If you were here in the late 1860's, this quiet setting would be alive with noises from livestock, people, wagons, and water. As you continue along the trail, imagine sights and sounds of busy emigrants crossing the river and camping here.
A . . . — — Map (db m96869) HM
With an abundant supply of water, grass, and wood, many emigrants camped at least one night at the New Fork River. Laying over allowed emigrants to catch up on chores, rest and even play.
We busy ourselves in various ways - some get a fine . . . — — Map (db m100363) HM
The Lander Trail, part of the Congressionally designated California National Historic Trail, was a shortcut of the main emigrant trails to California and Oregon, as well as to the new gold fields in Montana and Idaho. Emigrants started their . . . — — Map (db m96954) HM
The swale (small trench) running left to right in front of you is a remnant of the old Lander Trail. It is unknown if this swale formed by repeated wagon use or during trail construction. Unlike all previous western emigrant trails - which evolved . . . — — Map (db m96874) HM
Frederick Lander carefully chose this place for the trail to cross the New Fork River. An island once split the river in two channels, allowing emigrants to ford without a bridge or ferry.
There is a large island in the centre (sic), and the . . . — — Map (db m96872) HM
In April 1862 the Thomas Paul family left Fremont, Iowa, for Washington Territory. Mrs. Elizabeth Mortimore Paul, who was pregnant, had a difficult time on the journey west, and here on July 27, 1862, age 32, she died giving birth to a daughter. . . . — — Map (db m179898) HM
In 1859 during the first year of use, over 13,000 emigrants and 19,000 head of stock passed along the Lander Cut-Off. This area known as LaBarge Meadows was a favorite resting place of the pioneers. The abundant grass provided forage for the large . . . — — Map (db m179895) HM
At this point the pioneers began their ascent of the mountains, having traveled 106 miles since leaving the main road. The graves nearby are those of emigrants left behind as a result of hardships, accidents and disease. Death was a frequent visitor . . . — — Map (db m180088) HM
In about 1890 an immigrant wagon tipped over at this crossing, A small girl was drowned and was buried in this vicinity. The exact location of garage is unknown. — — Map (db m179902) HM
The Lander Road or "Trail" crosses the New Fork River just beyond this sign. Here, the river was shallow enough to allow emigrant wagons to ford the river without aid of a ferry. The good water, livestock feed, and firewood made this a popular . . . — — Map (db m180093) HM
You are standing just north of the route taken by thousands of people, cattle and horses migrating west on the Lander Cut-off, the northern fork of the Oregon Trail, starting in 1858. None settled here then. By the late 1870s, cattle from the west . . . — — Map (db m85813) HM
The water runoff from nearby mountains changes seasonally and from year to year. Emigrants used a variety of methods for crossing, depending on how much water flowed in the New Fork River.
Fording the New Fork: Low Water Crossing . . . — — Map (db m96871) HM
The Lander Cut-Off of the Oregon Trail was constructed in 1858. It was the first federally funded road west of the Mississippi River. After leaving the original Oregon Trail near South Pass, the Lander Cut-Off crossed this mountainous region and . . . — — Map (db m180089) HM
Livestock outnumbered emigrants five to one on the Lander Trail. A typical emigrant wagon needed four mules or 4-6 oxen to pull a wagon with up to 2,000 pounds of supplies. Emigrants also brought riding horses, milk cows, beef cattle, and even . . . — — Map (db m100366) HM
On this site, Oct. 18, 1811, sixty-one Astorians of the Pacific Fur Company led by Wilson Price Hunt camped for 5 days. They were on their way to the Pacific Ocean from St. Louis and were the second group to cross the continent, just 5 years after . . . — — Map (db m47078) HM
West of this sign is the opening of Hoback Canyon. This canyon first provided a way through the mountains for game and Indians, and later for mountain men and settlers, but the rugged trail was hazardous for horses and wagons. On September 26, 1811, . . . — — Map (db m90923) HM
In Tribute to Reverend Samuel Parker Who delivered the first Protestant sermon to Trappers, hunters, and Indians on Sunday, August 23, 1835, at this point. — — Map (db m96721) HM
This maker consists of three plaques, each dealing with the Lander Cut-off.
“The Best Mountain Road in the West”
In 1857, Congress funded construction of the Fort Kearney-South Pass-Honey Lakes Wagon Road (Lander . . . — — Map (db m80540) HM
The place where this road crosses the Big Sandy River, to your left, is known as Buckskin Crossing. This has been a campsite and river ford for hundreds if not thousands of years, part of the ancient trail system linking South Pass to the Upper . . . — — Map (db m96718) HM
On June 10th, 1842, J. C. Fremont left St. Louis to explore the Wind River Mountains, with Kit Carson as guide, Charles Preuss, topographer, L. Maxwell, hunter, and 20 Canadian voyageurs, including Basil LaJeunesse. Eight two-wheeled mule-drawn . . . — — Map (db m96720) HM
Dominated by sagebrush grasslands, the "high cold desert" provides habitat for one of the largest pronghorn antelope herds in the world. This region is home to 40,000 to 60,000 antelope, known as the Sublette Herd. The pronghorn has keen eyesight . . . — — Map (db m85809) HM
This site is a crossing of the Lander Cut-off, the northern fork of the Oregon Trail. Originally called the Fort Kearney-South Pass-Honey Lake Wagon Road when it opened in 1858, it was the first federally-funded road project west of the Mississippi . . . — — Map (db m47092) HM
Route of Lander cut-off first government financed road in Wyoming. Officially called Ft. Kearney, South Pass and Honey Lake Road. Built in 1858 from Rocky Ridge to Ft. Hall to provide shorter route for emigrants. — — Map (db m47093) HM
Because timber was scarce in neighboring states along the first transcontinental railroad line, the tie business flourished here and in other Wyoming mountain locations. Ties were cut in winter, stored on the river bank until spring, and floated . . . — — Map (db m80522) HM
This lodge, one of the earliest dude ranches in Wyoming, was built on the hill beyond in 1897 by William (Billy) Wells and operated until 1906. It was name for the Little Gros Ventre (now Tosi Creek) and was known locally as “Dog Ranch: . . . — — Map (db m80523) HM
In May of 1832, Captain Benjamin Bonneville left Fort Osage, Missouri with an expedition consisting of one hundred and ten men and twenty wagons, headed for the Rocky Mountain West. Upon his arrival in the Green River Valley, he ordered immediate . . . — — Map (db m80521) HM
From the first big beaver season in 1824 to the last Rendezvous in 1840, the Green River Valley was the center of the Rocky Mountain fur trade. Six of the 16 summer Rendezvous (1833, 1835, 1836, 1837, 1839, 1840) were held here at the confluence of . . . — — Map (db m80517) HM
To
Narcissa Prentiss Whitman
and
Eliza Hart Spalding
Missionaries
First white women in Wyoming
and
First women over Oregon Trail
1836
July 6 to July 18 was spent at
“Green River Rendezvous” . . . — — Map (db m80518) HM
Buried on Fontenelle Creek, exhumed 1897, taken to the U.S.Circuit Court at St. Louis, Mo., returned by a court order to Sublette County, Wyoming to be buried here July 27, 1935.
Placed
July 4, 1936
The Historical Landmark Commission
of . . . — — Map (db m80513) HM
Rev. Pierre DeSmet (1801-1873) was born in Belgium but came to America in 1821, joined by the Jesuit Society and began his work with the Indians. In his work, he established 16 treaties, crossed the ocean 19 times and traveled 180,000 miles on his . . . — — Map (db m80512) HM
This marks a fork in the trail, right to Oregon, left to Utah and California.
1812, Robert Stuart and eastbound Astorians used South Pass gateway.
1824, Eleven westbound Ashley-Henry men led by Jedediah Smith and Thomas Fitzpatrick.
. . . — — Map (db m67035) HM
Trail ruts at this site were mistakenly identified as the Parting-of-the-Ways where emigrant parties separated on their journeys to Oregon, California, or Utah.
The actual Parting-of-the-Ways is approximately 10 miles west of this spot. Where . . . — — Map (db m67034) HM
This point on the trail is called the Parting-of-the-Ways. The trail to the right is the Sublette or Greenwood Cutoff and to the left is the main route of the Oregon, Mormon, and California Trails. The Sublette Cutoff was opened in 1844 because it . . . — — Map (db m96684) HM
In July 1844 the California bound Stevens-Townsend-Murphy wagon train, guided by Isaac Hitchcock and 81-year old Caleb Greenwood, passed this point and continued nine and one half miles southwest from here, to a place destined to become prominent . . . — — Map (db m67036) HM
On Oct. 16, 1812, the Astorians (Robert Stuart, Ramsay Crooks, Robert McClellan, Joseph Miller, Benjamin Jones, Francis Eclair and Andy Vallee) passed this way and forded Pine Creek near here, the first white men known to have seen it. They were . . . — — Map (db m90931) HM
During construction of Highway 191 in the early 1990s, the oldest known pronghorn kill processing site in Wyoming was discovered and excavated on the ridges below. Three intact cultural layers were uncovered with radiocarbon dates ranging from 4690 . . . — — Map (db m180303) HM
Mr. John F. Patterson, known as the Founder of Pinedale, proposed establishing a town at this location. He offered to build and stock a general store if local ranchers Charles A. Petersen and Mr. Robert O. Graham each donated five acres for the town . . . — — Map (db m90929) HM
The river below is the Green. The mountains to the west are the Wyomings (Bear Rivers). Those to the the east, the Windrivers. Along the river banks below are the Rendezvous sites of 1833, 1835 (New Fork), 1836, 1837 (Cottonwood), 1839, 1840 and . . . — — Map (db m208244) HM
(Two panels make up this marker)
Hundreds of trappers and traders and thousands of Indians met on the banks of the Green River in front of you for the rendezvous of 1833, 1835, 1836, 1837, 1839, and 1840 to exchange a year's worth of . . . — — Map (db m180108) HM
For more than than one hundred years, the Green River Drift cattle trail has connected the seasonal communal grazing lands to cattle ranches in the Upper Green River Valley. The trail is used by area ranchers to move livestock, using cowboys on . . . — — Map (db m180301) HM
Sir William Drummond Stewart of Scotland can be called Wyoming's first tourist. Stewart attended every summer rendezvous from 1833 to 1838, during the heyday of the mountain man fur trade. Four of those gatherings took place nearby, at the . . . — — Map (db m90928) HM
has been designated a
Registered National
Historic Landmark
under the provisions of the
historic sites act of August 21, 1935
This site possesses exceptional value
in commemorating and illustrating
the history of the United . . . — — Map (db m180104) HM
Duck Creek riparian community is a diverse and complex society of living organisms. Wild brown trout feed on caddisfly nymphs, which live in self-made stick and stone shelters, clinging to the rocks. Yellow warblers and flycatchers next in willow . . . — — Map (db m47080) HM
(Two panels make up this marker)
The Wind River Mountains form the Continental Divide, with water flowing into three watersheds: the Columbia, Colorado, and Missouri Rivers. Rocks in these mountains are over one billion years old, . . . — — Map (db m180308) HM
