The Parting of the Ways

The Parting of the Ways (HM19MK)

Location: Lander, WY 82520 Sublette County
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Country: United States of America
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N 42° 17.1', W 109° 3.55'

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Inscription
In July 1844 the California bound Stevens-Townsend-Murphy wagon train, guided by Isaac Hitchcock and 81-year old Caleb Greenwood, passed this point and continued nine and one half miles southwest from here, to a place destined to become prominent in Oregon Trail history - the starting point of the Sublette Cut-off.
     There, instead of following the regular Oregon Trail route southwest to Fort Bridger, then northwest to reach the Bear River below present day Cokeville, Wyoming, this wagon train pioneered a new route. Either Hitchcock or Greenwood, it is uncertain which, made the decision to lead the wagons due west, in effect along one side of a triangle.
     The route was hazardous, entailing crossing some 50 miles of semi-arid desert in the heat of summer and surmounting mountain ridges, but it saved approximately 85 miles from the Fort Bridger route and 5 or 6 days of travel. The route was first known as the Greenwood Cut-off.
     It was the Gold Rush year of 1849 that brought this "Parting of the Ways" into prominence. Of the estimated 30,000 Forty-niners probably 20,000 travelled the Greenwood Cut-off which, due to an error in the 1849 Joseph E. Ware guide book, became known as the Sublette Cut-off.
     In the ensuing years further refinements of the Trail route were made. In 1852 the Kinney and Slate Creek Cut-offs diverted trains from portions of the Sublette Cut-off, but until the covered wagon period ended, the Sublette Cut-off remained a popular direct route, and this "Parting of the Ways" was the place for crucial decisions.
     A quartzite post inscribed ←Fort Bridger S. Cut-off→ and a Bureau of Land Management information panel now mark the historic "Parting of the Ways" site.
Details
HM NumberHM19MK
Series This marker is part of the California Trail series, and the Oregon Trail series.
Tags
Year Placed1988
Placed ByOregon-California Trails Association
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Thursday, October 2nd, 2014 at 11:44am PDT -07:00
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Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)12T E 660018 N 4683244
Decimal Degrees42.28500000, -109.05916667
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 42° 17.1', W 109° 3.55'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds42° 17' 6.00" N, 109° 3' 33.00" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)307
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 129-179 Unnamed Road, Lander WY 82520, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

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