RAWLINGS WYOMING

We literally blew into Rawlings and stayed at RV World Campground.  Its located right off interstate 80 and easy to get to.  We had some great neighbors, Elwin and Vikki Dillon, who had the spot right next door. They had a problem with their 5th wheel, the wind caught the under side and blew the undercover off.  Elwin and I worked on putting a cover back on their unit.  It was nice to have something to do and Elwin and I did some outstanding work.

Our first adventure was a trip up to Martin's Cove, Devil's Gate and Independence Rock.  Martin's Cove and Devil's Gate are at the same stop.  When we arrived, the first thing that I noticed was the visitor's center is manned by members of the Church of Latter Day Saints.  They were very friendly and knowledgeable about the entire story of what happen at Martin's Cove.  We were told by the woman at the visitor center that handcarts were used because most people could not afford to purchase covered wagon.  Each person could place 17 pounds of goods on a cart and then you and your family pulled it along.

In November 1856, about 500 Mormon emigrants in the Martin Handcart Company were halted for five days in the Cove by snow and cold while on their way to Salt Lake City.  The Martin Handcart company had begun its journey on July 28, 1856 which was dangerously late in the season and would ultimately lead to the disaster.  Although the number who died in the Cove is unknown, more than 145 members of the Martin Company died before reaching Salt Lake City.  A few days prior to their arrival at Martin's Cove, the company was met by a small rescue party with food, supplies and wagons that LDS Church President Brigham Young had sent from Salt Lake City, Utah.  On November 4 the company and rescuers forded the bitterly cold Sweetwater River and sought shelter in the cove.  That evening a powerful north wind blew the tents to the ground.  The tents were set up again, but a blizzard brought heavy snow.  The company remained in the camp for five days, unable to proceed due to the snow and cold.  After five days the weather warmed and they were able to move on toward Utah.  With the assistance from the original rescue party and from additional rescue parties that met then along the way the survivors finally reached Salt Lake City on November 30.

Devil's Gate Wyoming is a natural rock formation, a gorge on the Sweetwater River a few miles southwest of Independence Rock. The site, significant in the history of western pioneers. was a major landmark on the Mormon Trail and the Oregon Trail although the actual routes of travel did not pass through the very narrow gorge. 

  

We traveled on to Independence Rock, which would have taken the pioneers at least a day to get to.  Independence Rock is a large granite rock, approximately 130 feet high.  During the middle of the 19th century, the rock was a prominent and well-known landmark on the Oregon, Mormon and California emigrant trails.  It was designated a National Historic Landmark on January 20, 1961.  It appears that a lot of the signatures are fading away.  I don't think that there is anything anyone can do about it, its something everyone should see.

The Old Wyoming State Penitentiary, in use from 1901 - 1981, is now listed on the National Register of Historic Places and offers hour-long guided tours that take visitors through three cell blocks, the cafeteria, the grounds and the Death House.  This prison housed over 13,500 inmates, often under brutal conditions, over the 80 year operation of Wyoming's first state penitentiary.

Linda and I toured the prison and the young girl that gave the tour talked about the brutal conditions the prisoners where forced to endure.  The prison opened in 1901 and had no electricity, running water and inadequate heating. 

I would like to visit the prison around Halloween.  They have about 60 people that work the "haunted prison", i guess its really scary!

On one of our adventures we drove out to where the Continental Divide Trail runs by Rawlins.  It was a bit confusing, finding the trail, but we did find a new born antelope.  Momma Antelope placed her baby by a big rock and tried to  lead us away.  We took a few pictures but were careful not to get to close



LYMAN  WYOMING

We enjoyed the hospitality of the Lyman, Wyoming KOA.  It is a real clean and well kept campground.  We did see some deer graze through the campground.  The manager/owner of the KOA was very pleasant and helpful.  We ended up spending a week after discovering all the things to do in the area.

Linda and I set out on our first adventure, to discover some of the ghost towns in the area.  We went off in the direction of Piedmont.  It was a logging camp prior to the coming of the Union Pacific Railroad.  It then became a tent town, housing railroad workers.  It was also home to roundhouse and a large water tank at that time.  Piedmont, gained fame in 1869, when some 300 railroad tie cutters who hadn't been paid in some time piled railroad ties on the track, stopping a train full of dignitaries on the way to Promontory Point, Utah, for the driving of the golden spike signifying the completion of the transcontinental railroad.  In 1896, Butch Cassidy met up with his boys in Piedmont before riding off to rob the Montpelier, Idaho bank.  Calamity Jane, frontierswoman and professional scout lived in Piedmont as a young girl.  Just outside of Piedmont we found some charcoal kilns that supplied charcoal to the Utah iron industry.

We also managed to find Cumberland, Wyoming.  It was once a prosperous coal camp.  Cumberland flourished from about 1900 until the last load of coal was taken from the ground in 1930  Cumberland also had a graveyard, many of the graves mark the resting spot of babies and very young children, attesting to the difficulty of life in the coal camps.

We managed to find the Wyoming Badlands.  It is seems desolate at first glance but after you spend some time exploring, it is very interesting.  We saw some Pronghorn Antelope,  horses, praire dogs and sheep .  Its one of those places I could spend a lot of time.

We took a day trip to the Seedskadee Wildlife Refuge, established in 1965, the refuge encompasses more than 14,000 acres along the Green River.  In addition to providing an opportunity for excellent bird watching, Seedskadee offers world-class trout fishing along with waterfowl, upland bird and big game hunting.  Native bird species making the refuge home are prairie falcon, peregrine falcon, owls, hawks and Canadian geese.  Bald and Golden eagles also inhabit the area.

We did see a golden eagle but from a great distance.  We also found a moose but she was real shy and kept running away, go figure?  We looked for sage grouse, so we could see the mating dance but all we found were females...

If it seems that there are more pictures than usual thats because Doty requested more photographs in the blog.