Living Our Dream

Chimney Rock,  Register Cliff and Wagon Ruts Historic Sites

We left Cheyenne and drove about 60 miles east on I-80, then we headed north on Nebraska Route 71 to Gering, NE. Margery found reviews on rvparkreviews.com of a nice city park campground in Gering called Robidoux RV Park. We thought it would be a good place to slow the pace a little, so we made reservations for a week. When we say we wanted to slow the pace a little, that doesn't mean there was nothing to do around Gering. The Oregon, California and Mormon Pioneer Trails all passed through that area, so we also had a number of things to choose from; but our plan was for the sightseeing to be less hectic than it has been recently.

Robidoux RV Park has paved roads, pads and patios. They also have full hookups with 30/50-amp electric, cable and free Wi-Fi. The sites are large with well-manicured grass between the sites. There are back-in sites, pull-throughs and head-in sites. You have to pull into the head-in sites frontwards so they are best suited for motor homes, but we saw a few trailers in them, too. The tow vehicle just has to drive through the grass after unhooking.

A few of the pull-throughs are double sites, which is great if you're traveling with someone, but which kind of negates the advantages of a pull-through if you're by yourselves. We had the rear site of a double pull-through, which meant we had to back out when it came time to leave. No big deal, but we couldn't hook up the toad the night before we left. The good news is they seem to give the regular pull-throughs to people who are only staying one or two nights who may not want to unhook. Some of the double pull-throughs were a little short, so you pull in nose to tail. Fortunately, ours was one of the longer doubles.

The next photo shows the view up the road from our site.

 

Although there is a little local traffic noise (which all but disappears at night), and you can sometimes hear some distant trains (as we said, trains are everywhere in this part of the country), the campground is generally very quiet.

The daily rate at the campground is reasonable at $25 considering what you get, but the weekly rate of $110 is a real bargain.

The reason so many pioneer trails passed through this area is that is it is a wide valley along the North Platte River. The valley is relatively level, and the river provided a good source of water. In this area of western Nebraska and eastern Wyoming there are a number of things to see relating to the pioneer trails of the 1840s to the 1860s. Although we visited several of these landmarks over a period of several days, we'll group three of them into this post.

About 20 miles to the east of Gering is Chimney Rock National Historic Site. Although it is a national historic site, it is operated by the Nebraska State Historical Society so our America the Beautiful Pass was only good for a $1 per person discount instead of free admission the way it usually is at a national site. However, the admission is only $2 a person after the discount, so it was still very reasonable.

Chimney Rock is a 325-foot tall rock formation with the shape of an inverted funnel that served as a landmark for thousands of early pioneers. The photo below is a view of Chimney Rock from the east.

The visitor center had an excellent movie about the pioneers. Chimney Rock was probably the most recognizable natural landmark along the entire route. From all the pioneers' diaries and journals that survive today, Chimney Rock is mentioned mere than any other natural feature.

The museum also has reproductions of several detailed maps of the pioneer routes from back in the day. It was interesting to read notes about Indians, terrain and water availability along the way. There was also a good time line that helped put things into historical perspective.

Margery was interested in the photographs and stories of individuals who made the journey. In the photo below, she is reading about a man from Wayne County, Ohio who crossed the plains in 1850. The man gives advice to others who are making the trek to California.

 

There are views of the east side of Chimney Rock from the visitor center, and there is also a dirt road that goes from behind the visitor center where you can get a little closer and get a view from the southeast. Notice how the spire appears to be more blunt from this angle.

 

The bees were busy around the sunflowers that surrounded the parking area. Check out the one in mid-air on the far left.

Chimney Rock is made up of layers of sedimentary rock and clay that came from an inland sea that covered the area and from volcanic ash from the west. The layers were worn away by water and wind leaving Chimney Rock standing alone as the adjacent bluff retreated. Harder sandstone at the top helps protect the formation from erosion. The next photo is a more distant shot that shows Chimney Rock and the bluff on the left of which it was once a part.

More than 90 miles to the west of Chimney Rock and about 70 miles west of where we were staying in Gering, NE, is another landmark called Register Cliff. Register Cliff is near Guernsey, WY. Register Cliff is a 100-foot high, soft sandstone cliff adjacent to an emigrant campground where more than 700 pioneers carved their names to mark their presence...

 

...like the one from 1855.

Names were also left here after the decline of the pioneer trails. Soldiers from nearby Fort Laramie occasionally carved their names as well as ranchers and cowboys. Unfortunately, there are many modern names here, too, many of them carved right over the historic names from the past. At least there's a fence to protect some of the older names.

Less than 2 miles farther down the trail from Register Cliff is Wagon Ruts State Historic Site. Here, the passage of thousands of wagons have cut ruts deep into the soft sandstone.

 

Most of the time, the wagons would have spread out during their travel and would not have directly followed other wagons to minimize their exposure to dust. However, there were a limited number of good paths over these rocks, so thay had no choice but to follow one another.

The next photo is looking back toward the east. At the deepest point, the ruts are cut 4 or 5 feet deep into the rock.

Between Chimney Rock to the east of where we were staying and Wagon Ruts Historic Site to the west, we visited a couple of other places related to the pioneer trails. We'll have more info in the next couple of posts.

Wyoming Territorial Prison

The Wyoming Territorial Prison is located in Laramie, WY, which is about an hour back toward the west from where we were staying in Cheyenne. Because we were unable to find a campground we liked in the Laramie area, we opted to make it a day trip from Cheyenne.

The Wyoming Territorial Prison was built in 1872. It became the Wyoming State Penitentiary when Wyoming became a state in 1890, and it operated until the summer of 1903 when inmates were transferred to a new facility in Rawlins, WY. Throughout its 30 years, the facility held over 1,000 men and at least 12 women prisoners.

After the prison closed, the University of Wyoming took over the land and operated it as an experimental stock farm until 1987. In 1989, a group of citizens began restoration of the old prison. It was opened as a historic site in 1991, and is operated under Wyoming State Parks.

The self-guided tour starts with the restored warden's house, which was built in 1875 using prison labor and stone quarried in the surrounding area.

The warden originally shared his house with the prison guards, who lived in the section of the house to the right. Notice the separate door on the right. In 1889, the prison was expanded, and the guards were moved to new quarters inside the prison building. The warden's house is restored and furnished to reflect the period of 1890 after the guards moved out.

 

The original prison is the section to the far right in the photo below. The center section with the gable roof and the section to the left were added in 1889.

Outside the main entrance, Paul couldn't resist trying out the prison wagon.

Inside the main entrance are the warden's office and the processing room where the new prisoners had their heads shaved, their pictures taken, and they received their prison uniforms.

The next photo shows the new prison kitchen in the center section of the building. Trustees did all the cooking for their fellow inmates and for the guards. The food was transported to the dining hall on the second floor by a dumbwaiter.

 

Each wing of the prison has 42 cells on three levels. The photo below shows the north (old) cell block from one of the third floor watchtowers. There was a watchtower on each side, and from the watchtowers the guards could keep their eye on the entire cell block.

The cells are 6' x 6' x 8' and were sparsely furnished. A bathroom cell with a toilet, washbasin and bathtub was located on each level.

The cells in the south (new) cell block were only 5' x 5' x 8'. They were smaller to make room in this wing for the prison laundry on the first floor and the infirmary on the second floor.

The main "claim to fame" of the Wyoming Territorial Prison is Butch Cassidy was once incarcerated there. Butch Cassidy was born Robert Leroy Parker to a Mormon family in Utah. As a teenager, he fell in with a cattle rustler by the name of Mike Cassidy. Parker eventually changed his name to George Cassidy to avoid bringing shame to his family. He earned the nickname "Butch" while working in a butcher shop in Lander, WY. Butch Cassidy is shown in the photo below.

 

Butch was an inmate at the Wyoming Territorial Prison for 18 months from 1894 to 1896. Although he lived a life of crime as a cattle rustler, bank robber and train robber, it was the only time he spent in jail.

Butch Cassidy's story was romanticized by the 1969 movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid starring Paul Newman as Butch and Robert Redford as his partner Harry Longabaugh (the Sundance Kid). Butch and Sundance's gang was the Wild Bunch. Some of the gang members are shown in the 1901 photo below. Shown are (seated) Harry Longabaugh (The Sundance Kid), Ben Kilpatrick (The Tall Texan), Robert Leroy Parker (Butch Cassidy), (standing) Will Carver and Harry Logan (Kid Curry).

Prisoners were employed in various tasks as part of their rehabilitation. Among other things, they did leather work, baking, candle making, shoe repair and taxidermy. In 1892, inmates began construction of the broom factory behind the prison building. Today, volunteers continue to demonstrate how the equipment was used to make brooms. The brooms are sold in the gift shop.

Behind the broom factory are several historic buildings that have been relocated from other places in Wyoming including a church, a school house and a cabin. The next photo shows Margery in front of the cabin.

There is also a reconstructed frontier town that is staffed by volunteers. The buildings were all closed when we were there, and they are probably only open on weekends and for special school field trips.

The 1910 horse barn that was built for the University of Wyoming experimental stock farm that occupied the grounds after the prison was closed has been remodeled and is used for various rotating exhibits. They were featuring a printing exhibit. They were also playing a CD of the movie Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

As we left the prison, the motorcycle with the cool little trailer we saw in the parking when we arrived was still there. The trunk of the car opens so it can be used as a utility trailer.

On our way back to the motor home, we stopped at Tree Rock. It is located in the median of I-80, and there are pull-offs from both directions where you can stop. The tree, which is a limber pine, is growing out of a crack in the pink granite. Although the age of the tree is unknown, we know it was there when the transcontinental railroad was built because track crews diverted the track slightly to pass by the tree. Early trains used to stop so crews could give the tree  drink from their water buckets.

In 1901, the railroad was relocated to the south, and the abandoned roadbed became a wagon road. Later, Lincoln Highway was built along the wagon road, and I-80 was built in the 1960s. Just think, the Lincoln Highway (Route 30) that we often traveled when we lived in Pittsburgh extends all the way out here.

We enjoyed our week in Cheyenne; but with with Cheyenne Frontier Days approaching, we knew it was time for us to be on our way. The campground was booked up so we couldn't have extended our stay even if we had wanted to. From Cheyenne, we headed northeast.

Cheyenne, WY, Part IV: Barrel Racing

We mentioned Cheyenne Frontier Days in a couple of our recent posts. Frontier Days is a week-long event held in Cheyenne the last full week of July that has parades, concerts with big-name artists, an appearance by the Air Force Thunderbirds, an art show, carnival rides, plus a huge rodeo called the "Daddy of 'em All."

The rodeo is so big and has so many participants some of the qualifying events are held the week before Frontier Days. These events are open to the public. Since they are also free we decided to go on over to the arena at Frontier Park and check out the qualifying for ladies' barrel racing.

When we went on our trolley tour, there were a few horse trailers, pickup trucks and RVs in the lots around the rodeo arena. When we went to the Old West Museum the next day, there were even more trailers, trucks and RVs. When we went back two days after that for the barrel racing qualifying, several of the lots were filled with trailers, trucks, RVs, horses - you name it. Many of the corrals had horses and steers in them. On our way into the arena, we passed the corral with the bulls for the bull riding events.

We watched the barrel racing qualifying for a while from behind the fence down at the arena level. In the photo below, one of the racers blasts across the starting line. The cowboy in the background at the right with the red flag is standing by the timing sensor that starts the clock as the rider passes.

Another rider swings a little wide around the first barrel. That happened frequently because the gals came into the first barrel after galloping across the starting line. It seems like the trick is to get your horse under control in time for that first turn.

After a few runs, they opened the grandstand, so we moved to get a better view from above - and so we could sit. In the next photo, a rider heads into the second barrel with her horse on a proper inside lead.

The next rider is heading for the third barrel.

Earlier, we mentioned the number of horse trailers, RVs, etc. that were parked around the arena. From the upper level of the stands, we could get a good view of the corrals and parking areas. Notice the horse corral in the foreground, and all the horse trailers and RVs in the distance.

As we mentioned in our post about our trolley tour, the Frontier Park arena is the largest rodeo arena in the world. It is at least three or four times bigger than any other we have seen.

There were dozens and dozens of gals trying to qualify for 12 spots in the barrel racing finals the following week. Each would get two runs. We enjoyed watching, but we didn't stay for the whole thing. We also enjoyed watching the "little buckaroo" sitting next to us in the stands. He was so cute with his cowboy boots and a hat that was bigger than he was.

Afterward, we walked around the grounds a little while. It was fun being there before Cheyenne Frontier Days officially started to see all the preparations going on. Signs and traffic barriers were being put up, hay was being delivered to the corrals, TV equipment was being set up, a large tent had been erected in the museum parking lot, vendors were setting up, and more. Many of the horse-drawn vehicles from the Old West Museum had been taken outside ready to be hitched up for one of the parades.

We enjoyed getting a preview of Frontier Days without enduring all the crowds. Our stay in Cheyenne was almost over, but we had one more thing to see near Cheyenne before we were on our way. Stay tuned.

Cheyenne, WY, Part III: Botanic Gardens, Frontier Days Museum and Wyoming State Museum

For our next sightseeing outing we headed to the northern part of the city to Lion Park and Frontier Park that we saw the day before on our trolley tour. We went to the botanic gardens first while it was morning and still somewhat cool.

Cheyenne Botanic Gardens isn't a huge garden, but it's free, and it's nicely done. In addition to numerous landscape garden areas, it also has a solar greenhouse, two community gardens and a children's garden.

The photo below shows Margery by a bridge just inside the entrance to the garden.

 

The next photo shows Paul in the cottage garden on the other side of the bridge.

We both like delphiniums, and they were blooming beautifully when we were there.

We enjoyed exploring the different areas of the garden and the many flowers in bloom.

We spent about an hour strolling around, and we exited through the rose garden.

Across the road from the Cheyenne Botanic Garden is Frontier Park where the rodeo and many of the other activities for Cheyenne Frontier Days are held. Frontier Park is also the location of the Frontier Days Old West Museum. In fact, you can easily walk there from the garden.

The Old West Museum, which was included in our combo ticket for the trolley tour, has a lot of pioneer history. A sculpture outside depicts a pioneer woman looking over her shoulder. the title of the work is "No Turning Back."

The next photo shows just a few of the 150 horse-drawn vehicles at the museum. It is one of the largest collections in the world. Many of them are used in various parades in and around Cheyenne, including Cheyenne Frontier Days.

The museum also has a lot of history about Cheyenne Frontier Days and about the rodeo. Of course, what would a rodeo be without championship buckles.

The next photo shows Paul posing by part of the bull-riding display.

Margery enjoyed reading about Miss Frontier for this year's event.

The museum has an excellent movie about some of the past rodeo champions. One young champion by the name of Lane Frost was killed by a bull in 1989. Outside the museum is a sculpture created in his honor.

We'll have a little more about Cheyenne Frontier Days and the rodeo in our next post.

Also outside was one of the "Cheyenne Big Boots." These 8-foot tall boots are decorated by local artists and are located all over the city to promote Cheyenne's western heritage.

From the Frontier Days Old West Museum we headed back downtown to the Wyoming State Museum Wyoming State Museum since it was only early afternoon. Unfortunately, the museum doesn't allow any photography at all inside, so all we can show you is the outside.

The free museum is quite well done with excellent, well-marked exhibits detailing the history of Wyoming. There are displays of pre-historic times with a couple of dinosaurs as well as natural history displays of present-day wildlife. There are displays showing the history of Native Americans, the railroad, and pioneers. The museum follows Wyoming history all the way to present day.

Although we were not planning to stay for Cheyenne Frontier Days, we have a little preview of the event in our next post.

Cheyenne, WY, Part II: Depot Museum, State Capitol and Governor's Mansion

At the end of our trolley tour of Cheyenne, we were right outside the Cheyenne Depot Museum which was included in our combo pass, so we went inside to have a look around.

 

The Cheyenne Depot was built in 1886-1887 by the Union Pacific Railroad. Although the depot wasn't designed by architect Henry Hobson Richardson, it is built in Richardsonian Romanesque style. Richardson was a prominent architect of the 1800s who designed (among other things) the Allegheny County Courthouse and jail in our old hometown of Pittsburgh. Sandstone quarried near Fort Collins, CO, was hauled in by rail for the construction of the depot. The building and the plaza outside were renovated in 2001-2002. In addition to the museum, the building houses several businesses and a restaurant.

As expected, the museum follows the history of Cheyenne as related to the railroad. There are a few railroad artifacts, but the history is primarily told through old photographs. In the photo below, Paul is pointing to the future location of the depot on a bird's eye view of Cheyenne from 1870.

As we learned on our trolley tour earlier, the town was laid out in 1867 as the trans-continental railroad approached from the east. We learned about the transcontinental railroad several days ago when we visited Promontory Summit north of Salt Lake City, the legislation to authorize the transcontinental railroad was passed in 1862. We thought it was a little odd such a large endeavor would be undertaken during the Civil War. Here in Cheyenne, we found out the reason. The southern states objected to building the railroad because they felt the northern states would receive the major benefit, especially if a northern route were used. After the southern states seceded from the Union, the northern states were in control of Congress, and it was easy to get the railroad approved.

The next photo shows a view of Cheyenne similar to the one above, except this one is from 1900. By that time, the city had grown significantly. Old wooden buildings, which had been destroyed by fire, were replaced with buildings of brick and stone.

From the Depot Museum, we drove a short distance up Capitol Avenue to the Wyoming State Capitol. The building is open for self-guided tours on weekdays. Guided tours are available by appointment.

Out front there is a statue of Esther Hobart Morris who was the first female Justice of the Peace, and who was active in the women's suffrage movement.

 

Wyoming was admitted to statehood in 1890. The capitol building was started in 1886 and completed in 1887 while Wyoming was still a territory. The building is constructed of sandstone, the first two courses of which were quarried near Fort Collins, CO. The remainder of the sandstone came from Rawlins, WY.

Inside, we were struck by how much warmer the building appeared compared the the Utah State Capitol. The Utah Capitol was much larger and the inside was lined with polished, gray marble whereas the Wyoming Capitol is painted warm colors and the interior makes extensive use of wood for stairs, doors and trim. The photo below of the inside of the dome shows some of the warm lighting and colors of the Wyoming Capitol.

Even the large, bronze bust of Abraham Lincoln had a warm, personal feel to it.

On our self-guided tour, we also saw the chamber for the House of Representatives...

...the senate...

...and the Legislative Conference Room with its 1,000 pound Tiffany chandelier.

The Wyoming Supreme Court meets in a separate building a few blocks away form the capitol.

Since we were on a state government theme and since the Historic Governor's Mansion was located only a short distance from the capitol, we decided to also take a look at that while we were downtown. A new Governor's Mansion was completed in 1976 several blocks to the northwest of the Historic Governor's Mansion. The Historic Governor's Mansion is now a free museum operated by the Wyoming State Park system.

The brick and sandstone mansion was built in 1904 in the colonial revival style. It was considered to be very modern back in the day with central plumbing, hot water heat and combined gas and electric lighting. The mansion underwent extensive restoration from 2004 to 2005. Rooms are decorated and furnished in various periods from 1905 through the 1960s.

Nineteen governors and their families called the mansion their home over its 71-year history. While each governor did a certain amount of decorating to suit his own family's tastes and needs, the mansion underwent extensive remodeling in 1937. Several of the rooms, including the kitchen shown in the photo below, reflect that 1937 vintage today.

The next photo shows the den, which was redecorated in the 1950s. Doesn't it look like a typical "man cave?"

After our visit to the Governor's Mansion we called it a day and headed back to the motor home. There are still lots of things to do in and around Cheyenne, and we'll tell you about some of them in our next post.