The Bozeman Trail

The board named James Sawyers but not the city behind him. Iowa Congressman Asahel Hubbard picked the Sioux City man in 1865 to lead a $50,000 federal road expedition from the Niobrara to Virginia City, a route meant to send gold-camp outfitting through Sioux City rather than Omaha. His party pushed through the Powder River country during General Connor's campaign, was besieged at Bone Pile Creek and mutinied, yet reached Virginia City. Diarists on his 1866 cutoff recorded a rough road and overturned wagons. The board, photographed here in 2009, no longer stands.

What the plaque says

The Bozeman Trail The Bozeman Trail was located ten miles south of here. John Bozeman pioneered the trail in this area in July 1864. After crossing the Bighorn River eight miles below the opening of the Bighorn Canyon, he led his wagon train northwest to the Yellowstone River opposite present day Billings. He then attempted to proceed up the south side of the Yellow- stone, but the steep bluffs lining the bank forced him to turn south away from the river. Leaving the Yellowstone, he went up the west side of Clarks Fork and then Rock Creek to where he intersected the Bridger Trail a mile northeast of Joliet. Jim Bridger's first wagon train over his trail had crossed Rock Creek three weeks earlier. Bozeman's roundabout route was the original Bozeman Trail. James A. Sawyers opened a cutoff trail in August 1866. It ran from the recently established Fort C.F. Smith to the Clarks Fork. Sawyers' trail crossed the Clarks Fork at present Edgar, where he intersected the Bridger Trail and followed it 6 miles west to the Rock Creek crossing. On the west side of the crossing, Sawyers' route joined Bozeman's. From that point west to the Gallatin Valley, the Bozeman Trail followed the Bridger Trail, with only a few minor deviations.

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Columbus — steps away
• The Great Inland Seaway — steps away
• Park City — steps away
• The March of the Montana Column — steps away