Worland: Original Town Site

Worland: Original Town Site. . The frontier settlement of Worland was originally located near the mouth of Fifteen Mile Creek on the west bank of the Big Horn River. It grew around a stage coach station established in 1900 by Charles H. “Dad” Worland on the old Bridger Trail, an 1864 wagon road connecting the Oregon Trail with new gold fields in southwestern Montana. , By the time “Dad” Worland opened his station, the Bridger Trail had evolved into a dusty county road serving the newly established farming and ranching community in the Big Horn Basin. In 1903, survey work began on major irrigation projects in the region. Ditches were dug and Big Horn River water was diverted to irrigate the dry desert landscape. Sugar beets were the crop of choice. Much of this activity centered from Worland’s sister community of Hanover on the east bank of the river. , With the construction of these irrigation projects, Worland quickly grew into a small town with a bright agricultural future. In 1905 regional promoters convinced the Burlington Railroad and Lincoln Land Company to build south into the Big Horn Basin from Montana. Construction began early fall with tracks being laid on the east bank of the Big Horn River. To accommodate the location of the incoming railroad, Worland citizens hoisted their homes, offices, business buildings, and school onto log skids and “slid” them across the frozen river during the winter of 1905-1906. These buildings were then placed along the newly surveyed, named and numbered streets.