The State of Wyoming
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A museum highlighting the history of the Mormon Trail is found in the Martin's Cove / Devil's Gate area. Devil's Gate is a narrow chasm through a ridge of solid granite. The narrow canyon forced wagon trains in the 1800's to pass around the end of the ridge rather than through the gate.
If wagon trains on the Oregon Trail reached Independence Rock by approximately the 4th of July, they could make it through the mountain passes further west before heavy snowfalls became a problem.
As white settlers moved westward, Wyoming's Fort Laramie outpost played a significant role, first as a fur-trading center, then as a military station. It was a landmark and a way station for over 50 years for trappers, traders, emigrants, Pony Express riders, missionaries, and miners heading west.
The landscape near Martin's Cove and Devil's Gate, Wyoming
The Laramie River at Fort Laramie National Historic Site,
Wyoming
