One of the most popular western travel routes, during mid 1800s, stretched 250 miles from Fort Laramie to central Wyoming's Shining Mountains and through South Pass. During a 30 year span, covered wagons with iron rimmed wheels carved deep ruts into a trail along the North Platte and Sweetwater rivers. This part of the Oregon Trail accrued a half dozen names, from the Forty-Niners' California Road to the Mormon Trail (named for the thousands of Brigham Young followers).
     This view features a landmark along the Oregon Trail, the Avenue of Rock, found just west of Casper, Wyoming. Here, permanent trail grooves and pioneers' inscriptions are all that remain from one of the greatest overland migrations the country has ever seen. This section of trail between the Platte and Sweetwater Rivers was marked by arid prairie and alkali water, making the route through Poison Spring Creek Valley one of the most challenging segments of the journey.