Greetings,
Once again, my update is delayed due to intermittent cell phone service.
June 25, 2011 – Farson to Granger Wyoming – Today we rode along the Big Sandy River out of Farson to Lombard Crossing on the Green River and then on to Granger Wyoming. Along the Big Sandy we traveled through several sections with deep ruts from the pioneer wagons. Many times the trail appears to be another two-track road through the sagebrush but at other times you can look and see just how deep the pioneer wagons dug into the earth. Along the Big Sandy we stopped to water the horses at two very obvious meadows along the river. If the meadows were there 150 years ago, then the meadows were undoubtedly pioneer camps along the trail. We also rode past the place where a US Army wagon train was burned by the Mormons during the Mormon conflicts in 1857. The conflicts were eventually resolved by Brigham Young years later leading to Utah statehood. We were told that burning the US Army wagon train led to the demise of the firm Russell, Waddell, and Majors, the firm that bankrolled and operated the Pony Express.
Last night while out walking, I saw two men leading pack horses heading into camp. It turns out that the two men were on a multi-week mountain man trek across the same trails. The two modern-day mountain men left Independence Rock a few days ahead of us and are heading to a rendezvous in NE Utah. The two men, Scott "Doc" Olson, and Oliver McCloskey, ride about 30 miles per day, feed their horses on trail grasses, and travel across the country much the same as men did in the 1830s and 1840s. There we still some mountain men in the 1860s during the Pony Express operation and seeing them, like seeing the Mormon handcart companies, added an element of reality to our travels across the Pony Express trail.
The two took the time to show Cindy and I their pack contents and their tack. We were impressed with the pack saddle tree made partially from elk horns, their buffalo skins, their Navajo saddle blankets, their period clothing, and their way of travel. Everything was authentic, circa 1835. Their travel was another confirmation to me that thirty miles per day is a good pace that a horse can keep up indefinitely. Meeting the two mountain men was an unexpected surprise just as it was a surprise to meet one friend of theirs a year ago when I was on horseback on the Strawberry Fields ride in the Uinta Mountains in NE Utah.
Early this morning the men watched our group head out on the trail and asked, "Why are they doing this ride?" Cindy explained that some, if not most, seem to be riding the 2011 XP for American Endurance Riding Conference points and standings and that we have different motivations. She mentioned that we have taken the time to ride our horses to the bank of the Missouri River, we hope to go on and finish the trail in California, that we rode to the Narrows outside of Oak Nebraska, we hiked to the top of Register Rock, and that we have taken many other opportunities to experience the history along the trail. One mountain man nodded with understanding and remarked, "Tom is a man of good medicine" which I take as a high complement.
Best Regards,
Tom N
Once again, my update is delayed due to intermittent cell phone service.
June 25, 2011 – Farson to Granger Wyoming – Today we rode along the Big Sandy River out of Farson to Lombard Crossing on the Green River and then on to Granger Wyoming. Along the Big Sandy we traveled through several sections with deep ruts from the pioneer wagons. Many times the trail appears to be another two-track road through the sagebrush but at other times you can look and see just how deep the pioneer wagons dug into the earth. Along the Big Sandy we stopped to water the horses at two very obvious meadows along the river. If the meadows were there 150 years ago, then the meadows were undoubtedly pioneer camps along the trail. We also rode past the place where a US Army wagon train was burned by the Mormons during the Mormon conflicts in 1857. The conflicts were eventually resolved by Brigham Young years later leading to Utah statehood. We were told that burning the US Army wagon train led to the demise of the firm Russell, Waddell, and Majors, the firm that bankrolled and operated the Pony Express.
Last night while out walking, I saw two men leading pack horses heading into camp. It turns out that the two men were on a multi-week mountain man trek across the same trails. The two modern-day mountain men left Independence Rock a few days ahead of us and are heading to a rendezvous in NE Utah. The two men, Scott "Doc" Olson, and Oliver McCloskey, ride about 30 miles per day, feed their horses on trail grasses, and travel across the country much the same as men did in the 1830s and 1840s. There we still some mountain men in the 1860s during the Pony Express operation and seeing them, like seeing the Mormon handcart companies, added an element of reality to our travels across the Pony Express trail.
The two took the time to show Cindy and I their pack contents and their tack. We were impressed with the pack saddle tree made partially from elk horns, their buffalo skins, their Navajo saddle blankets, their period clothing, and their way of travel. Everything was authentic, circa 1835. Their travel was another confirmation to me that thirty miles per day is a good pace that a horse can keep up indefinitely. Meeting the two mountain men was an unexpected surprise just as it was a surprise to meet one friend of theirs a year ago when I was on horseback on the Strawberry Fields ride in the Uinta Mountains in NE Utah.
Early this morning the men watched our group head out on the trail and asked, "Why are they doing this ride?" Cindy explained that some, if not most, seem to be riding the 2011 XP for American Endurance Riding Conference points and standings and that we have different motivations. She mentioned that we have taken the time to ride our horses to the bank of the Missouri River, we hope to go on and finish the trail in California, that we rode to the Narrows outside of Oak Nebraska, we hiked to the top of Register Rock, and that we have taken many other opportunities to experience the history along the trail. One mountain man nodded with understanding and remarked, "Tom is a man of good medicine" which I take as a high complement.
Best Regards,
Tom N
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