As the federally funded road built west of the Mississippi, the Lander Road played an important role in emigrant travel. Beginning in 1858, emigrants used this 256-mile alternate route. This saved them up to seven days of travel, bypassed ferry charges & other tolls, & avoided many dangerous places, such as the southern Green River crossing & desolate sections of desert.
*Caption: The Lander Road can be seen to the left of the fence-line. Take the path leaving from the left of this sign for a great view of the Lander Road.

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This site is a crossing of the Lander Cut-off, the northern fork of the Oregon Trail. Originally called the Fort Kearney-South Pass-Honey Lake Wagon Road when it opened in 1858, it was the first federally-funded road project west of the Mississippi River.
F.W. Lander mapped this new route, shortening the trip to the Pacific by 5 days and avoiding a ferry crossing to the south where price gouging was alleged. Sand Springs was the only reliable water available to emigrants between Muddy Creek, 8 miles to the east, and the New Fork River, 10 miles to the west. Until the coming of the railroad in 1869, up to 300 wagons and thousands of cattle, horses and mules may have passed here in a day. The trail ruts visible behind this sign and continuing over the next ridge are reminders of the largest known voluntary migration in world history.

From homesteading in the 1880s until use of the automobile in the 1920s, Sand Springs remained an important watering hole for travelers and stock on the north/south New Fork to Rock Springs wagon road.

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Dominated by sagebrush grasslands, the "high cold desert" provides habitat for one of the largest pronghorn antelope herds in the world. This region is home to 40,000 to 60,000 antelope, known as the Sublette Herd. The pronghorn has keen eyesight and the ability to run up to 60 miles an hour.
As you travel this highway, small groups of the herd can be viewed during the late spring and summer. As the fall season turns into winter and snow begins to cover their food sources, thousands of pronghorn begin migrating south to open areas to feed. One of the longest big game migrations in North America, some segments of the herd migrate up to two hundred miles. From as far north as Grand Teton National Park, south to Rock Springs, much of the migration parallels this highway - a route favored both by pronghorn and humans.

The Sublette herd survive the harsh conditions of the "high cold desert" by travelling long distances, therefore an open migration route is crucial to their survival.
*Big Sandy in background

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Born in 1822 to a prominent Massachusetts family, Lander became a respected engineer by his early thirties. He surveyed and oversaw construction for a section of the Pacific Wagon Road known today as the Lander Road. Mount Lander in the Wind River Range and the town of Lander, Wyoming also carry Lander’s name.

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*Excuse the Photo~Marker in Direct Sunlight

“Good Water, Abundance of Grass,” and Natural Gas! Caption: Lander Road and the Wyoming Range as seen from the Pinedale Anticline.

Lander Road Superintendent Frederick W. Lander chose this route, and emigrants followed it, because of the abundance of resources found along what became known as the Lander Road.
Little did these pioneers know that below them lay an even larger natural bounty - a natural gas field that would one day be an important source of domestic energy.

The Pinedale Anticline
The California Company drilled the first well in the Pinedale Anticline in 1939, finding natural gas but not all the oil they sought. They plugged the hole and left. Development of the field began in earnest in the 1990s. Experts estimate the field can supply enough energy for 30 million homes for more than 30 years.
Preservation Through Mitigation

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages public lands for multiple uses and must strike a balance between competing interests. The BLM, therefore, must mitigate for degradation to the Lander Road’s historic setting due to energy development - in other words, the public must be compensated for an impact to this resource.

New Fork River Crossing Historical Park

The New Fork River Crossing Historical Park was created in August 2010 as mitigation for energy development impacts to the Lander Road. Shell, Ultra Resources, and PacifiCorp made the park possible by providing funds to purchase the property. Sublette County Historical Society now manages the park.

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