sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

cliff and featured key navigational landmark prominently listed in the 19th century guidebooks about the

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in North America that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon Territory. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail crossed what ...

, 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 terrainsgeographically, it is on the eastern ascent of the Continental Divide leading upward out of the

Great Plains The Great Plains is a broad expanse of plain, flatland in North America. The region stretches east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, and grassland. They are the western part of the Interior Plains, which include th ...

in the east of the U.S. state of

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

. It is notable as a historic landmark for 'registering' hundreds of emigrants on the Oregon Trail (thus also the other northern Emigrant Trails that split off farther west such as the California Trail and Mormon Trail) who came to follow custom and inscribed their names on its rocks during the western migrations of the 19th century. An estimated 500,000 emigrants used these trails from 1843 to 1869, with up to one-tenth dying along the way, usually due to disease. Register Cliff is the easternmost of the three prominent emigrant "recording areas" located within Wyoming, the other two being Independence Rock and Names Hill. The site was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1969. According to its nomination, the site was where emigrants would camp on their first night west of Fort Laramie. The property was donated by Henry Frederick to the state of Wyoming, to be preserved.

Geology

limestone Limestone is a type of carbonate rock, carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material Lime (material), lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different Polymorphism (materials science) ...

wall rising more than above the North Platte River. It consists of The horizontal layers of sedimentary rocks eroded by the river. Level grass plains run from the cliff to the river. Primary erosion was by water and the continuing effects of wind and rain have little changed its features.Register Cliff; Bill Barnhart; Wyoming Recreation Commission; National Park Service, Washington D.C.; April 3, 1970

Gallery

File:Register Cliff P7180360.jpg, Register Cliff File:Register Cliff Oregon-California Trail Wyoming.JPG, Close up of signatures File:RegisterCliffByPhilKonstantin.jpg, State marker and Register Cliff

References

External links

Register Cliff State Historic Site
Wyoming State Parks, Historic Sites & Trails

Wyoming State Historic Preservation Office

Wyoming State Library {{Authority control California Trail Mormon Trail Oregon Trail Protected areas of Platte County, Wyoming Wyoming state historic sites Inscribed rocks Road transportation on the National Register of Historic Places Natural features on the National Register of Historic Places in Wyoming National Register of Historic Places in Platte County, Wyoming

Geology

Gallery

See also

References

External links