It seems as though whenever we find ourselves crossing the east-central
and west-central parts of Wyoming by motor vehicle, I try to imagine what this
trip must have been like for pioneers on the Oregon-California-Mormon Trail.
Some 350,000
of these hearty souls crossed the country along a route that spanned the entire
width of present-day Wyoming. Their
wagon trains entered the state on the eastern edge between Torrington and Lusk
and headed toward Fort Laramie, by way of the Lingle area.
The first
mountain they ever saw was Laramie Peak, which towers 10,276 feet above the
plains west of present-day Wheatland. What
an inspiration that must have been!
Because the power they were using
came from oxen and horses, they needed to stay close to rivers and grass. Lots
of grass.
Thus, they
followed the North Platte River north and west near what today is Casper. They
soon encountered the Sweetwater River, which they followed upstream all the way
to the mystical South Pass. This famous pass is literally the “hole in the wall,”
that allowed America (and Americans) to satisfy its manifest destiny by heading
west and claiming the western third of Wyoming, Idaho, Oregon and California.
South Pass was
nature’s oddball notch in the length of the towering Rocky Mountains. This gap allowed wagon trains to pass through
and head west.
It took a
series of coincidental places such as the rivers, the grasslands and the notch
in the mountains to make the whole thing possible. Without water or grass or
South Pass, the westward march would have been much more difficult.
As I write
this, I had just joined the trail for this trip at South Pass.
We were on our
way to Las Vegas where we planned to spend a couple of weeks soaking up the
heat. Then we would put the old rig in storage until we headed back to Vegas
sometime around Feb. 1 for a month or two.
We were
driving down the road in our 12-year old motorhome, just west of Farson, when I
noticed that our house batteries were not charging.
So what the
heck was wrong with my house batteries?
Not sure if
anyone out there cares, but a motorhome has, essentially, two electrical
systems. The normal motor vehicle system
has two big 12-volt batteries that operate the starter and provide power for
the headlights and normal driving-type functions.
The coach,
meanwhile, has six big 6-volt batteries that operate everything from the refrigerator
to the air conditioning when the rig is not plugged into an outside electrical
source.
Yes, it is
possible to drive without the coach batteries, but this is not a good
situation.
I thought
about stopping at Little America but it was such a nice day and the rig was driving
so well so I crossed my fingers and just kept on going.
We passed the
road to Kemmerer and I was tempted to go visit my friend Vince Tomassi at his
car dealership. Surely, they could help
get my batteries functioning? But then
again, gosh it was such a nice day, and so I kept on going.
As we passed
the turnoff to the Lyman-Mountain View-Fort
Bridger area, I tried to imagine what it must have been like to have
been an Oregon Trail traveler 160 years ago in this spot. What would you do if your house batteries
were on the fritz in your old reliable Conestoga? You would probably plan a
stop at Fort Bridger to make repairs.
But I motored
on.
Next potential
stop was Evanston where our former Lander bookkeeper, Marsha Redding, operates
Spanky’s Bar. Since our rig is 40 feet
long and weighs over 30,000 pounds and also with the car being towed, I decided
it was not a good idea to stop.
When I got to
Interstate 80, the weather was windy. Sure enough, as soon as we left the
state, the wind died down. The legend of Wyoming’s big winds continued for
another day.
We waved
good-bye to our Wyoming as we headed on to Salt Lake City and then all the way
to St. George, Utah, where we spent the night.
We got to Las
Vegas the next day and everything got fixed.
Like many a
trail master, I had conquered adversity and made it to my destination. Then I
heard it was starting to snow back in Lander. It was 91 degrees in Sin City. I
had to wipe a satisfied smirk off my face.
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