RonnieAdventure #0224 - Wyoming, 2016 Part II

While traveling across Wyoming on Interstate 80, at exit 41 we pulled into a rest stop and were surprised to find a large monument in front of the rest stop building. A plaque on the monument indicated that on Wednesday July 7, 1847, and in subsequent years, the Mormon Pioneers passed this point on their movement westward. And, just two weeks later, on July 24, 1847, the first group of Mormons reached the Salt Lake Valley.

The Oregon Trail Memorial Church just outside of Eden is an old log structure that is never locked and has been vandalized only once since its existence. 

The stained glass window at the front of the building was designed by Jessie Van Brunt, a well-known New York artist, and depicts "a wide prairie vista with a long caravan of covered wagons drawn by oxen winding from the foreground into the distance."

About four miles up the road, at the junction of US-191 and Wyoming-28, is the location of the original Big Sandy Pony Express Station and several historic markers. The pony express station was in operation from April 3, 1860 until November 20, 1861.

"Parting of the Ways" was a junction on the Oregon Trail where pioneers had to decide whether to stay on the main trail that went to Fort Bridger or to go across the Little Colorado Desert. The Desert route saved time but contained about fifty water-less miles.  

In 1956, the Historic Landmark Commission of Wyoming placed a marker at a site adjacent to Wyoming State Route 28 (located about 23 miles east of the  US-191/Wyoming-28 junction) that states "This marks a fork in the trail, right to Oregon, left to Utah and California." The only problem is that the marker is located in the wrong place on the Oregon Trail and should have been located about 9.5 miles to the west. The marker is now known as the "False Parting" and the real site is called the "True Parting." 

Located about 300 yards east of the "False Marker" is an Oregon Trail marker that states "In Memory of those who passed this way to win and hold the west." The monument was placed by the Historical Landmark Commission of Wyoming in 1950. Although covered by sagebrush, deep ruts left by wagon wheel can still be seen across the high desert plateau. 

South Pass does not look very intimidating today; but South Pass, where the pioneers had to cross the Continental Divide, is considered to be the start of the most difficult part of the journey westward.

South Pass City and the Carissa Mine constitute Wyoming's largest State Historic Site.

In 1867 substantial gold deposits were found on the northeast side of South Pass, which caused a large influx of miners, merchants, and other people into the area. The population of South Pass City reached about 3,000 people by the year 1869, making it the second largest town in Wyoming Territory. However, the gold soon played out and South Pass City became a near ghost town. Current population is listed as approximately 4 people, 3 cats, and 3 dogs.

One of the people to arrive in South Pass City in 1869 was a woman named Esther Hobart Morris. In 1870, Esther became the first woman in the United States to serve as a Justice of the Peace and at her urging, she convinced William H. Bright, a saloon owner that was also a representative to the Wyoming Territorial Constitutional Convention, to include a women's suffrage clause into the territorial constitution. When the constitution was approved, Wyoming became the first jurisdiction to grant women the right to vote, a right that was not granted to women nationally until 1920!

Atlantic City is located just down the road from South Pass City and had one of Wyoming Territory's first public schools, in addition to sawmills, blacksmith shops, typical businesses and a beer brewery. As mines in the area closes, so did most businesses in Atlantic City. Attempts were made at various times to reopen the mines, but all of the attempts also were short-lived. The population of Atlantic City is currently listed as 37.

The Sacajawea Cemetery is located just outside of Fort Washakie; and contains a statue of Sacajawea holding a sand dollar, which is significant because a sand dollar was given to Chief Washiake by Lewis and Clark and he wore the sand dollar in many historical pictures.

A plaque at the base of the statue states that Sacajawea's life "after the Expedition is controversial. Her son, Jean Baptiste was adopted and educated by Captain Clark. Her adopted son, Bazil, remained in the Northern Shoshone areas. In later years, Sacajawea returned to the Shoshone homeland to live near Bazil. Many recorded documents and statements made by descendants, officials at Fort Washakie, and by the Federal Government record her death and burial place at the Sacajawea Cemetery, Fort Washakie, Wyoming in 1884."

Another nearby sign states: "The Eastern Shoshones believe Sacajawea is buried in the Wind River Mountains west of here, and Charbonneau's second wife, Sacajawea's sister, is buried in North Dakota."

Apparently, no one really knows for certain where Sacajawea is buried.

The Fremont County Pioneer Museum in Lander contains a large collection of artifacts from "prehistory through the 1920's." Surrounding the museum is a reconstructed collection of historic buildings and an example of what a Indian village would have looked like during this same period in time. 

Just east of Lander (adjacent to Wyoming State Route 789) is the site of Fort Thompson, or Camp Magraw as it was called by Old Timers. 

W.M.F. Magraw was appointed superintendent by the Secretary of the Interior to construct the Fort Kearney-South Pass-Honey Lake Wagon Road from Nebraska to California; but he was later removed for mismanagement and replace by W.F. Lander, who staked a new route known as the Lander Cutoff.

A marker indicates that this was also the rendezvous site of Scouts & Trappers from 1812-to-1835.

The 1838 Rendezvous Site of fur trappers, mountain men, and traders is located along the banks of the Wind River in Riverton. The 1838 Rendezvous Association continues to hold an annual event at this site, which is "dedicated to the men, women and children who moved so lightly upon the world that only the land and the river remain as a witness to those shining times."

Hot Springs State Park in Thermopolis contains the world's largest single mineral hot spring, which pours forth about 8,000 gallons of 135 degree Fahrenheit mineral water every 24 hours. Thanks to the Shoshone and Arapaho tribes that in 1896 gave the springs to Wyoming in a treaty, with the provisions that they remain accessible to the general public without charge, there are no fees to use the facilities, including the bath house where the water is cooled to 104 degrees.

In 1896 James McLaughlin, United States Indian Inspector, reported to the Department of the Interior that "The water of this spring is said to possess wonderful curative properties and to be very beneficial for rheumatic and other ailments, and although the temperature is 132 degrees it is not unpleasant to drink, and with salt and pepper added tastes very much like fresh chicken broth."

The historic Callaghan Apartments and Hotel built in 1918 has been renovated (now the Best Western Plus Plaza Hotel) and is the only historic apartment/hotel building remaining in the park. At one time there were six facilities in the park, but the last one of the other five was demolished in 1966.

The Park is also celebrating the 100th birthday of the Swinging Bridge (i.e., suspension bridge) that was built over the Big Horn River in 1916 to provide pedestrian access to the hot springs . The suspension bridge is the longest of its type in the State of Wyoming.