Lander Cut-Off on the Oregon Trail

The panel's 9,000 signatures asked for something. Frederick Lander's report on the 1859 season says more than nine thousand emigrants signed a petition that the Green River be bridged on his road, which avoided the ferries farther south, as the panel says, but still had to cross the river upstream. Lander had worked for his numbers. He printed about a thousand guides at government expense advertising the route, and an agent he appointed persuaded large parties to take it. He reported 13,000 travelers that first season.

What the plaque says

Lander Cut-Off on the Oregon Trail In 1858, this ancient path, which had been used by Indians, explorers and mountain men as a short cut to the Snake River country was developed by Frederick Lander into an alternate route on the Oregon Trail. What is commonly called the Lander Trail or Lander Cut-Off starts 9 miles to the southeast at Burnt Ranch (directly behind this sign), crosses the Sweetwater River 6 miles to the northwest, and continues along Lander Creek for 13 miles to the Continental Divide at Little Sandy Creek, the headwaters of the Pacific Ocean. From there it travels west across the Green River Valley, the Wyoming Range, and the Salt River Range before entering present-day Idaho. The Cut-Off rejoins the original Oregon Trail near Fort Hall. This wagon road was favored by travelers for many reasons. The cut-off saved as much as 7 days travel compared to the old route through Fort Bridger, avoided the expensive ferries across the Green River to the south, and bypassed the 50-mile waterless desert of the Sublette Cut-Off. Its longest waterless section was only 10 miles, and it had access to abundant grass and firewood. The Lander Cut-Off was used by an estimated 13,000 emigrants its first year, with 9,000 of them signing a statement of support for the road at Fort Hall. While use dwindled after completion of the trans-continental railroad in 1869, the trail was still used by emigrants into the 20th century and played a role in the settlement of the Upper Green River Valley. Sublette County Museum Board

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• South Pass City State Historic Site — 4.8 mi
  The Carissa lode built the town in a year; the mine outlived the boom by eight decades, and its mill runs again for visitors.
• Sinks Canyon State Park — 21 mi
  A river that vanishes into a limestone cave and comes back a quarter mile on, slower than it should, warmer, and with more water than went in.

More markers nearby

• South Pass — 3.1 mi
• South Pass City: Wyoming's Biggest Gold Boom and Bust — 5.2 mi
• The Carissa Mine: Cycle of Boom and Bust — 5.2 mi
• South Pass and South Pass City — 5.8 mi