reno as well as battle sites from the 1860s and 1870s, including the Fetterman Massacre, Wagon Box Fight and Connor Battlefield.

The effort is further coordinated with our recently released, QR-coded Travel the Historic Indian Wars sites brochure, which can be used at the locations themselves or downloaded from WyoHistory.org prior to a trip. Look for the brochures this summer at tourist stops, history museums and visitors’ centers, too.

We expect to release these audio narratives within the next month or so. Look for more in our August newsletter.