Independence Rock

So more fun Wyoming places to visit.  Back in January I took a quick little trip to Independence Rock, which is another landmark along the Oregon Trail.  It is pretty interesting; the rock sticks out like a sore thumb and is covered in carved and painted names of many of the families that reached the rock during their journey.  It is neat to see some of the history of Wyoming.  I walked already the way around it too... It was a nice brisk walk on the cold and breezy January day.

History:

Independence Rock is a large granite rock, approximately 130 feet high, in southwestern Natrona County in Wyoming. During the middle of the 19th century, the rock was a prominent and well-known landmark on the Oregon, Mormon and California emigrant trails. It was designated a National Historic Landmark on January 20, 1961.

The rock derives its name from the fact that it lies directly along the route of the Emigrant Trail and that emigrant wagon parties bound for Oregon or California, which usually left the Missouri River in the early spring, attempted to reach the rock by July 4, in order to reach their destinations before the first mountain snowfalls.