A traveling show passed through Fort Caspar on Saturday, and brought with it several pieces of Wyoming history.

Canvas tents, erected for shade more than for protection from wind, sheltered all kinds of goods from the 19th century.

In a makeshift general store, patrons shopped for cotton clothes, wool jackets, copper tea kettles and silver buttons.

Next door, a blacksmith used an open fire to create everything from spoons to anvils. Children sat in a row, eagerly watching as he pounded the hot metal into something useful.

"Basically, this is a series of programs that we're putting together after having completed the expansion of the museum," said Rick Young, manager of the Fort Caspar museum. "One of the goals of the expansion was to start creating program opportunities for the community to be able to come out and learn about Casper history. People who are new to the community will learn about who we are and where we came from, and people who are from here can learn about where they came from."

Nearer the Fort Caspar buildings, three men in uniform tried to stay cool. But in long-sleeve shirts and wool vests with leather boots and hats, the men weren't having a lot of luck.

"We have a group, the Third Cavalry from Douglas," said Bill Sinnard, who stood in a head-to-toe military get-up. "We go to different places and do living history. The Indian Wars is what we do, from around 1874."

Hanging lanterns - not particularly useful in the middle of a sunny day, but necessary for nighttime activities - perched next to several rifles in a wooden rack next to Sinnard's comrade, Dick Garrison.

Garrison, a farmer in real life, and Sinnard, an electrician, sometimes travel by horse - Douglas to Casper is -a good two day trip- by horse and wagon - but Garrison said expense keeps the men from doing everything in an old-fashioned way.

"I've always been interested in this, and a lot of this stuff we have we've made ourselves," he said.

"The Internet is a wonderful thing," Sinnard added. "You can get on there and buy just about anything, uniform-wise and equipment-wise."

Sinnard and Garrison were only two of at least 12 living history re-enactors at the event. Mountain men, other frontier army men, a woman doing laundry, and a 19th century entertainer also wowed the crowd.

"It's just a bit of a window into the lives of some of the people who would have been in this area," Young said. "It's a chance for people now to learn about them."

The Saturday celebration is one in a series of community events held by the museum throughout the year, he said. Other events include a Wednesday night lecture series, a kids- summer book club, adult readings in the fall and film screenings of movies made in Wyoming throughout history.

Young said he hoped to have nearly 1,000 visitors by the end of the Saturday event.

"We're giving locals reasons to visit other than when family comes to town every few years, and the way to do that is by changing exhibits and holding these special events for people," he said. "We used to do some fairly large Saturday summer festivals. We're working on expanding our program offerings and reviving some of the things that we used to do."

Contact reporter Megan Lee at (307) 266-0589 or megan.lee@trib.com