 |
 |
 |
| |
The Historic Trails of Wyoming and Nebraska |
|
 |
 |
 |
|
 |
The Great Western Trails
Click on the historic trails map above to enlarge. |
Oregon Trail: About 80,000 pioneers traveled this 2,000-mile trail between 1843-68, headed to Oregon river valleys. It has become the most famous of all western trails.
California Trail: Followed portions of the Oregon Trail to the Snake River, then branched southwest. First used in 1841, but known primarily for the Gold Rush of 1849. Traveled by as many as 350,000 pioneers.
Mormon Pioneer Trail: Followed sections of the Oregon Trail to Fort Bridger, Wyoming then branched southwest to the Great Salt Lake valley. Used by 70,000 Latter Day Saints between 1847-68.
Pony Express Trail: Used for 18 months in 1860-61, the Pony Express trail provided a communication link to the western states at the start of the Civil War.
Native American, Mountain Man and Trapper Trails: Most of the covered wagon trails were put together by connecting travel routes used by the earliest inhabitants of the west.
Cherokee and Overland Trails: Members of the Cherokee Nation pioneered a new route across southern Wyoming on their way to the California gold fields in 1849. The route would be used by Ben Holladay's Overland Stage Line after 1862.
The Bozeman Trail: Connected the Oregon Trail with the gold fields in western Montana. The Trail violated sacred Indian lands east of Wyoming's Big Horn Mountains and led to several battles between 1863-66.
The Bridger Trail: Mountainman Jim Bridger surveyed a trail through Wyoming's Big Horn Basin for the U. S. Army in 1864. It was intended as a safer alternate to the "Bloody Bozeman."
