Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1470106
And, as would have actually been true, most of the wagons did not survive the journey. The twenty- three that left Fort Worth were ultimately whittled down to just two. In addition to Hell's Half Acre, other sets required a bit of tinkering for historical accuracy. To research the Fort Caspar set, I visited the actual Fort Caspar in Wyoming. Based on my visit and a study of historic photographs, the set was designed to match the original. However, the crew discovered a problem when we arrived at the actual build site on the Crazy Mountain Ranch in Montana to begin construction. The layout of our 1883 Fort Caspar featured a landscape that looked like Montana, not Wyoming as was called for in the script. The terrain around Fort Caspar was much fl atter than Montana and there were fewer trees. On one side of the location, the terrain was heavily wooded and mountainous, typical of Western Montana. The other direction had a view that was more open. When two historical accuracies confl ict with each other, a choice has to be made. I fl ipped the layout of the fort to favor the more Wyoming- like landscape. 1883's preproduction and production were long and hard. The crew fought everything, from extreme heat in Texas to extreme cold in Montana. The early October morning I arrived in Livingston, A. FORT CASPAR. MODEL BY LISA WARD. NOTICE THAT THE GUARD TOWER IS FLIPPED TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE GATE IN THE PRODUCTION STILL. B. FORT CASPAR OFFICER'S QUARTERS AND HOSPITAL. PLAN AND ELEVATIONS DRAWN BY JIM HEWITT. C. ELSA DUTTON ARRIVES AT FORT CASPAR GATE. PRODUCTION STILL. A B C