Kaycee

History

In 1834 a band of trappers and traders led by Antonio Montero from Portugal built a trading post east of Kaycee WY.It became known as the "Portuguese Fort." A unique site, what little remains from the area have been donated to the Hoofprints of the Past Museum and includes artefacts including a sword, beads, and clay pipes. The 1860s brought new attention from both whites and Native Americans to the northeast corner of what soon would become Wyoming Territory. First, a gold frenzy in Montana Territory drew miners north from the emigrant road that followed the North Platte River. Mountain man Jim Bridger warned against establishing a trail through the Arapaho and Lakota hunting grounds, urging that another path west of the Bighorns be used instead. But the Powder River Basin route was the most direct and, in 1863, John Bozeman following ancient routes long used by Indians, blazed the Bozeman Trail through the middle of the basin. The Bozeman Trail ran within four miles of Kaycee, overlaying previous Indian, trader and exploration routes and connecting the Oregon Trail to the gold rush territory in Montana. Its most important period was 1863–1868, and its most significant consequence was the Indian Wars of the Northern Plains. The Hoofprints of the Past Museum displays items relating to this period. Items donated from the Fort Reno site are on display at the Hoofprints of the Past Museum, as well as a diorama of the fort created by Robert Wilson, an expert in local military forts. The Frewen Ranch was located east of present-day Kaycee at the confluence of the North Fork and the Middle Fork of the Powder River. Moreton Frewen was the fifth son of Thomas Frewen, MP for South Leicestershire, and was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, where he gained his BA in…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , of which is land and is water.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Kaycee School
  Other · Kaycee · 113 students · 6.3:1 ratio