Oregon Trail: Guernsey Ruts and Register Cliff

On a beautiful day at the end of June 2021 Nancy and I drove west of Torrington, WY to visit Guernsey, WY. After a little lunch we decided to check out a couple of historical sites. Always wanting to learn something new, we were intrigued by 2 nearby historical sites along the Oregon Trail: The Guernsey Ruts and Register Cliff. It was eye opening when we saw how small the wagons were that took thousands of emigrants over 2,000 miles on a journey to a land where a promise of a better life lay. Many took wagons, some pulled or pushed handcarts, some rode horses, some walked. Each one leaving everything behind, embarking on a 6 month journey to start anew.

Here, outside Guernsey, they would stop and carve their names. While their wagons carved ruts in soft limestone, knives, chisels, and whatever they could find were used by emigrants to leave their own mark. Sometimes the names were carved on a cliff face, like at Register Cliff. Sometimes the names were carved on a headstone in one of many cemeteries along the way. Each name telling a different story. But their story had to be told.

Oregon Trail Ruts State Historic Site , also called the Guernsey Ruts, is located where the geography of the area forced the Oregon Trail to change course. At this point, the Trail was blocked from continuing along the North Platte River by a steep ridge of sandstone rock. It had to go up and over the ridge in order to continue heading west. The ridge's soft sandstone was no match for thousands of iron-shod wheels and hooves and quickly eroded. By the time Oregon Trail travel ended, ruts five feet deep had been chewed into the rock.

Following a day's journey from Fort Laramie, emigrants spent the night at Register Cliff, which rises one hundred feet above the North Platte River valley. The soft, chalky limestone rock made it easy for emigrants to inscribe their names into the cliff before continuing on their journey. The earliest signatures date to the late 1820s when trappers and fur traders passed through the area. Most of the names visible today were carved during the 1840s and 1850s, when the Oregon Trail was at its height.

Part 3 of this video series will be a short visit to Fort Laramie.

Equipment:
iPhone 10
A 15 year old Olympus VG-140 Camera
Bcway Phone All-in-One Travel Tripod with Remote
Trekking Poles, Insulated Bottles, and Backpack are Ozark Trail
Hiking hat is a Tilley

Music:
Green Green Garden by Chris Haugen

We travel in a 2019 Toyota RAV4 XLE front-wheel drive with over 102,000 miles. We are still praying for a small Scamp or an Aliner to tow behind it.

Recorded on location June 28, 2021 outside Guernsey, WY.