The first part of this day was another excursion into the past, that is, we visited places that are a part of American history. Again we crossed paths with the famous Oregon Trail which thousands of settlers traveled to, hopefully, find a better life. 
The first stop was Guernsey, Wyoming, which had been another major stopping, resting, and refitting point similar to the one we had visited in Montpelier, Idaho. At a bend in the Platte River outside what is now the town of Guernsey there is a large flat area on which the Oregon Trail travelers apparently made their stop. At the edge of the flat area some cliffs rise up to a moderate height. These cliffs consist of a soft rock into which hundreds of travelers have carved their names and often the dates when they passed by here. This supposedly was a sort of “peg board” for leaving messages for those that followed. The names and dates indicated that the travelers were alive and had reached this point in their journey. There a
pparently are some records of some of those people whose names are carved into the stone – some made it to their destination, some didn't.
Near the cliffs, at the edge of the river, there also was pony express station, now commemorated only by a stone marker with an inscription. Further down the road the ruts made by the wagons can still be seen because they were literally carved into the rocky ground. Year after year thousands of wagons traversed the same ruts so that now at some places the ruts are six to eight feet deep. As I said before about the cliffs, it is soft rock, but nevertheless – rock.
A few miles to the east is the famous Fort Laramie. It was established to protect the settlers, who were moving west, from the Ind
ians. Fort Laramie was never a fort as forts are seen in the movies, with high palisades and a gate through which the cavalry rode. Fort Laramie was more like a trading post. A number of buildings, some housing soldiers, some accommodating families of officers, some sheltering horses, and at least one store where the travelers passing through could buy some of the necessities of life made up Fort Laramie. Indians came to trade there too. The role that Fort Laramie played in the settling of the West is an entire story in itself. How the West was won is worth a separate study. A book about this period of time which I found fascinating (roughly 1850 – 1890) is called “Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee” by Dee Brown. It tells the story of the westward expansion of the United States from the Indians' perspective. On the whole, not an era for which the United States can be entirely proud of.
After a little lunch in the RV while parked at Fort Laramie we struck out for the Black Hills in South Dakota. The trip through eastern Wyoming was uneventful, the weather was good, and impressive were the miles and miles of grassland through which we traveled.
Toward nightfall we came into the Black Hills and found refuge in the campground called “Crooked Creek Resort” near Mount Rushmore which we hoped to visit the next day. The term “Resort” was an exaggeration, but it sufficed to bring day 22 to close.
The first stop was Guernsey, Wyoming, which had been another major stopping, resting, and refitting point similar to the one we had visited in Montpelier, Idaho. At a bend in the Platte River outside what is now the town of Guernsey there is a large flat area on which the Oregon Trail travelers apparently made their stop. At the edge of the flat area some cliffs rise up to a moderate height. These cliffs consist of a soft rock into which hundreds of travelers have carved their names and often the dates when they passed by here. This supposedly was a sort of “peg board” for leaving messages for those that followed. The names and dates indicated that the travelers were alive and had reached this point in their journey. There a
pparently are some records of some of those people whose names are carved into the stone – some made it to their destination, some didn't.Near the cliffs, at the edge of the river, there also was pony express station, now commemorated only by a stone marker with an inscription. Further down the road the ruts made by the wagons can still be seen because they were literally carved into the rocky ground. Year after year thousands of wagons traversed the same ruts so that now at some places the ruts are six to eight feet deep. As I said before about the cliffs, it is soft rock, but nevertheless – rock.
A few miles to the east is the famous Fort Laramie. It was established to protect the settlers, who were moving west, from the Ind
ians. Fort Laramie was never a fort as forts are seen in the movies, with high palisades and a gate through which the cavalry rode. Fort Laramie was more like a trading post. A number of buildings, some housing soldiers, some accommodating families of officers, some sheltering horses, and at least one store where the travelers passing through could buy some of the necessities of life made up Fort Laramie. Indians came to trade there too. The role that Fort Laramie played in the settling of the West is an entire story in itself. How the West was won is worth a separate study. A book about this period of time which I found fascinating (roughly 1850 – 1890) is called “Bury my Heart at Wounded Knee” by Dee Brown. It tells the story of the westward expansion of the United States from the Indians' perspective. On the whole, not an era for which the United States can be entirely proud of.After a little lunch in the RV while parked at Fort Laramie we struck out for the Black Hills in South Dakota. The trip through eastern Wyoming was uneventful, the weather was good, and impressive were the miles and miles of grassland through which we traveled.
Toward nightfall we came into the Black Hills and found refuge in the campground called “Crooked Creek Resort” near Mount Rushmore which we hoped to visit the next day. The term “Resort” was an exaggeration, but it sufficed to bring day 22 to close.
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