Hey, Answer Girl -

Where was the first cemetery in Casper located?

- Travis T.

Alfred J. Mokler, in his Natrona County history book, wrote that an ordinance was passed in June 1893 "providing for the purchase of land for cemetery and park purposes," but the cemetery was only meant to be temporary.

The temporary cemetery was located "northwest of where the Chicago & Northwestern Railway stockyards are now located," Mokler said, but Kevin Anderson of the Casper College Western History Center said the stockyards don't show up on early maps.

However, Anderson said, a Natrona County Genealogical Society search of county cemetery records showed the first cemetery in Casper was located "in the area of McKinley and A Streets."

When a more permanent cemetery came along (presumably the Highland Park Cemetery at Fifth and Conwell, which is run by the city), "the bodies which had been interred in the temporary cemetery were disinterred and moved to the new cemetery," according to Mokler.

This means the very first cemetery in Casper probably doesn't hold bodies any more, and likely isn't labeled a cemetery at all.

Hey, Answer Girl -

There are signs along the highway that tell you to turn your radio dial to a certain station for road and weather reports. That sounds helpful, but when you turn to the station, it keeps repeating that it's a new station and doesn't actually give you any information. What's up with that?

- Don in Casper

The Wyoming Department of Transportation provides road and tourism information for each specific area of the state's highways, according to Jeff Goetz, public involvement specialist for WYDOT District 2.

Signal coverage for the radio station - 1610 AM - is about four miles, so different information could come up that often, depending on what area you're in, Goetz said.

The station is run from the Transportation Management Center in Cheyenne, but the radio room in Casper's WYDOT office can also post messages. Local chambers of commerce can sponsor the stations and post tourism information when there were no emergency messages, but not every area chamber wanted to participate.

When emergency messages aren't necessary and no tourism information is available, Goetz said, the station would ideally provide a message to let drivers know roads are clear, but it sometimes defaults back to the test message instead.

If road conditions are unfavorable when you receive that message, it's usually a mistake on the local WYDOT office's part, Goetz said. You can pull off the road at the next available stop and call 511 for road conditions, and if you have one of those fancy-schmancy, high-tech cell phones that allows for Internet use, visit www.wyoroad.info.

You can also contact Goetz at 473-3303, and he'll make sure the information gets updated as necessary.

Contact reporter Megan Lee at (307) 266-0616 or megan.lee@trib.com.

Ask Answer Girl

Answer Girl tackles questions about Casper, the universe and everything else. Submit your questions by email to megan.lee@trib.com, or call Megan Lee at 266-0616. You can also write to Answer Girl, Box 80, 170 Star Lane, Casper, WY, 82602.