Oregon/California/Pony Express Trail

Historic trails criss-cross Wind River Country, taking advantage of the easy access South Pass provides over the north-south barrier formed by the Rocky Mountains and the Continental Divide. Native Americans used this corridor for thousands of years before the arrival of Europeans, but it wasn??u8482 t until a party of fur trappers outfitted by John Jacob Astor and known as the Astorians ??u339 discovered??u-3 South Pass in 1812 that its importance to America??u8482 s western settlement became apparent. Prior to South Pass??u8482 s discovery, the land route used by Lewis and Clark in 1804 over Lolo Pass was considered the easiest way to cross the Rockies, but it was too steep and treacherous for wagon travel.

The Astorians had gone west to establish a practical overland route for moving supplies from Missouri to their fur trading post near the mouth of the Columbia River on the Pacific Coast. On their return journey east in 1812, a small party led by Robert Stuart stumbled upon South Pass. Stuart kept meticulous journals and his descriptions of western Wyoming are vivid, but in spite of this, most western travelers continued to use Lewis and Clark??u8482 s northern route until 1824, when Jedediah Smith rediscovered South Pass and recognized its significance for western expansion. At this time, America had been taken over by an almost evangelical zeal to spread its boundaries. This passion, known as Manifest Destiny, was driven by the belief that the United States had a responsibility to spread its message of democracy. South Pass played a significant role in the realization of that mission.

The opening of Wind River Country??u8482 s South Pass together with the promise of free land in Oregon Territory, the lure of gold in California, and later the desire to escape religious persecution resulted in a massive exodus of emigrants west. In Wyoming Territory, their routes??u8221 the California Trail, the Mormon Trail and the Oregon Trail ??u8221 converged and followed a similar path along the North Platte River to the Sweetwater River and over the Continental Divide at South Pass. The first women, Eliza Spalding and Narcissa Whitman, made the journey in 1836. They were followed by more than 500,000 people who moved west along these historic trails between1840 and 1870.

For a little more than one year during this era, Pony Express riders joined travelers along the route over South Pass. In as few as ten days, these riders carried messages and mail from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California. Relay stations were positioned approximately every 10 miles or roughly the maximum distance a horse could travel at a full gallop. Riders, who could not weigh more than 125 pounds, carried a mail pouch and changed horses at each pony express station, riding a total of 75-100 miles before their journey was complete. They carried in addition to the mail a water sac, a Bible, a knife, a horn for alerting the relay-station master of their arrival, and a rifle. Eventually, to cut down on weight, the riders were restricted to just a rifle and a water sac.

The Pony Express system only lasted from April 1860 until October 1861, when the Transcontinental Telegraph Service replaced it, but the image of the lone rider racing across the plains has taken on great romantic value in western American lore and for many has come to symbolize rugged American individualism.

Wind River Country has two historic trails that do not cross South Pass. These trails??u8221 the Chief Washakie Trail and the Sand Creek Massacre Trail??u8221 commemorate Native American travel paths. The Chief Washakie Trail, which parallels the eastern side of the Wind River Mountains was a trade route for the Eastern Shoshone and is named in honor of their great chief, Washakie. The Sand Creek Massacre Trail follows the route traveled by the surviving members of Northern Arapahoe tribe north to safety after their people were gunned down in their camp by U.S. Cavalry troops led by Colonel John Chivington in the spring of 1864. The Northern Arapaho found sanctuary with the Eastern Shoshone and eventually were given a share of the Wind River Indian Reservation to use as a permanent home.