We awoke to clear sunny skies and the mighty roar of trains carrying their 20,000 tons of coal Eastwards.
Still it was good to be up and away in good time. Today we were going to 'do' some more of the Oregon Trail, as it passed along the North Platte River. This must have been one of the more comfortable bits of the journey, plenty of grass and water, flat land, though it was probably hot, there is also plenty of shade.
After walking along the river bank, having crossed the river at Fort Laramie, they were able to rest for a while at a pasture that ran up to some cliffs, known as Register Cliffs, as many of the emigrants had carved their names in the soft mudstone. Those names are still there today as a memorial and testament to those who traveled this way between 1840 and 1860. Although all seemed well there were constant threats of cholera and dysentery, of running out of food, or feed. Always there was the drive of knowing that they had to get to the Cascades before the first snow of winter, or they would starve on the cold Eastern slopes. Although we have not been there, a key point on their journey was another rock where they carved their names. Independence Rock, about 120 miles West, which the Emigrants tried to reach by July 4th. Sally and I sat and had our picnic here. It was very pleasant and warm in the sun.
Earlier we had been to the site of some ruts made by the carts of the Emigrants heading West. At this point the travelers had to climb up from the North Platte Valley Floor to the rolling hills above. Here they had to move across bare rock and grass land. The rock is a fairly soft sandy limestone, so the heavy carts wore ruts in the rock. This was very interesting as some of the ruts were several feet deep. We think that some of the trail was cut into the rock to make for easy passage, but some of the ruts were just too deep to have been made purposely, we thought that they were the result of the carts moving across them. It was not as straightforward as it seemed, as there are many wagon routes all running across this area, as though the route had been changed frequently, perhaps when one wore out they moved it, or perhaps when it rained it got too muddy. Anyway it was very enjoyable, interesting and thought provoking to see this evidence of the migration westward in the eighteenth century.
We finished our day by visiting some real Ghost Towns, Hartville and Sunshine. They are not old ghost towns, they have only recently been emptied, when the iron ore mine closed down. In the case of Sunshine the town was bulldozed and removed completely. Hartville is now just a pretty little hamlet, with lots of closed up shops. It was interesting to drive through. The transient nature of mining means that there are many such towns in Wyoming, indeed throughout the Western States. We returned to the RV Park and I took a short walk to see a bison and some emu that we had noticed in a field. Interesting combination.
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