Encampment, Wyoming, is the gateway to the sites of ghost towns of the Copper Country. Once a favorite hunting ground of prehistoric man, the area later known as Camp le Grand became a noted rendezvous of Indians and trappers. In 1897 the townsite was laid out by Willis George Emerson and associates, and that same year Ed Haggarty made his big strike on the Continental Divide. In 1902, during the mining boom, the longest aerial tramway in the world was built to convey ore 16 miles from the great Ferris-Haggarty mine to the smelter at Encampment. In 1908 the industry collapsed. Encampment later became a beef, timber, hunting, fishing, and resort center.