Willard Was Here

Title

Willard Was Here

Artist

Jon Burch Photography

Medium

Photograph - Digital Capture & Enhancement

Description

Register Cliff was the first camp west after leaving Fort Laramie and the pioneers often rested for a day or two here, giving them ample opportunity to carve their names and messages. Located near Guernsey, Wyoming, the cliff is a 100 foot tall piece of sandstone rising above the floor of the North Platte River Valley. Also called Register Rock and Sand Point Station, thousands of pioneers carved their names while traveling along the Oregon, California and Mormon Trails.

This key navigational landmark was prominently listed in the 19th century guidebooks about the Oregon Trail. A place where emigrants could chisel the names of their families on the soft stones of the cliff and one of the key checkpoint landmarks for parties heading west along the Platte River valley west of Fort John, Wyoming. Travelers, upon reaching the cliffs could verify they were on the correct path up to South Pass and not moving into impassable mountain terrains. Some of the first men to take advantage of the broad river bottoms which provided pleasing campsites were the early fur traders

An estimated 500,000 emigrants used these trails from 1843 -1869, with up to one-tenth dying along the way, usually due to disease. Register Cliff is the easternmost of the three prominent emigrant "recording areas" located within Wyoming, the other two being Independence Rock and Names Hill.

Image copyright 2019 Jon Burch Photography

Uploaded

June 23rd, 2019

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