JACKSON - Clayton Peterson embodied the Wyoming spirit: Work hard, love your family, love the outdoors.

Peterson was best known for his work building bridges around the state, including some over the Snake and Platte rivers and overpasses in Casper. His construction company also built the Casper Star-Tribune building.

Peterson died Oct. 2 in Casper, surrounded by his family. He was 76.

Peterson was born in Denver - common practice for Casper families in those days - to parents Etlin Elias and Luella (Roubidou) Peterson of Casper. He went to Grant Elementary and Natrona County High School.

While in Casper, Peterson began his love of the outdoors. He fished Garden and Elk creeks.

His wife, Frances, said Peterson was an avid skier, and would pack skis on his back with friends and walk up Casper Mountain. That was during the war years, she said, when the road wasn't open.

Peterson attended Casper College before being drafted for the Korean War. He served as a staff sergeant in an engineers' battalion in Panama, and was honorably discharged in 1952.

He returned then to Casper and began working with his father's construction company, Etlin Peterson Construction, which built bridges throughout the state. One of these bridges was the Snake River bridge between Jackson and Wilson, then the longest bridge in the state. He also built bridges in Moose, Moran and the Hoback and Snake River canyons. He also built the McKinley street overpass and the Center Street exchange in Casper.

Peterson took over the business from his dad and expanded it to include ready-mix and pre-cast concrete. He built many buildings in Casper, including the Star-Tribune's building.

Both of his sons, Clint and Clayton Jr. ("Pete"), said their father was a hard worker who never quit.

"He instilled in me the work ethic," Pete said. "Get up go do something, and do it every day, and take care of your family."

Family was the highlight of Peterson's life. He met his wife as she babysat for his sister.

"When he walked in the door he was a handsome young man," Frances said. "I fell in love with him right away."

The couple was married for 52 years. They spent a lot of time in Pacific Creek near Moran.

"We loved this area, we loved Jackson, particularly Pacific Creek," Frances said. Peterson bought land in the area, and it was always the couple's desire to retire there.

"We loved every minute of it," Frances said. "We were particularly fond of the winter, because we get five feet of snow up here, and as Clayton used to say, 'There's never a bad day in Pacific Creek.' Every day was beautiful."

She said like any life, theirs had "ups and downs, but we were perfectly content to be able to have this place and spend this much time up here." Peterson loved hunting and fishing, and spending time with his sons and four grandchildren.

In fact, Peterson kept a makeshift construction business going for his grandchildren, building them trains and other toys.

"When they were having a bad day, he could make it all better," son Clint said about his father's relationship with grandchildren.

And he loved taking pictures, skiing, and Wyoming.

"The open range, the few people, the fact that he'd lived here his whole life," Clint said. "There wasn't a place we went where he didn't hunt or fish. He knew everybody, and everybody knew him."

Reporter Whitney Royster can be reached at (307) 734-0260 or at royster@tribcsp.com.