Register Cliff State Historic Site

Captions: (left) Carved in Stone The names and dates at Register Cliff reflect the peak years of travel along the Oregon Trail during the 1840s and 1850s. Several states are represented in the carvings - Ohio being the most common.; (right) Register Cliff, also known as ‘Sand Draw’, was the first camp west of Fort Laramie. Beside these sandstone cliffs near the North Platte River, emigrants stopped to set up camp, pasture their animals, and rest from the hardships of trail life. Its is common to see cemeteries at river crossings along the trail. The crossings themselves were dangerous. The graves of several unknown emigrants are in the cemetery here at Register Cliff.; (bottom) Young Alvah H. Unthank, 19 years old and bound for the California gold fields, left his mark here in 1850. Alvah never made it to California. Like thousands of other emigrants, he succumbed to cholera, a disease spread by unsanitary conditions along the trail.

Captions: (center left) Trading Post In the mid-1850s, a small trading post just west of the cliffs provided supplies to emigrants traveling west. Later, a pony express station, known as Sand Point or Star Ranch Station, was based here.; (bottom left) Cold Storage A root cellar for storage of produce was essential before the days of supermarkets. The Frederick family blasted an opening into the cliff face for storing potatoes and other vegetables. The constant temperatures kept produce cool in the summer and protected it from freezing in the winter.; (bottom right) A Gift to the State Henry Frederick gifted Register Cliff to the State of Wyoming in 1932. It is through the generosity of the Frederick family that the site is open to the public. In 1970, the site was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The kiosk is located to the left of the large Register Cliff marker. Note the Frederick's root cellar to the right, now boarded over.