‘Oregon Trail Ruts’ Of Wyoming Are Still So Clear To See

On the old Oregon Trail, there's a special place about one half mile south of Guernsey, Wyoming. As if the 1800s were yesterday, you can still see the Oregon Trail Ruts.

Knowing how far back in history they date – as the real first Lincoln Highway – you have to wonder how the ruts have stayed preserved to this day. We know they were carved by thousands of steel wagon wheels, but have you ever thought about how those wheels were cutting ruts out of solid rock?

Let's think about it in terms of 19th century culture. In Wyoming in general, there was so much wagon traffic that wagon wheel ruts were all over the state, and they too, still exist to this day - wherever highways and interstates aren't paved over them.

We think of I-80 in the winter as tough sledding. Do you ever look at the terrain on either side of the interstate, and think of how our ancestors came through here? Do you think, "How did they do it!"

The first thing that always comes to my mind is, "V e r y  s l o w l y."