Platte County

The North Platte River that flows through a portion of Platte County, Wyoming, lent its name to the new county carved from Laramie County in 1911. Prior to the late 1800s, with the exception of Native Americans, trappers, and some ranchers, few people chose to remain in the territory. Travelers who crossed the windswept prairies followed trails headed for the lush farmlands of Oregon or the goldfields of California and the Black Hills. In 1883, the Wyoming Development Company began an irrig...