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Register Cliff

Thousands of Inscriptions of Oregon Trail Travelers

Inscription on Pony Express Trail, Mormon Pioneer Trail, California Trail, Register Cliff Trail on Great Plains near Guernsey, WY

Register Cliff is a famous historic campsite where travelers of the Oregon Trail carved their names into the soft sandstone. The cliff is a state historic site and unfortunately has been subjected to substantial vandalism. Finding the older names can take some careful searching.

National Register of Historic Places

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Register Cliff, also known as ‘Sand Draw’, was the first camp west of Fort Laramie. Besides these sandstone cliffs near the North Platte River, emigrants stopped to set up camp, pasture their animals, and rest from the hardships of trail life. It is common to see cemeteries at river crossings along the trail. The crossings themselves were dangerous. The graves of several unknown emigrants are in the cemetery here at Register Cliff

— Sign at Register Cliff

Cliff Swallows

Many american cliff swallows have made the overhangs of Register Cliff their home and can be seen flying in and out of their mud nests.

Root Cellar

A root cellar for storage of produce was essential before the days of supermarkets. The Frederick family blasted an opening into the cliff face for storing potatoes and other vegetables. The constant temperatures kept produce cool in the summer and protected it from freezing in the winter.

— Sign at Register Cliff

On the Web

On Wikipedia

Register Cliff is a sandstone cliff and featured key navigational landmark prominently listed in the 19th century guidebooks about the Oregon Trail, and a place where many emigrants chiseled the names of their families on the soft stones of the cliff — it was one of the key checkpoint landmarks for parties heading west along the Platte River valley west of Fort John, Wyoming which allowed travelers to verify they were on the correct path up to South Pass and not moving into impassable mountain terrains—geographically, it is on the eastern ascent of the Continental divide leading upward out of the great plains in the east of the U.S. state of Wyoming. It is notable as a historic landmark for 'registering' hundreds of emigrants on the Oregon Trail (thus also the other northern Emigrant…

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