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 Oregon Trail - Independence Rock - Wyoming Posted by:  Hikenutty
N 42° 29.689 W 107° 07.993
13T E 324703 N 4706922
This location was famous along the Oregon trail as a place to inscribe your name as you passed by. Many emmigrants left home in the spring, hoping to make it to Independence Rock by July 4th, when people on the trail would gather for a party.
Waymark Code: WM1WA2
Location: Wyoming, United States
Date Posted: 07/19/2007
Views: 221
The following information on independence rock is from www.historyglobe.com:
Named for a fur trader's Fourth of July celebration in 1830, this huge rock became one of the most famous of all Oregon Trail landmarks. The giant piece of granite is 1,900 feet long, 700 feet wide, and 128 feet high.
The landmark was a favorite resting place for travelers along the trail. Called the "Great Register of the Desert", more than 5,000 names of early emigrant were carved on this boulder.
Starting the trail in the early spring, emigrants along the Oregon Trail hoped to reach Independence Rock by July 4, Independence Day. If they had not arrived by then, they knew they were behind schedule.
The rock is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Road of Trail Name: Oregon Trail, Overland Trail, and others
State: Coordinates taken at Oregon trail marker on the N side of rock
County: Natrona
Historical Significance:
A important social meeting place for emmigrants. Also, it was used to carve names of travellers, along with memorializing those who had died on the journey.
How you discovered it:
My husband told me about it so we stopped for a visit on the way to Devils Tower National Monument.
Website Explination:
http://www.historyglobe.com/ot/independence.htm
This Website does a great virtual tour of the trail.
Why?:
This was used to cross the country to either Oregon or also to link to the California Trail. Later it was used as a stagecoach road.
Directions:
In the southwest corner of Natrona County alongside Wyoming state highway 220.
Years in use: Not listed
Book on Wagon Road or Trial: Not listed
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Visit Instructions:
To post a log for this Waymark the poster must have a picture of either themselves, GPSr, or mascot. People in the picture with information about the waymark are preferred. If the waymarker can not be in the picture a picture of their GPSr or mascot will qualify. There are no exceptions to this rule.
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