| Title | Author |
|---|---|
| Durlacher House | Stephanie Lowe |
| Elk Mountain Hotel | Lori Van Pelt |
| Emigrant Gap, Oregon Trail site of | WyoHistory.org |
| Emigrant Hill, Oregon Trail site | Randy Brown |
| Emigrant Spring, Oregon Trail Slate Creek Cutoff site | Randy Brown |
| Ephraim Brown, homicide victim, pioneer grave of | Randy Brown |
| Ferries, North Platte River; Oregon Trail sites of | WyoHistory.org |
| Fetterman Battlefield | WyomingHeritage.org |
| Fires, Yellowstone 1988 | Dan Whipple |
| Forest fires,Yellowstone, 1988 | Dan Whipple |
Whether Oregon Trail emigrants took the westbound Sublette Cutoff at Parting of the Ways or the more southerly route toward Fort Bridger, the next water they had to cross was at Little Sandy Creek, running south through the sandy, sagebrush plains west of the Continental Divide.
The California Gold Rush lured many men away from their families. One was Charles Hatch of Wisconsin, who appears to have died of a fever after a June snowstorm near what’s now Farson, Wyo. His grave is on a bluff by the Big Sandy River near the Oregon/California Trail.
Dry and sandy accurately describe the creek crossing where good water was scarce and wagons often foundered in an alkaline mire. Travelers often noted decaying livestock carcasses and thick clouds of gnats; most kept going if they could. Later years saw establishment of a stage and Pony Express station here.
Seven pioneer graves survive in Wyoming from 1852, when more emigrants traveled the Oregon Trail than any other year. Near Fort Laramie, Mary Homsley and her baby died from measles, nearly as deadly as cholera at the time. She is buried under a stone on which her husband scratched her name.
Historian Grace Raymond Hebard worked with Laramie banker Edward Ivinson on a monument to honor Albany County soldiers who fought and died in the Great War. The eagle-topped memorial at the corner of Sixth and Ivinson lists more than a thousand who served—and 32 who died.
Pacific Springs, just west of South Pass, offered Oregon Trail emigrants their first good water after crossing the Continental Divide. From the east-flowing rivers and streams they had followed for so many miles, the pioneers had finally arrived at water that would end up in the Pacific Ocean.
Deep, crystal-clear waters with snow-capped views greeted emigrants as they arrived at the final crossing of the Sweetwater River near South Pass. At times, hundreds of travelers waited impatiently for makeshift ferries, hoping to outrun the cholera they feared was being carried toward them by parties farther back along the trail.
On an open, sagebrush plain west of South Pass, emigrants had to decide whether to continue southwest toward Fort Bridger and California or straight west--across 50 waterless miles—toward Fort Hall and Oregon. Many pioneers parted here, expecting never to see each other again.
Names Hill, a cliff of soft sandstone by the Green River, was a popular stopping place for travelers on the Sublette Cutoff of the Oregon Trail. Many emigrants inscribed or painted their names on the cliff face. But earlier people, too, had left marks on the cliff.
Oregon Trail emigrants along the Sweetwater River came to a place where steep hills forced them to cross the stream three times within two miles—a dangerous option at high water—while a detour through deep sand was safer but slower: just another day on a long journey with hard choices.
