Just as emigrants on the Oregon Trail watched for landmarks to guide them, people today often seek milestone events to better understand important causes.

February is Black History Month, and WyoHistory.org offers two new articles featuring significant milestones in the history of race relations in our state: the role of buffalo soldiers on a turbulent frontier and the life and death of a Casper Unitarian minister who marched for civil rights with Rev. Martin Luther King in Selma, Ala. 

We also continue our ongoing series about Wyoming’s historic trails, with three articles focusing on important landmarks along the way: Split Rock, the Lombard Ferry at the Green River and the New Fork River Crossing on the Lander Trail. 

Clergyman James Reeb of Casper marched in Selma, Ala.

In March 1965, clergyman James Reeb, a graduate of Natrona County High School and Casper College, marched in Selma, Ala., with the Rev. Martin Luther King to protect black voting rights. Reeb was murdered soon afterward. Publicity surrounding his death helped move Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act later that year.  To learn more, read journalist Phil White’s article “James Reeb of Casper, Martyr to Civil Rights” at http://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/james-reeb-casper-martyr-civil-ri...

Buffalo soldiers patrolled, protected Wyoming and the West

After the Civil War, about one-fifth of the regular U.S. cavalry troops in the West were black. These buffalo soldiers were sent to keep order on a disorderly frontier—a difficult job with blurry ethical boundaries. Despite meager food, cast-off equipment and chronic racial prejudice, they performed well. WyoHistory.org Editor Tom Rea examines the role of these troops in his article, “Buffalo Soldiers in Wyoming and the West,” at http://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/buffalo-soldiers-wyoming-and-west

New Fork River crossing presented tough challenge

Emigrants bound for Oregon or California in the 1860s on the government-built Lander Trail faced serious dangers crossing the New Fork River, as they usually had to do so at high water. Recently the site has been developed into an attractive historical park in Sublette County in western Wyoming.  Learn more in trail historian Clint Gilchrist’s article “Crossing the New Fork River” at http://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/crossing-new-fork-river.

Lombard Ferry helped emigrants cross the Green River

Mountain men established a ferry across the Green River in 1843. Mormons bought it in 1850, when it became known as the Green River Mormon Ferry. Tens of thousands of emigrants crossed the river here. When William Lombard took over the business in 1889, it became known as the Lombard Ferry.   Read the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office piece “Lombard Ferry on the Green River” at http://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/lombard-ferry-green-river.

Split Rock still looms large on the trail

Westbound emigrants in the Sweetwater Valley on the Oregon Trail saw the distinctive gunsight notch of Split Rock and “steered to this cliff with a steadiness that was astonishing,” according to one diarist. The landmark stands 11 miles west of Devil’s Gate and about 75 miles east of South Pass.  Learn more by reading the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office article “Split Rock” at http://www.wyohistory.org/encyclopedia/split-rock.

These three articles are part of a collaboration with the Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office and TravelStorysGPS™ of Wilson, Wyo., to transfer to WyoHistory.org the information on many dozens of trails spots from a historic-trails website SHPO developed a dozen years ago.

Travelers who visit the sites this summer will be able to hear three minutes of audio information about them via their smartphones or other mobile devices, once they download the free app at TravelStorysGPS™. This is a similar—but much larger—project to the Indian Wars of Wyoming tour we completed with TravelStorysGPS™ in 2014.