Gillette in Campbell County, Wyoming — The American West (Mountains)

Black and Yellow Trail

Photographed by Jimmy Emerson, July 2025

1. Black and Yellow Trail Marker

Inscription. The early 20th century explosion of the automobile into American life highlighted a deplorable lack of surfaced roads. Newly minted drivers discovered the unsuitability of wagon trails for the automobile, and local good roads associations formed to advocate road construction and routes to attract visitors and businesses. The Black and Yellow Trail became the first named "highway" across the Powder River Basin.

Conceived as a route between Chicago and Yellowstone Park via the Black Hills, state delegates met in Buffalo in 1912 to mark the route with distinctive black and yellow striped signs. The route entered Wyoming near Newcastle and continued to Upton. Moorcroft and Gillette. From there, intrepid travelers headed southwest to Sussex, north to Buffalo and over the Big Horn Mountains to Tensleep and Worland. A few cars successfully crossed the mountains in 1913; a graded road, constructed by the U. S. Forest Service, counties and the fledgling Wyoming Highway Department, was completed by 1922. Motorists followed an earthen grade no more than 20 ft wide carved out using manual labor and horse-drawn plows. Gravel surfacing

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sometimes helped keep vehicles from foundering in the mud, and travel time was measured in days, not hours.

Though a pioneer, the Black and Yellow Trail enjoyed only a short life. By the 1920s, the Wyoming Highway Department began construction of alternate routes between Gillette, Buffalo and Sheridan. As the need for improved roads built to consistent standards, with uniform signing and posting across all states grew, the federal government slowly developed a national highway system. By 1926, the now familiar U.S. highway designations replaced the named highways. with U. S. 14 and U. S. 16 incorporating portions of the old Black and Yellow Trail.

Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Roads & Vehicles. A significant historical year for this entry is 1913.

Location. 43° 57.846′ N, 105° 43.876′ W. Marker is in Gillette, Wyoming, in Campbell County. It is on Wyoming Hwy 50 (Wyoming Route 50), on the right when traveling south. The marker is located at a roadside pullout just north of the 4J Elementary School. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2850 WY Highway 50, Gillette WY 82718, United States

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of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this marker is in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin.

It is also in the American Mountain West,

on the Great Plains,

on the Northern Plains,

and specifically on the High Plains.

Globally, it is in North America,

the Western Hemisphere,

the Western World,

and the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Louisiana Purchase.

Credits. This page was last revised on November 16, 2025. It was originally submitted on November 16, 2025, by Jimmy Emerson of Dalton, Georgia. This page has been viewed 103 times since then and 70 times this year. Photo 1. submitted on November 16, 2025, by Jimmy Emerson of Dalton, Georgia. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.