Sunday, September 17, 2017

Wyoming - Some History Part 2

This will be the final Wyoming Post....at least for the '17 trip. 😎

History....back to it.

Still in Wyoming, near Guernsey, this Pony Express historical marker was just off the roadway on my way to Register Cliff.  The Pony's carried the mail for a short 19 months, April 1860 to October, 1861 and went from St. Joseph to Sacramento, making the trip in 10 days.  Roughly 157 stations, 10 miles apart for pony changes. Riders rode day and night, 75-100 miles at a time and couldn't weigh over 125 lbs.



The Register Cliff....







Wagon ruts along the Oregon Trail....






The Rustic Hotel, just outside of the Fort Laramie site...


Fort Laramie, originally Fort William in the 1830's began as a trading post for beaver pelts, then buffalo hides.  Its location at the confluence of the Laramie and North Platte rivers had everything to do with its importance and growth as the West was settled.  In 1849 the US Army purchased the fort to protect the growing number of settlers moving on the Oregon Trail.  The location was important because it was situated at the low spot on a long climb through the South Pass, essentially the lowest elevation over the Continental Divide.





 Irrigation ditches....



Northern Plains tribe movements.....


 "Big Medicine Road.... Between 1849 and 1851, the California Gold Rush caused an average of 50,000 people in 10,000 wagons with 75,000 head of cattle to pass by annually."






 Officer's Row....



 

Then....



Now....

A fort without a wall??



In 1890, the Fort was sold to homesteaders.  The Transcontinental Railroad was finished, wagon trains no longer the primary method of emigrating West.


East of Rapid City, just east of famous Wall, the Minuteman Missile National Historic Site along the I-90 corridor.

A mile north of the Visitor Center, looking south....

 
 




Times that things almost went wrong ....




 Flip charts of various US urban areas with the rings of destruction levels.  One Megaton airburst...


 Proliferation....













 I stopped at Delta-01, but didn't have the necessary reservations to take the tour there.






D-9 Launch site.....one of 10 surrounding D-01 Launch Facility.



 Porthole for man entrance....



 Silo cover that moves on this rack and pinion with blast charges, forcing the opening.


 Looking down inside....viewing glass added for our benefit




Copper shielded, gas shielded cables....1700 miles worth.  A great many pennies.


 Redundant communication system...




I took this photo to highlight the "fuse" in the fence, this the southwest corner of the fenced in area.  A test blast was performed, a small charge in the missile for a very limited, non-armed flight.  The silo cover shot forward, down its track, raced through the chain link fence on one side, dragging the entire perimeter fence south, right over the top of the rising missile.  The discovery led to the south wall fence being altered to break free independent of the entire "square."






Stopping once more, this time during daylight hours, at the Chamberlain Lewis and Clark Visitor Center.



 A special event, the Mobile Vietnam Vet's Memorial Wall display.






Life size model of the keelboat used to float the Missouri River.







Last but not least, my only tactile souvenir of the trip, a poster that I bought in Dubois at a great little gift shop.


3 comments:

  1. Wow, quite the varied tour of history in Wyoming. I found the use of rifle trenches by the Army interesting, just goes to show how some concepts really don't change over time.

    As to the missile silo portion, it reminded me of a ride I did a few years ago to an active ICBM silo...no pics allowed and two Air Force SPs with rifles reminded me of that. The ironic part, a public highway ran by one of the silos....wonder how many folks pass by, not knowing what lies beneath the ground inside the fenced compound?

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  2. Interesting tour of Wyoming. I like the fence fuse. That sounds like a good reason for testing your systems...

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  3. Wow, so much history. I always find stories of the Oregon Trail fascinating. Such hardships they endured all to try and find that better life.

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