Point of Rocks, Wyoming - American Guide Series on Waymarking.com

POINT OF ROCKS, (6,509 alt., 100 pop.), is named for the great gray sandstone ledges that rise 1,100 feet above the railroad. Near by are sulphur springs and small canyons. Winds here are hot and dry.

In the early 1870's Point of Rocks was the railway station nearest the South Pass and Sweetwater districts. Most of the buildings were adobe. The Wells-Fargo Company maintained offices here and ran daily stages to South Pass.

Gray cliffs form a mile-long walll beside the road. They have a strange moth-eaten appearance. Holes and small caves in the stone have apparently been scoured out by wind and rain. Farther west are rusty brown, grayish-yellow, and red rimrocks. West of these, the buttes are less spectacular. The distant hills look like monstrous sand piles, their sides ribbed with light-gray material and dented with darker hollows.

It seems the author is reaching for a way to compliment this small town set in the middle of nowhere. Unfortunately, things have gotten worse for the town, which now consists of a gas station, cafe, and historic marker. The prime building material now is concrete block, rather than adobe. Approximately 10 people currently call the town home.

Surprisingly, the guide missed the one interesting spot in Point of Rocks - an Overland Stage Station.

The station and the barn nearby were built in 1861 when the stagecoach line was moved south due to ambushes by local tribes of Native Americans. It was also used by the Pony Express and as a stopping point for wagon trains following the Overland or Cherokee Trail.

Adjacent to the station you can still see faint ruts from the Overland/Cherokee Trail and up on the hill you'll find a tiny little cemetery where a group of stagecoach passengers were laid to rest following the ambush of their coach.