Mormon Trail informationCall the Wyoming Division of Tourism, (800) 225-5996, to request a Mormon Trail vacation packet. It includes a map of the Mormon Trail, a highway guide with detailed directions on how to reach important sites, a calendar of events celebrating the 150th anniversary of Brigham Young's wagon train and a Wyoming vacation directory. As actor Karl Malden used to say, "Don't leave home without it."
In addition, the Bureau of Land Management in Wyoming has a Web page with information on the Mormon Trail. The address is (http://www.wy.blm.gov).
By Kathryn Clayton
Deseret News travel editor
The Oregon Trail was the Interstate of the 1800s. A half-million people moved out West using the dusty corridor. Roughly 80,000 headed to Oregon; approximately 80,000 came to the Salt Lake Valley and 350,000 went to California. The trail was the major conduit for settlement of the American West until the Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869.
The Mormon Trail converged with the Oregon Trail at Fort Laramie, Wyo., where Brigham Young's party crossed to the south side of North Platte River, and cut off to the Salt Lake Valley at Fort Bridger.
Wyoming is the best place to find physical remains of the Oregon/Mormon Pioneer/California/Pony Express Trail.
"In other states, the trail doesn't exist," says Jude Carino, the Bureau of Land Management's historic trails coordinator in Wyoming. "It's been obliterated by modernization."
The Cowboy State, on the other hand, has a number of places where the 1840s meet the 1990s. From the Gurnsey ruts in eastern Wyoming, where wagon wheels wore deep impressions in a sandstone outcrop, to South Pass, a gradual slope leading to the Continental Divide, you can see things pretty much the way they were 150 years ago, when Brigham Young led the vanguard wagon train from Winter Quarters to the Salt Lake Valley.
Fort Bridger, in the southwest corner of the state, has been restored and is now a state historic site. Jim Bridger had a trading post there in 1847. Mormons later purchased the fort, selling supplies to emigrants heading west. The sight is in southwestern Wyoming, an easy drive from Salt Lake City.
You can approximate the Mormon Trail across Wyoming in your car or RV, modern-day equivalents of the covered wagon. Take US 26 from Torrington to Casper; WY 220 from Casper to Muddy Gap Junction; US 287 west to WY 28; WY 28 through Farson to WY 372 south to Green River; and I-80 west to Evanston.
Some sites, like Rock Creek and Rocky Ridge where markers honoring the Willie Handcart Company are located, are accessible by dirt road. Both are near Atlantic City. You'd be foolish to drive to them in bad weather or when the roads are muddy. Like the Willie Company, you, too, could get stuck.
Another word of advice: Don't leave your car parked in the middle of a dirt road while you explore the trail.
"We've been having some problems with people parking in the road and other people having to drive out around them into the sagebrush," says Mike Stewart, assistant area manager for the BLM in Lander. "Use some courtesy for your fellow travelers," he advises.
As you retrace the route of Mormon pioneers, you might confront other challenges.
Be aware of ticks as you walk through prairie grass. (The BLM suggests that you wear long pants and a long-sleeved shirt). Cover yourself with mosquito repellent and sunscreen and wear a hat.
Keep an eye out for rattlesnakes. The person who named Rattlesnake Mountain near Devil's Gate was probably trying to tell you something.
Here are details on major sites:
Fort Caspar: Near here, in 1847, the Mormons established the first ferry service on the North Platte River, referred to as Mormon Ferry Post. In 1859, when Louis Guinard built a 1,000-foot log bridge, it became known as Platte Bridge Station. The U.S. Army occupied the post from 1862-67. It was renamed Fort Caspar in honor of an army officer, Caspar Collins, who was killed while protecting a supply train from Indian attack north of the bridge.
The present-day reconstruction of the fort is on the site of the original. It has a replica of the Mormon ferry. Located on Fort Caspar Road, in the western outskirts of Casper.
Independence Rock: Off WY 220, 55 miles west of Casper. Many westward emigrants inscribed their names on this mound of bedrock. It is still a landmark in the Wyoming desert and inscriptions are as recent as the 1990s.
Jude Carino, of the BLM, calls it the great register of the desert. "There are a lot of historic inscriptions on Independence Rock, including one from 1810 (very difficult to see now)," he says. "There are 300 to 400 Mormon signatures."
Modern-day travelers will find a highway rest stop with restrooms here. The Sweetwater River is close by. Keep an eye on your kids. Overnight camping is by special use permit.
Devil's Gate: Approximately six miles southwest of Independence Rock off WY 220. The narrow gorge through which the Sweetwater River passes is another landmark. Some pioneers waded the river through the gorge while wagons crossed a pass to the east.
Martin's Cove: The Mormon Handcart Visitors Center is in a restored ranch house off WY 220, midway between Rawlins and Casper. It's open daily from 8 a.m to 7 p.m. A trail from the visitors center leads to Martin's Cove, where the Martin Handcart Company waited out a severe snowstorm in November 1856.
The trail is approximately five miles long, roundtrip. Handcarts to pull along the trail are available at the visitors center at no charge. Handcart-pullers may camp overnight at nearby Cherry Creek, where there is water and portable toilets. The overnight handcart fee is $10;the camping fee is $5. No handcarts on Sundays. Make reservations for Cherry Creek campsites by calling 307-324-5218. For information about Martin's Cove, call the visitors center at 307-328-2953.
Willie Sites: There are three monuments pertinent to the Willie Handcart Company that, like the Martin Company, met up with severe weather in 1856. All of them are near Atlantic City.
- The Rock Creek monument, which marks a mass grave of 13 people, is the easiest to get to. From Atlantic City, turn left at the Atlantic City Mercantile and continue left 3.8 miles to the Lewiston Road. Turn left onto Lewiston Road and travel four miles. This is a dirt road and should be traveled only in good weather. Recent maintenance means the road is probably in good enough condition for campers and RVs as well as the family sedan. Check with locals to make sure and proceed at your own risk.
The LDS Church owns property at Rock Creek and allows camping. The campground, on the opposite side of the road from the monument, has 10 campsites. Except for portable toilets, there are no facilities. The Riverton Wyoming Stake, which oversees the campground, expects to have water, picnic tables, fire rings and pit toilets there by the end of the summer. Overnight campers must leave their vehicle in the parking lot and walk to the campsite from there. The season depends on the weather but will probably run from the end of May through September. Overnight camping is by reservation only. Call (307) 856-5227. The bad news is that overnight reservations are full for 1997. The good news is that day visitors are welcome without reservations.
- Another Willie marker is on BLM land at the base of Rocky Ridge on the east side. It is accessed from the intersection of US 287 with the Hudson-Atlantic City Road five miles west of Sweetwater Station.
Travel 11 miles west on the Hudson-Atlantic City Road, remaining right at all forks in the road. Turn south at the large BLM sign and travel 1.3 miles along a two-track road. Here again, exercise judgment if it's rainy or muddy. Just before the Travel Section deadline, the Hudson-Atlantic City road was reported to be muddy, but not bad enough to require four-wheel-drive.
The Hudson-Atlantic City Road, by the way, generally parallels the trail as it approaches South Pass. The road is some distance north of the trail but it has good views of Rocky Ridge and Lewiston Lakes.
- The best way to reach the top of Rocky Ridge, elevation 7,300 feet, where there is a BLM marker and an LDS Church marker, is to walk there from the marker at the base of the ridge. "It's about a mile walk and a 200 to 300-foot climb," says Carino.
The Willie Company camped at the base of the ridge Oct. 22 and struggled to pull its carts over the ridge to Rock Creek the next day. Pioneer Joseph Elder wrote: "That was an awful day. many can never forget the seens they witnessed that day men women and children weakened down by cold and hunger weeping crying and sum even dying to the roadside."
Lloyd C. Larsen, a member of the Riverton Wyoming Stake who oversees the LDS-owned campground at Rock Creek, says visitors shouldn't drive more than 40 mph on the dirt roads in the Atlantic City area.
"The rocks on those roads are very sharp," he says. "One out of every five vehicles comes back on a spare tire. Driving a little slower seems to help."
The nearest services are in Lander, 40 miles away. Make sure you have gas, water, food and emergency supplies.
South Pass City: This isn't a Mormon site, but it's historically important. Once a thriving mining camp, South Pass City is a partially restored ghost town.
South Pass: Every emigrant wagon using the Oregon Trail crossed South Pass, a broad expanse that gradually rises to the Continental Divide. No other route offered an easy grade over the Divide or enough water and grass for livestock. From WYO 28, take the dirt Oregon Buttes Road south from the summit of the first hill west of the Sweetwater bridge. Watch for trail ruts and historic markers at 2.8 miles.
South Pass Overlook: You'll get a good look at South Pass from this overlook on WYO 28, four miles southwest of Sweetwater bridge.
Big Sandy Crossing and Station Site: At the junction of WYO-28 and US-191 in the town of Farson. The Mormon Trail and main Oregon Trail crossed the Big Sandy River here on the way to Fort Bridger. This is where Brigham Young first met up with trapper/trader Jim Bridger. While you're in Farson, stop at the general store for an ice cream cone.
Pilot Butte Interpretive Site: On WYO 28 southwest of Farson. The trail, which runs close to the highway from Farson to the Green River Crossing, is within walking distance of the interpretive site. "It's a pristine setting so you get a good feel, even in your car, of what the pioneers say," says the BLM's Carino.
Lombard Ferry: 26 miles southwest of Farson on WYO 28. This was one of the most commonly used Green River crossings. In 1847, the Mormons built rafts to cross the river, which they estimated to be just short of 300 feet wide. By 1852, a ferry operated here. It was in service for over 50 years.
Fort Bridger: Mountain man Jim Bridger established a trading post here in 1842 to serve the emigrants' trail. The Mormons bought the fort in 1855 and operated it, along with Fort Supply 12 miles to the south, until 1857. They burned both forts as Johnston's Army approached before leaving for the Salt Lake Valley. The U.S. Army assumed ownership of the fort a year later. Today the fort is a state historic site. Take I-80 to the Fort Bridger exit.
Mormon Trail Crossing: The trail crosses WYO 150 about eight miles southeast of Evanston, near the Wyoming-Utah border. A monument marks the site.
Important trail sites in the eastern part of the state include Fort Laramie, which was established by fur traders in 1834. It was one of the few civilized stations that existed when the Mormon migration began. Today it is a national historic site with living history programs during summer months. Register Cliff State Historic Site is covered with names of pioneers who passed through in the 1840s, '50s and '60s. It's south of Guernsey, two miles past the turn-off to the Guernsey trail ruts.
The Guernsey ruts are the main attraction of the Oregon Trail Ruts State Historic Site. Thousands of wagon wheels wore ruts into soft sandstones. Follow signs from the central Guernsey intersection. Go south across the North Platte River.