Nearest city Guernsey, Wyoming Designated NHL May 23, 1966 Area 81 ha Added to NRHP 15 October 1966 | NRHP Reference # 66000761 Address Guernsey, WY 82214, USA Year built 1841 | |
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Similar Guernsey State Park, Independence Rock, Fort Laramie National, Ayres Natural Bridge Pa, South Pass | ||
Oregon Trail Ruts is a preserved site of wagon ruts of the Oregon Trail on the North Platte River, about .5 miles south of Guernsey, Wyoming. The Oregon Trail here was winding up towards South Pass. Wagon wheels, draft animals, and people wore down the trail about two to six feet into a sandstone ridge here, during its heavy usage from 1841-1869. The half-mile stretch is "unsurpassed" and is the best-preserved set of Oregon Trail ruts anywhere along its former length.
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It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1966.
The site is maintained as a State Historic Site within Guernsey State Park, which separately was declared a National Historic Landmark for its Civilian Conservation Corps structures, unrelated to the Oregon Trail Ruts.
History
First recorded in 1812, when Robert Stuart and 6 others came through here heading east from Fort Astoria, Oregon. Traders, trappers, and missionaries; used this route before 1841 when Bartleson-Bidwell part became the first wagon train across the trail. The number of emigrants grew from 100 plus in 1842 to over 900, in 1843. With the completion of the Union Pacific Railroad in 1869, use of the Trail as an overland route to the Pacific rapidly declined, although sections of it continued to be used locally for many years.
Site
The trail ruts are 0.5 miles (0.80 km) long and are worn 2 to 6 feet (0.61 to 1.83 m) into a sandstone ridge. The route was chosen to avoid the marshy ground along the river. Located on the south side of the North Platte River 0.5 miles (0.80 km) south of the town of Guernsey.