Named for Goshen Hole, a basin in the area which is to the south of a range of hills along the North Platte River. Originally known as Gosche's Hole, from the name of a French trapper who settled in that locality, it was corrupted into Goshen, Biblical "land of plenty," by early pioneers, probably on account of vast stretches of native hay, indigenous to the area, on which great herds of antelope grazed. Organized in 1911. County seat is in Torrington. (WPA) Goshen County, with Torrington as its county seat, was formed in 1911, and while it no doubt was named with the Biblical "Land of Goshen" in mind, historians disregard the fact that Goshen Hole was "Goche's Hole" almost a century ago. This large depression, named for the Assiniboine chief Goche, Gauche, or Gaucher was far from "a land of plenty" when Parkman passed through there in 1846 after completing his stay in the Fort Laramie vicinity. He describes it as "a wide sterile basin." (Trenholm)
County:
Goshen
Feature Category:
Special Features
More Reading:
Wind pudding and rabbit tracks : a history of Goshen County, Wyoming. Goshen County History Book Committee. Torrington, Wyo. : Goshen County History Book Committee, 1989 (Platte Valley Printers); Goshen County. Zimmer, Vickie. Charleston, S.C. : Arcadia Publishing, c2012.; Vickie Zimmer. Goshen County, Wyoming. WyoHistory.org
