This tour is based on the events of the book, Journal of the Trail written by Stewart E. Glazier. Join us as we learn more about the Pioneers, the trail they blazed, and the miracles they witnessed as they moved west. 

Salt Lake City - Cheyenne, Wyoming

We meet our bus at 9:00 am in the parking lot of “This is the Place Monument" in Salt Lake City, then the adventure begins! As we journey on our way to Cheyenne, we will discuss the following sites as we pass by or nearby: Gogorza, named for Rodriguez Velasquez de la Gorgonza, a Spaniard who invested $1,000,000 in a narrow-gauge railroad which eventually failed. Golden pass road (Parley’s Canyon), William H. Kimball’s stage station, built in 1862, Silver Creek Canyon where you can still see part of the old Lincoln highway, Coalville, originally named Chalk Creek; Kemmerer Wyoming where J.C. Penney began his business in 1902; Point of Rocks; Tipton, famous for the likes of Butch Cassidy, and other points of interest. After a wonderful dinner, we will stay in Cheyenne, Wyoming at the Little America Hotel.  

Cheyenne, WY - Scottsbluff, NE

After breakfast we will head east arriving in Nebraska, where we will first stop at the North Platte River, “which was too thick to drink, too thin to plow, too yellow to wash in, and too pale to paint with.” The town of North Patte is where a historical marker describing one of the first odometers built by Appleton M Harmon and William Clayton was put into use. Then the Ancient Bluff Ruins, a most dramatic and extensive bluff formation along the north side of the North Platte River. We will then stop at Court House Rock, Jail Rock, Chimney Rock, grave of ‘Wee Grannty and Rebecca Winter’s grave and finally at Scott’s Bluff, before going to the hotel. 

Scottsbluff, NE - Casper, WY

Our first stop will be just west of Morrill, Nebraska, site of the Horse Creek Treaty Council of 1851, which within a few short years was broken because of a Mormon cow and a lame one at that. The breaking of this treaty resulted in the Grattan Massacre. The Grattan Battle/Massacre signaled the beginning of warfare between the Northern Plains Indians and the United States Army, which reached its zenith at the Little Big Horn in 1876 and culminated at Wounded Knee in 1890. Our next stop will be near Henry, Nebraska where they tended to forget their covenants. Next, will be the site of Fort Bernard and a discussion about the Mississippi Saints, which wintered in Pueblo, Colorado, then Ft Laramie and Register Cliff. The cliff is one of the major places where camping emigrants carved their names and the date of their presence. Just a short distance away we will see the dramatic ruts in Guernsey, Wyoming. Following interstate 25, we then come to Glen Rock, or Deer Creek where the Martin Company burned their extra clothing and bedding two days before the snowstorm came. After that we drive on to Casper to see the location of Reshaw’s Bridge where some of our people crossed during the winter of 1856, The Mormon Ferry site, and Old Ft. Caspar, where many emigrants crossed including the Martin and Willie Companies. Time permitting, we will finish at Bessemer Bend, where the rescuers found the Martin and Hodgett Companies on October 28th, 1856. We then travel to our hotel. 

Casper, WY - Lander, WY

We will leave Casper by way of county highway 319, (see your map) which is a dirt road. This is the route of the original Pioneer Company and also many others including the Willie Company but not the Martin, Hunt or Hodgett Companies. We will pass by Avenue of the Rocks, Willow Springs, and Prospect Hill, where Brigham Young wanted to build a summer “home” and then on to Horse Springs or Greasewood Creek where the Martin Company met G. D. Grant and the rescue wagons. We will finish the morning visiting Independence Rock and Martin’s Cove area including the Cove, Devil’s Gate, the Dan Jones Stockade and the Visitors’ Center. We will then travel east on Highway 287 to the Split Rock Overview, point out Bitter Cottonwood Creek, and stop briefly overlooking the Sixth Crossing where the rescuers had their first view of the Willey Company. Dinner upon arrival at hotel. 

Rock Creek, WY - Little America, WY (outside of Green River, WY)

This will be an exciting day as we follow the route of the Willie Company and read from their journals. After breakfast we head to Rocky Ridge, the tremendous obstacle the Willie Company surmounted on October 23 on their way to Rock Creek. We then follow their trail to Rock Creek where 13 members of the Willie Company were buried in a common grave. We will discuss several of the stories of these people and the implications for our children and us today. We will then continue our trip to the South Pass overlook and discuss not only South Pass and Pacific Springs, but also the story of Redick Allred where he spent about a month serving as a significant part of the rescue effort. Afterwards, we will continue our journey pass the Dry Sandy, Little Sandy and Parting of the Ways, where the Donner-Reed Party split off from the larger California bound wagon train. We will visit the Big Sandy Crossing at Farson and have ice cream and lunch. We then continue to Simpson Hollow and the Green River crossing, and then arrive at our hotel. 

Fort Bridger - Salt Lake City, UT (Home)

Following breakfast and then on to Ft Bridger to where we now leave the “Oregon Trail” and follow the route of the Hastings Cut-Off. As time permits, we will visit Camp Scott, site of where Johnston’s army spent the winter of 1847-48, Gravel Hill, where the pioneers had to lock their wheels on their wagons in order to descend the Bigelow Bench, and the Needles where Brigham Young got sick and had to remain in camp making it the 24th of July instead of the 22nd. We will enter the Valley via Henefer, East Canyon, Big Mountain; ending at “This is The Place Monument.” Tour the This is the Place Park.