Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps
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| Location | Casper, WY |
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| Division | World Class |
| Founded | 1957 |
| Director | Fred Morris |
| Championship titles | VFW- 1966 & '70 |
| Uniform | Inspired by the 11th Ohio Cavalry. White cream vest w/ two sets of brass buttons down the center set over a blue denim shirt Brown sash w/ brass U.S belt buckle Gold tassels and golden stars over the shoulder pads Brown gauntlets w/ imprinted cross sabers, Blue pants, Black shoes & socks White Stetson hat w/crossed-saber pin. |
The Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps is a World Class (formerly Division I) competitive junior drum and bugle corps. Based in Casper, Wyoming, the Troopers was one of the thirteen founding member corps of Drum Corps International. The only drum and bugle corps in Wyoming, the Troopers are often called "America's Corps", due at least in part to their U.S. Cavalry-inspired uniforms and their frequent use of music with a Western or patriotic American theme.
James E. "Jim" Jones, a Casper, Wyoming building contractor and a veteran of the World War II United States Army Air Forces founded the Troopers Drum and Bugle Corps in 1957 as an activity for local youth. In his own youth, Jones had won the American Legion individual snare drum championship while a member of Casper's Sons of the American Legion drum and bugle corps, in which he had also been the corps manager from age fifteen. He decided to name the new corps the Troopers to honor the 11th Ohio Cavalry, a United States Army unit stationed at Fort Caspar, Wyoming Territory, to protect supply trains during the Indian Wars of the 19th Century. In order to fund the new corps, Jones took out a $4,000 loan to purchase drums and bugles.
In its first season, the Troopers were sponsored by the Casper American Legion post, were strictly a parade corps, and made the corps' first appearance at the State American Legion Convention in Riverton, Wyoming. At that first performance, the corps played "Ghost Riders in the Sky," "Wagon Wheels," and "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands", which would set the tone for Trooper musical programs for decades to come. In 1958, the corps entered its first field competitions, and, being the only corps in Wyoming and one of the few in the Great Plains region, it was necessary for the Troopers to travel extensively to compete in drum and bugle corps competitions. Jones chartered passenger buses to carry the Troopers across and around the country on trips that would last for several weeks, making the corps a "touring corps", a concept that was unusual at the time. Also rare for the time was the Troopers' willingness to allow girls into the brass and percussion sections of the corps. And, in order to help cover the expenses of their touring, the corps' buses were accompanied by the "Sheep Wagon", a trailer set up to look like a small covered wagon that sold souvenirs of the Troopers' visits to the contests in which they competed. Another Troopers innovation was the move away from strictly linear drill; they introduced a circular drill element, the "Sunburst" which still draws enthusiastic crowd approval.
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