Deep Rut Hill & Register Cliff (Guernsey, WY)

Sometimes, sites which are most impressive along the trail today were actually little noted by the emigrants. One of those areas is in Guernsey, Wyoming, where today, trail followers can find impressive evidence of the overland emigrant route at the Oregon Trail Ruts National Historic Site. Here, the terrain forced the emigrants to cross a ridge of soft sandstone and the track created by the steady wear of the wagon wheels is worn to a depth of five feet at places. Visitors can still see wheel ruts, places where wheel hubs rubbed against the rut walls.

Across the road from the Oregon Trail Ruts is Register Cliff. This popular campsite was approximately one day's travel west of Fort Laramie. The soft sandstone cliff invited emigrants to leave a record of their passing, which many, many did. The cliff is covered with the names of emigrants heading to California, Oregon, and Utah. Many signatures include not only a date but a hometown as well.

The oldest signatures are covered by mesh fencing and can be found at the end of the cliff farthest from the parking area. Unfortunately, the elements are causing many of the oldest signatures to be worn away and, so far, no means for preservation has been determined. The signature of A. H. Unthank (at left) is one of the most interesting signatures on the cliff since, about one week after signing his name at Register Cliff, Unthank died and his marked grave can still be found outside Glenrock, Wyoming.

For the emigrants, the much more significant landmark in this region was Warm Springs, located approximately 2.5 miles west of Guernsey. While few emigrants commented on either Deep Rut Hill or Register Cliff, they left numerous comments about Warm Springs. Here, there were two free-flowing springs: one gushing from a rock ledge and the other bubbling up in a large pool.

Rufus Sage, 1842:

"upon an Indian trail, we bore leftward from the river, and, in a short ride, came to a sand creek. ...A transparent spring gushes from the right bank with considerable noise, furnishing a beautiful streamlet to its hitherto dry bed, which is known as 'Warm Springs.'"

Osborne Cross, June 25, 1849:

"...probably eight miles from the fort. On the right side of the road and about three hundred yards below where it crosses the ravine there is a fine spring that breaks from the side of the hill...affords an abundance of water. The men made an excavation that collected a sufficient quantity in a few minutes for the whole command....by no means warm, although not as cold as springs generally are among the hills...."

Virgil Pringle, June 24, 1846:

"...the spring is very bold and rather warm."