To All Pioneers Who Passed This Way (Sand Springs)

The stone's two ends are a little off. The road left the main trail not at Rocky Ridge but farther west, at the last crossing of the Sweetwater, where Burnt Ranch stands, and ran about 229 miles to rejoin it near Fort Hall. It was one piece of a larger federal plan, the Pacific Wagon Road, whose central division ran 345 miles from South Pass to the City of Rocks in Idaho. Most of the work was done in 1858, as the stone says, but the road came into heavy use only in 1859.

What the plaque says

To all pioneers who passed this way to win and hold the West Route of Lander Cut-off, first government financed road in Wyoming. Officially called Ft. Kearney, South Pass and Honey Lake Road. Built in 1858 from Rocky Ridge to Ft. Hall to provide shorter route for emigrants. Erected by Wyoming Historical Landmark Commission 1947

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Museum of the Mountain Man — 19 mi
  Six fur-trade rendezvous met near here on the Green; the only artist who ever saw one, Alfred Jacob Miller, came in 1837.

More markers nearby

• Sand Springs - A Stop on the Oregon Trail — steps away
• Lieutenant J. C. Fremont's Week in Sublette County — 9.0 mi
• A Pause on a Journey — 20 mi
• The Naming of a Lake — 20 mi