Lex Anteinternet: The Oregon Trail in Converse County.

Lex Anteinternet: The Oregon Trail in Converse County.:

Above is an Oregon Trail marker, placed in 1913, south of Douglas Wyoming. The Oregon Trail itself is visible directly behind it, being the strip of green sagebrush that's grown up over it in the prairie.

The white marker on the top of the hill is a marker used to mark the course of the trail.

 

 Looking down on the trail.

 The trail is visible in this photo, across the highway, where it goes up the side of a hill.

Erosion in the path of the trail.

Ft. Fetterman Cemetary, Wyoming

This is the military cemetery at Ft. Fetterman, Wyoming. The cemetery continued in use as a civilian cemetery after the post closed.

Ft. Fetterman was not an active post all that long. The number of soldiers buried there gives a good idea of the hard nature of frontier soldiering. For that matter, the civilian list gives a good idea of the harsh nature of 19th Century life.

Converse County War Memorial, Douglas Wyoming

This the memorial to Converse County's war dead which is located in the Converse County Courthouse.

Amongst the individuals whose are listed on the memorial is a young man by the last name of Irvine whose lost his life in the British Royal Flying Corps. The Irvines, who had a presence in Wyoming ranching until the 1970s, were a well to do family that hailed originally from Scotland. This Irvine no doubt grew up partially in Wyoming, but was going to school in Canada when World War One broke out. Irvine California is named for the same family.