From the road in early July

July 27, 2010

On July 9th, we were headed to Wyoming from our last stop in Nebraska, following the path of the emigrant trails of the mid 1800s.

We saw a lot of these flowers along the way.

Courthouse and Jail Rocks are two of the most famous landmarks of westward migration. Nearby passed the Oregon – California Trail, the Mormon Trail, the Pony Express Trail, and the Sidney – Deadwood Trail. The rocks were the first of scenic markers travelers would encounter on their westward travel. Hundreds of emigrants mentioned Courthouse Rock in their diaries. The formations were first noted by explorer Robert Stuart in 1812, the name Courthouse was first used in 1837.

Chimney Rock is another notable feature along the trails to the west. The first recorded mention of ‘Chimney Rock’ was in 1827 by Joshua Pilcher. Pilcher had journeyed up the Platte River valley to the Salt Lake rendezvous of the Rocky Mountain fur trappers. The first non-natives to see the pillar were probably the Astorians of Robert Stuart in their eastern journey from the Pacific Ocean in 1812. This marker of the plains was recorded in many travelers’ journals.

{ 3 comments }

Davina July 28, 2010 at 11:29 PM: Chimney rock; so cool!

I was just reading about this on Wikipedia and apparently, over the years it has been reduced in height by erosion AND lightning strikes. A tourist apparently caught a video of a lightning strike in the 90s. I was hoping to find it on Youtube, but no such luck. These things fascinate me. Thanks for sharing this, Mike.
Grannymar July 30, 2010 at 11:05 AM: That flower is very pretty, is it a member of the poppy family?
Mike Goad August 1, 2010 at 5:23 PM: Davina – They didn’t have a copy of the video in the visitor center, either, though the lightning strike was mentioned. Another place that you can see chimney rock is on the back of some US coins. Over a period of several years, the US Mint issued a new quarter for each state. The quarters for Nebraska have Chimney Rock on them.

Grannymar – I had to research it, but, yes, it is a member of the poppy family. It is one of 30 to 32 varieties of “prickly poppy.”