Oregon Trail Ruts (Guernsey, Wyoming)

Oregon Trail Ruts

Typical segment of the ruts
Nearest city Guernsey, Wyoming
Coordinates 42°15′22″N 104°44′58″W / 42.25611°N 104.74944°W / 42.25611; -104.74944Coordinates: 42°15′22″N 104°44′58″W / 42.25611°N 104.74944°W / 42.25611; -104.74944
Built 1841
NRHP Reference # 66000761
Significant dates
Added to NRHP October 15, 1966[1]
Designated NHL May 23, 1966[2]

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.[3] The half-mile stretch is "unsurpassed" and is the best-preserved set of Oregon Trail ruts anywhere along its former length.[3]

It was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1966.[2][3]

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.

References

  1. ↑ Staff (2007-01-23). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
  2. 1 2 "Oregon Trail Ruts". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Retrieved 2008-02-29.
  3. 1 2 3 Stephen Lissandrello (May 15, 1976). "National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Oregon Trail Ruts" (pdf). National Park Service. and Accompanying 5 photos, undated and from 1975 PDF (32 KB)

External links

Media related to Oregon Trail Ruts (Guernsey, Wyoming) at Wikimedia Commons


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