Bozeman Trail Historical Sign - Campbell County, Wyoming - Wagon Roads and Trails on Waymarking.com

This Wyoming historical sign reads:

THE BOZEMAN TRAIL

As with other emigrant trails in the west, the Bozeman Trail followed a route previously used by traders, trappers, and Native Americans. John Bozeman, along with John Jacobs, officially opened the Bozeman Trail to emigrants in 1863. This 500-mile trail shortened travel from Fort Laramie to the Montana gold mines by half, provided adequate water and food, cut through the hunting grounds of the Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho tribes, and broke the terms of the 1851 Fort Laramie Treaty. This treaty promised the lands of the Powder River Basin to Native Americans.

The great Sioux chief, Red Cloud, led his warriors against the emigrants traveling the Bozeman Trail. The United States responded in 1865 and 1866 by building military forts along the trail. While emigrant travel declined sharply after 1866, Native American hostilities persisted and the forts remained open until 1868, when a new Fort Laramie Treaty was signed. The new treaty re-established the Native American possession of the Powder River lands. However, in only six years, the discovery of gold in the Black Hills created conflict, and the Native Americans ultimately lost control of the lands the Bozeman Trail crossed. The trail continued to be used as a military and freight road and by local travelers into the 20th century.

Road of Trail Name: Bozeman Trail State: Wyoming County: Campbell Historical Significance: The Bozeman Trail became the shortest route to the Montana goldfields in the 1860s, providing a more direct route across the Powder River Basin to the Yellowstone River drainage. Previously, people travelling to the goldfields would have had to either taken a steamboat to Fort Benton on the Missouri River before travelling another 250 miles southwest, or travel on the Oregon Trail to Fort Hall in Idaho Territory before going an additional 275 miles to the gold producing region of southwest Montana. Years in use: ~30 How you discovered it: I noticed this historical marker while driving across the Powder River Basin on State Highway 387. Book on Wagon Road or Trial: The Bozeman Trail (Vol. 1 and Vol. 2) by Grace Raymond Hebard and E.A. Brininstool; University of Nebraska Press, 1990. ISBN: 9780803272491 Website Explination: https://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/brief-history-bozeman-trail Why?: The Bozeman Trail provided a shortcut to the goldfields in the Virginia City area of southwestern Montana in the 1860s. It was primarily used as a military transportation route between 1866 and 1868 until the signing of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. It was again used as a military trail and freight route during the Great Sioux War of 1876 and on into the 20th Century. Directions: From the junction of State Highway 50 and State Highway 387, travel westerly on State Highway 387 for 7.75 miles to find the marker on the left (south) side of the highway at a paved pull-off.

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