History carved into the rocks. Thousands of families hoping for a better life left their names on the rocks here. Hard to imagine them walking/on the move for 4 months day after day.
this is a bit of a drive, but fun to see all the names and dates! Fun to wonder about the monotony of the trip - broken up by register cliffs/rocks - along the way! Would love to see if names appear on more than one along the trail!!
I loved reading many of the still legible names and dates. I searched for surnames from my family history and saw some possibilities. Were they my kin?
Register Cliff gives you an appreciation for the individuals who made the journey. The area isn't much developed, so it's easy to imagine what it must have been like for the Oregon Trail emigrants camping here along the Platte River. As you read the names, you wonder why each person made the difficult journey and if they made it to their destination. Recommend a visit to Ft Laramie and its museum first, then Register Cliffs, and finally the Guernsey Ruts to fully appreciate the journey of the emigrants.
It is a shame, that so many people, long after the pioneers carved names on the wall. However it is definitely worth a stop, especially if you are interested in learning about the Oregon Trail. You will here about Cliff Registry at several different Oregon Trial museums, across the country.
Easy access to see a bit of history. Wyoming has done a nice job putting in a pathway with occassional benches to rest, so current travelers can have fun looking for old signatures and dates. You can imagine what it was like leaving a message of "I was here" to fellow travelers of the Oregon Trail.
We visited here during our trip along the Oregon Trail with our 2 boys. This site had a lot of names, and the area where the pioneers would have camped is obvious. The Platte River is adjacent, and the route of the trail is easy to imagine. The roads are gravel but well maintained, and there are pit toilets. One can feel the history at this site.
Long drive out to the cliff. Good size cliff to see, but it appears that every moron from all over has left thier mark in the soft stone.Impossible to tell the old from the new, as many folks have tried to duplicate old signatures.
As the Pioneers were traveling the Oregon Trail, they passed through this area, where there was grass, water (North Platte River) and they would stop here to rest and allow their animals to eat and drink. The sandstone cliffs beside the river, were a place they carved their names, dates, and sometimes where they were from. People have continued to carve their names in the cliffs, and some of the area is completely covered, every square inch. A fence has been erected around part of the area to preserve the historical names. It is quite an interesting piece of history and would be an exciting find if one of your ancestors traveled that way. The historic names range from about 1830 to 1905. Worth seeing.
Being from the East, I didn't even know anyplace like this existed. Reading the old dated names chiseled into the rocks is amazing and thought provoking to say the least. It's a shame that people that have come along since those pioneers went through this area, thought they had to carve their own names and dates over many of the old ones. I guess true history doesn't mean as much as having their own name on a rock. I would highly suggest anyone going to this area to check this out as well as the wagon trails nearby.