Episode 79
Visit the Oregon Trail Ruts and Register Cliff
🎙️
You can see the almost 200-year-old wagon ruts in Wyoming right now...and not far away is Register Cliff, where travelers would carve their names into the soft rock to let others know they had made it that far.
Both sites are an incredible timestamp on history that gives you a glimpse into what it took to travel westward in the mid to late 1800s.
🚕 Google Map to Oregon Trail Ruts (Gurnsey, WY)
🎥 Oregon Trail spots you can see today
📍 Google Map to Register Cliff
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⬇️ Help us keep the show going and explore history with us! ⬇️
🧳 Get free travel resources in your inbox.
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📧 contact: talkwithhistory@gmail.com
Transcript
One day, for those listening, if I include this somewhere maybe this
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:will be the cold open, but we had that,
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:that kind of podcast
cover art kind of poll
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:and we had one and actually was really
proud of the one that I created.
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:I love the one that we have on right
now with Rosie the but there was one.
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:That I created and I'll have
to, maybe I'll, I'll post for
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:those But it was an old British
World War II propaganda poster.
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:And it was the it's kind of this
like good looking woman sitting in
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:like, in like a tight fitting dress
sitting on this like lounger chair.
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:It's like lounging very a naval officer.
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:Jenn: Like three officers
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:around her.
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:Scott: three officers
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:Jenn: But why do you see
the naval guy right in
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:Scott: But yeah, the one you see,
because you can see the stripes on, on
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:his collar.
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:And I think it says, like,
above, it says, Keep dumb, she's
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:not, or keep mum, she's not so
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:dumb.
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:Basically saying, like, hey,
don't talk about your military
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:actions in front of this person.
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:She might actually be a spy.
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:Jenn: try to impress her
with all the stuff you know.
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:Mm
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:Scott: But it's, like,
very seductive looking.
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:And I recolored it, and I edited out
the, the one, and I edited out, like,
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:the cigarette Drinking glass is it
actually got the most votes out of all
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:of them, but I was like I really like it.
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:I was really proud of it, but I don't
think it's, I don't think it was
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:a good fit.
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:Oh, I don't think it was a good
fit for this particular podcast.
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:But if we ever did like a
talk with history after dark,
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:that would be a fun one.
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:It's like something that you would
not listen to with your kid in the
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:car topics that are a little bit.
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:not safe for, you know, or adult.
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:Yeah.
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:Yeah.
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:Jenn: are a little bit not safe
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:Scott: Anyways complete, totally aside.
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:So if, if you're listening and
you're interested in talk with
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:history after dark, let us know.
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:You can find our email in
the podcast show notes.
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:Welcome to talk with I'm your host, Scott
here with my wife and historian Jen.
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:this podcast, we give you insights to
our history inspired world travels.
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:YouTube channel journey and examine
history through deeper conversations
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:with the curious, the explorers, and the
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:Now, today we embark on a journey to
Wyoming where the Oregon trail pioneers
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:of the 1800s left lasting marks on the
we're talking about our exploration of
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:the wagon ruts etched into the earth at
the historic site in Guernsey, Wyoming, a
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:testament to those travelers resilience.
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:And we'll tell you about our visit
to Register Cliff, not too far away,
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:where their names are forever carved
in preserving the stories of those who
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:ventured So stick around and join us as we
bridge the gap between past and present,
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:rediscovering the spirit of these brave
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:So Jen, you grew up going to the
places that we're going to talk about
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:Jenn: yeah, so I lived in Wyoming
from the time I was in second grade to
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:10th grade.
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:Cheyenne is very close to this area,
about an hour away from this area, and
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:so for field trips, we would go, you
would learn different parts of the Oregon
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:Trail, and as you got more, As you, as
you got older, you would learn more.
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:And so we would go to
these wagon wheel ruts.
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:We'd go to Register Cliff.
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:We'd go to Fort Laramie just to
bring the story more to life.
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:And I, I just remember being there
with my class and standing in
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:between the ruts and taking pictures.
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:It just looked almost the same even now,
but it was just a neat part of America
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:and a neat part of American history
and to have really grown up with it.
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:So we talk about this usually when we
would, when we interview people and
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:talk with history, we'll ask them what
local history they know, what local
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:history they learned and where you
grow up really impacts how you learn
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:Scott: Oh, a hundred percent.
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:So, me growing up, my younger years,
in central California near Monterey, I
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:grew up going to a world class aquarium.
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:Because that's what aquariums do.
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:They have kids come and
do their field trips.
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:And so, I remember just like you,
as a kid, going to the Monterey Bay
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:Aquarium, which is world renowned,
and petting stingrays, and doing
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:all the stuff that kids do at these
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:Jenn: and I never did that, right?
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:And so, and you also knew a lot about the
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:missions,
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:Scott: missions, and the Native
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:Americans, all the
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:stuff that kind of Spanish history that
kind of came all throughout California.
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:Jenn: Yeah, so you very are influenced
by what is available to you.
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:And that's what, you know, walk with
history really emphasizes, like what
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:history is in your backyard, what history
is available to you as an easy road trip.
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:And so for me growing up, this
was one of those easy road trips.
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:This is the history I knew.
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:So when it was very important for
me, when we took our kids out on this
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:Western trip that we go to these little.
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:off road places.
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:And so this is very much
a part of the Oregon
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:Scott: Right, and our last episode
we talked about Devil's Tower,
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:and this isn't too far away.
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:Jenn: No, it's on the
same side of Wyoming.
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:Scott: the Same side of
Wyoming, so it's, you know,
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:Jenn: you know...
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:Yeah.
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:Scott: Yeah.
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:One, will you tell us kind of a, we
didn't really talk about the Oregon
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:Jenn: Devil's Tower,
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:Scott: for Devil's Tower, so what's
kind of the snapshot, like what prompted
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:everybody to kind of start heading
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:Jenn: So the Oregon Trail is this
Western route that people would take
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:to basically move in America to change
your destiny, to go make your fortune.
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:And we, they call it emigrate.
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:Instead of immigrate, you're emigrating.
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:So you're, you're moving
within your own country.
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:And at first, in the early
:
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:were very motivated to do this.
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:And when we went to Oregon and visited
your brother, I got a book from the very
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:first missionaries that made it across.
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:And when they did that successfully
in:
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:people to that this could be done.
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:And it also coincided with a
pression that was going on in:
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:and 1841 in America where farmers
and businessmen weren't making money.
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:They were turning out to be
destitute and they weren't
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:making a go of their businesses.
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:And so they decided to pack up and go
West and try to make their fortunes.
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:Scott: And, and there had
been, there had already been a
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:little bit of that out there,
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:right, with the fur trapping.
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:I mean, there had been, even
the French, I mean, they had
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:been out
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:Jenn: So there had been traders out there.
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:And there had, you know, of course,
Lewis and Clark had explored.
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:So people knew there was this,
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:Scott: kind of, way westward.
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:Jenn: yeah, this area that hadn't been
discovered, settled, and it was wild,
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:untamed, but it was a possibility.
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:It was a dream, right?
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:And so politicians really
urged people to go West.
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:You see a lot of things.
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:land for free.
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:You can get out there
and make settlements.
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:There was a
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:sort
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:of incentives to make settlements.
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:And there was this growing spirit
of manifest destiny, where God
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:intended the United States to trust
to stretch from coast to coast.
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:Plus, at the time, the British kind of
had their foot on the Pacific Northwest.
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:So if more Americans could move out
there, it could push the British away.
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:Scott: So, you know, U.
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:S.
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:government,
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:Jenn: hmm.
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:Scott: For them to be like, okay,
how do we keep the British and
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:the French and the Spanish, right?
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:How do we keep them out of that land?
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:We gotta get our people out there.
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:And that's what they started
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:Jenn: And the American dream.
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:People are coming into America and
the cities are already overcrowded.
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:So they sell this dream of go West,
get your families, get a cart.
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:Get some possessions and go
west and build your life there.
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:And people would take like their
whole families with them or villages
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:with them or groups of people.
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:And basically the start of the Oregon
Trail is Independence, Missouri.
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:And it stretches from Missouri, it
touches Kansas, goes into Nebraska.
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:Wyoming.
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:And then from Wyoming is where
it's going to kind of veer off.
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:If you're going to go the Mormon trail
towards Utah, you're going to go the
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:California trail towards California,
or you're going to hit Idaho through
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:Scott: And now it does all three of
those because really I think one of
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:the things we talked about in our Fort
Laramie video Was that Fort Laramie was
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:like the last real big stop before you
hit the mountains Like that like that
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:was kind of the last stop and then once
you start going west past Fort Laramie
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:You had to commit to get past those
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:Jenn: Yes, and this is, this is
where all the trails intervene.
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:So this is where everyone
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:Scott: all converge at
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:Jenn: Converge, if you're on that
California trail, if you're on that Mormon
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:trail, if you're on the Oregon trail,
you're all going to hit Fort Laramie.
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:And what's interesting about the Guernsey
Ruts and Register Cliff is it's the
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:first basically camp after Fort Laramie.
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:It's the one day travel first camp.
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:So most people who leave Fort
Laramie, their first overnight
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:stay will be Register Cliff.
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:Scott: One of the things that I read
about and I kind of put in like a
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:little pop up video type thing on the
video was that the reason that the
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:ruts, these Guernsey ruts were so well
defined is the way, one, everybody was
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:converging at Fort Laramie and two, after.
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:Fort Laramie, the way the
landscape was, is everybody
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:passed by this particular spot.
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:And so, like, you know, even in
the video we said 300, 000 to 500,
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:000 traveled the Oregon Trail.
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:So you get that many people over the
years with these heavy, you know,
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:wagons, passing over the same exact spot.
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:It gets incredibly worn in.
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:I mean, we can still see them to this day.
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:Jenn: wagons passing
over the that direction.
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:It's because of the North Platte River.
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:It's right around Laramie and it's
it, it basically has saturated
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:the land around that area.
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:So if you put your wagon wheels
into the mud, it's gonna get stuck.
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:But if you go over this
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:sandstone, it keeps your
wagon wheels from going in.
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:Scott: That
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:makes
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:Jenn: that's why everyone is going
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:in the
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:Scott: literally this exact spot
like they all I mean It's it's really
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:interesting to see because it wasn't
something like you said, you know about
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:it growing up So you had known about
it most of your most of your life.
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:I hadn't known about these right?
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:I didn't really know about register cliff.
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:I didn't know about the wagon ruts.
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:I knew Having grown up in the
West that you could go see
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:spots of the Oregon Trail.
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:That was about all I knew.
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:Jenn: Yeah, and these wagon ruts, they
also call it deep rut hill are they say
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:the best example of Oregon Trail wagon
ruts because of erosion through the years
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:or there's been people who have built up.
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:where the Oregon Trail actually
was, and it has been changed, and,
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:but these ones are actually the
best example if you want to see it.
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:So it's, it's really neat.
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:It's about a half mile south of the
town of Guernsey, but if you, you
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:put it in your GPS, it'll show up.
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:Scott: it's very easy
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:Jenn: What's neat about this area too
is during World War II, way before World
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:War II, the Depression time this is a
part of the Civilian Conservation Corps.
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:where FDR created these jobs for people.
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:And so if you visit the Guernsey
Wagon Ruts, this is a great
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:examples of architecture building
some of the buildings there.
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:And the trail is actually
made by them, so the trail you
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:take to walk around the wagon
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:Scott: Oh, wow.
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:Jenn: and the picnic area there, it's
called the Sitting Bull Picnic Shelter.
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:It's all built from that
:
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:And it's just really...
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:Great architecture.
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:It's still there today, and I remember
even as a kid sitting in the picnic
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:structure and having lunch, but
You'll notice there's a nice groomed
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:trail that takes you all around.
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:I will say there is steps So if you are
on a wheelchair or something motorized,
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:it might be more difficult, but it's
a very easy groomed trail It doesn't
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:take you on to the ruts, which I think
you know trying to protect them But
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:you're right beside them and you can
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:Scott: Yeah.
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:And you'll see in our video again,
I'll link our video in the show
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:notes, but you'll see in our video,
if we wanted to like jump down
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:inside of the wagon routes, we could
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:Jenn: Oh, yeah.
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:And I mean, I have pictures as a kid doing
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:that.
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:Scott: They haven't fenced them
off or anything And I think
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:that's because it's in stones.
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:That's relatively easy to preserve.
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:And it wasn't anything spectacular,
but it was just so neat to see
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:like literally, this is where.
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:Thousands upon thousands of, of wagons
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:pass through this exact
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:Jenn: wagons, and draft animals and people
wore down this sandstone and it's to some
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:degree where it's five feet and you can
see between the wagon wheel ruts, you
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:can see is these the length of a wagon.
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:It's really amazing to see.
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:25 years of use is what they believe
this area had from:
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:in 1869, the railroad is completed.
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:And so most people would take the
railroad across the West but this
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:was so used during that time.
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:They believe that 5, 000 people
came through there and about a 10th
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:of them would die from disease.
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:So right in that area
is some famous tombs.
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:Gravestones from early
settlers and their families.
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:And those stories are always
important to tell about the
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:Oregon Trail as well, as well.
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:But so when people were making this trek,
it would usually take about five months.
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:And like you said, you want to
make sure you're hitting Laramie.
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:pretty early,
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:Scott: So when people would restock
and rest up and then be like,
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:Okay
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:Jenn: it by May because you
don't want to be crossing the
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:mountains anywhere near the winter.
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:So that was really neat.
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:It was first recorded, someone passing the
ike someone wrote about it in:
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:Scott: it in 1812.
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:Oh wow.
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:Jenn: So that's how long
they've been around.
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:And then it became a national , a
historic landmark in, in:
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:Scott: now, not too far away from
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:there.
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:Oh,
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:Jenn: I wanna say one more thing.
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:Oh,
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:Scott: yes.
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:Jenn: Brigham Young went through there.
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:Really?
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:He had to have, because he settled
Salt Lake City in:
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:1847.
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:So he passed through
there probably July of
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:Scott: Wow.
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:Yeah.
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:That's, that's, that's pretty
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:Jenn: historic tidbits.
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:Scott: It's, it really is, it's one
of those things that until you get
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:there and see it, like kind of hearing
about it and even seeing it in a
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:video, you're like, oh that's cool.
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:But once you get there, and you've
traveled through that part of Wyoming,
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:which is just, huge and just feels
big because there's nothing out there.
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:You're just driving through plains
and it's windy and all of a sudden
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:then you hit Fort Laramie and
there's this little protection.
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:Jenn: Mm hmm.
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:Scott: then you get over to these
wagon ruts my gosh, like people were
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:traveling across this vast expanse
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:of countryside in covered
wagons and all this
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:Jenn: And nothing else.
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:Scott: and then not too far away
is Register Cliff, which I totally
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:understand why everybody's staying
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:Jenn: Mm hmm.
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:Yeah.
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:Mm hmm.
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:Scott: probably protection that stuff.
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:And so Register Cliff is called that
because everybody carved their name in the
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:Jenn: It's probably
protection from the rock.
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:So, it's also a historic place.
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:It's open daily, sunrise to sunset.
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:And it was a one day's
journey from Fort Laramie.
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:So to the west.
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:So, again, if you're from Fort
Laramie, this is as you're heading.
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:out wherever your final destination is.
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:And it's a hundred feet above
the North Platte River Valley.
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:So you have some, again, you're not
going to, you have rock around you.
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:So it's a little bit more, again,
it's a, it's a landmark, which
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:would be easy for them to find.
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:And you would be able to not
sink into the ground there, which
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:Scott: there, which is...
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:And, and it sounded like, even
from my research, it was, I think,
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:online or the National Park website
says it's one of three kind of.
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:similar style cliffs so it makes sense
for people to be going from one to the
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:next one to the next one because again
landmark natural protection right and
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:they're all and there's the two other ones
is Independence Rock and Names Hill or
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:Jenn: And They're all in Wyoming.
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:Yeah.
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:Which make the same kind of rock.
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:Scott: Yeah, yeah, sandstone,
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:Jenn: yeah, it's this chalky limestone.
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:Scott: Yeah, I think, what was the
kind of earliest name registered on
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:Jenn: So they, I, there's conflicting
reports, like I've seen the earliest
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:one at 1829, but when you're there,
they have a sign there that says 17,
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:Scott: Yeah, it said it right on the
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:Jenn: yes, right on the signs.
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:Yeah, so I was like, okay.
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:Now what is very interesting is What
I really love about this is they've
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:been able to trace some of the names
and I wanted to talk about that
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:because I think that is super cool when
people do genealogy and they're able
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:to look back on some of these names.
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:Several signatures have been tracked down.
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:By their descendants, including A.
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:A.
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:Withrow.
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:He's thought to have been Able
Anderson Withrow and he was a Sadler
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:from Indiana who moved to California.
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:And so he came through
there, signed his name.
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:And then during the Civil War, he was
part of the fighting Californians.
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:So he had come through there
before the Civil War, signed his
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:name on the rock, and then joined
the Civil War and fought for the
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:Scott: Wow.
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:Jenn: And then one of the most
poignant signatures, they say,
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:belongs to Alva Hunt Unthink.
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:Scott: Yes.
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:What was
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:that?
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:Jenn: So he's a 19 year old Boy, he's
heading for California, again, he's
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:part of that gold rush, and he signs his
rd,:
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:and a week later, he dies of cholera,
nd,:
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:marked grave outside Glenrock, Wyoming.
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:So you can track, like I said, the
graves along, you can track from the
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:register, if they wrote their names.
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:their, their plight right
there, their journey.
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:And so he's one of those famous ones.
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:So what also happened with him is
his cousin will come and sign the
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:rock beneath his name in 1869.
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:And then his cousin's son was
signed underneath that name.
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:Scott: will come and sign
the rock beneath his name
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:Jenn: Yeah, Unthink, Oliver, in 1931.
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:So they're all on
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:Scott: his cousin's son
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:will sign the same name.
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:in 1931.
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:Like the one that we showed, and I think
you called it out in the video, was like,
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:it must have been someone with like postal
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:service.
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:It said U.
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:S.
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:Jenn: Mm hmm.
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:That's a
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:Scott: It's like 1850,
something like that.
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:Jenn: famous
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:one to take a
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:Scott: That's a, that's
a pretty famous one.
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:So we showed that one on there
because it's very clear to see, right?
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:And it was neat to see it.
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:Jenn: It's very neat.
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:So what I love about Register Cliff,
again, another place I visited as a kid,
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:they try to protect some of the older
names with a fence because what has
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:happened is through the years more modern
people want to add their names to the
399
:cliff.
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:Scott: There's a bunch of stuff
from like the 60s, the 70s,
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:Jenn: Yes,
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:and it's been written
over the older names.
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:So they're trying to protect
some of those older names.
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:And they also think there's
some pictographs inside the
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:cave from American Indians.
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:And they're trying to also
protect those things as well.
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:So, it's, it's one of those things that
you, you know, you You want to make sure
408
:you're trying to preserve the history,
but it also is a living landmark.
409
:Right beside Register Cliff
is a little graveyard.
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:And there are some
, emmigrant graves there.
411
:They're not sure whose graves they are.
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:But again, one day out of Laramie
Fort Laramie, you know, like I said,
413
:a tenth of the people are going
to die of disease along the way.
414
:And then you even get the gentleman
who signs his name who's going
415
:to die a week later of cholera.
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:And cholera is a disease you
get from drinking filthy water.
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:So who knows if he did that at
Register Cliff for a week later to die.
418
:I mean, it takes about a week,
so it's very interesting.
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:But Guernsey was the name of the
cattlemen in the area in:
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:Scott: Oh, okay.
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:Jenn: owned a bunch of that
land, and he donated that land
422
:to the state, to the federal
government, to make them landmarks.
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:And that's why it's named after him.
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:So that's where Guernsey comes from.
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:Scott: from.
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:Yeah, that's that's pretty cool.
427
:It, it was, the, the Register Cliff
one, I wasn't quite sure what to expect.
428
:It was pretty much kind of what I expected
it to be, but the one thing that I, I, I,
429
:I didn't know how I'd feel about it
was just seeing the old dates on right?
430
:And seeing the names and
seeing the old dates on there.
431
:And again, I think it sounds like the
national park service tried to verify
432
:some of them because I'm sure there's
some on there that they couldn't verify.
433
:You know, some from like the early,
early:
434
:tentatively verified that one from 1797.
435
:But you never know because someone from.
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:1950 could have signed it for
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:1820.
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:Jenn: so that's why they try to verify
through genealogy, but you do get
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:fur traders out there that early.
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:So that's why it could, it's
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:Scott: Yep.
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:So that's I think the 1829 one
was actually like a fur trader.
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:He marked it on July 14th,
which is like a significant...
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:Jenn: Bastille Day
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:Scott: Day.
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:It was Bastille
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:Jenn: and and he's French it's a French
fur trader and that's kind of how Fort
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:Laramie starts to if you watch our
video on Fort Laramie it starts as a fur
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:trading fort and so it's just neat to
what's what's neat about these two things
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:is you're seeing the journey that is
building America and you're understanding
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:A piece of the story of what these people
endured to to make dreams come true, to
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:make a life, to make a change, to, to
see, you know, this American dream and,
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:you know, we talk about the American
dream and what it is and what it means,
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:but it's so different for each American
and really I think it's just trying
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:to make a life for yourself and your
family to be free and to have something
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:to, to live off of and to have comfort
and to be, you know, to be stable.
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:And so I really love seeing these are
real landmarks you can go to and be in
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:the space of which we talk about a lot
of history makers and the bravery it
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:took to make that trek as a family as
you lose people along the way and you
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:keep going and it's just amazing to be
out there and to be in the presence of
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:Scott: keep going, and it's just amazing
to be out there and to in the presence
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:So, if you're listening, don't forget that
you too can embark on a journey through
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:time to explore the rugged landscapes
of Wyoming, where the echoes of the
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:1800s pioneers still resonate today.
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:Just like we did, you too can retrace
the footsteps of those intrepid
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:settlers who embarked on the arduous
trek along the Oregon Trail, leaving
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:behind a tangible mark of their
passage through the heart of America.
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:Stand on windswept plains
of Wyoming and you will...
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:gaze upon a remarkable testament to the
spirit of these settlers where these
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:ruts, like scars on the landscape, tell
stories of sacrifice, determination,
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:and the pursuit of the American dream.
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:Your journey won't stop there, because you
can also see the awe inspiring Register
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:Cliff that we just talked about, where
the pioneers in their pursuit of hope
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:etch their names into the stone walls.
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:These inscriptions serve as a A remarkable
historical of the individuals and families
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:who pass through their way to the unknown.
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:Each name tells a story and together
they paint a vivid picture of
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:the diverse tapestry of those who
dared to traverse this unforgiving
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:So thank you for listening to the Talk
With History podcast and please reach out
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:to us at our website, talkwithhistory.
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:com.
482
:More importantly, if you know someone else
that might enjoy this, share it with Shoot
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:them a text and tell them to look us up.
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:Because we rely on you, our community to
grow and we appreciate you all every day.
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:We'll talk to you next
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:Jenn: We'll talk to you next time.
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:Thank you.
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:That was beautiful.
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:Scott: you.
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:Thank you.