Finding Freedom in the Parting of the Ways

Etchings

I was in Wyoming to location scout areas of the Oregon Trail where wagon ruts are still visible. Wyoming has the longest, continuous stretch of wagon ruts that have been permanently etched in the earth. There are also several “registers of the desert” here where emigrants carved their names into rocks, and a lot are still visible nearly 170 years later. I have been in strong winds while scouting plenty of times, but these were altogether different. These winds caused an 18-wheeler to tip over about two hundred yards in front of me. These winds tipped over 40 tons of metal and goods. I was afraid to get out of my car but committed to pulling over to see if I could possibly help. Another trucker pulled over, and a few other cars. I rolled by and saw that the driver’s side door popped up like a manhole cover, and that the driver was climbing out. The other trucker told those of us that were pushing into the wind to help, to head back to our vehicles. “Winds are worse couple miles up the road. I got lucky. Y’all probly wanna head back ta Casper.” I didn’t argue. This is how I ended up at the National Historic Trails Interpretive Center.


Interactive map of the Oregon Trail. Click + and - to zoom into or out of a region and explore sites along the trail.

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