By the end of 1868 the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad, part of a transcontinental transportation artery, was completed through southern Wyoming. Thus the territory, and later the state, was provided a stimulus for growth. Central Wyoming had to wait until 1906 for a railroad, and it was the Chicago and North Western that first arrived. On August 15, 1906, two weeks before Chicago and North Western construction crews reached Riverton, Wyoming, 1,600 homesteads in the Wind River Valley were opened up for 7,240 claimants who won the right to draw for them.

Among the first supplies shipped to Riverton was lumber for construction of a new depot. Completed in 1907, the depot became part of a transportation system that played a vital role in the agricultural and industrial development of the Wind River Valley. Not only did the Chicago and North Western Railroad provide transportation for raw materials produced, and supplies used, in the valley, it created a need for coal that was mined at places such as Hudson, and for wood and ties which were procured near the head of the Wind River. Originally, the depot housed a Railway Express Agency office, a storage room, men's waiting room, clerk's office, women's waiting room, and living quarters containing bathroom, dressing room, bedroom, kitchen and dining room, and living room.

During the 1880s Chief Washakie, leader of the Shoshone people on the Wind River Reservation, gave 160 acres of irrigated farm land to the Rev. John Roberts. The gift was for the purpose of establishing a mission and a missionary school. In 1889 Rev. Roberts began construction of the Georgian Mansion style building which at first housed the school for Shoshone girls (classrooms, kitchen, dining hall and dormitory) and later became the control center and chief meeting place for all the mission's activities. The building was completed in 1890.

South Pass City was the most important town established during the short-lived period of discovery and development in Wyoming's Sweetwater gold mining district. Laid out in 1867 the City reached its pinnacle about 1870 after which it steadily declined in stature and importance. In all, an estimated seven million dollars worth of precious metal was produced from the mines in the South Pass City region. The town derives its name from the famous landmark of South Pass, located just ten miles to the southwest.

Thousands of people traveled through the South Pass region during the era of overland migration; however, this phase of American history is only indirectly related to that of South Pass City. More important to South Pass City is its association with the ''woman suffrage'' movement in the United States and its relationship to the early development of the State of Wyoming. Mrs. Esther Morris encouraged South Pass City legislator William H. Bright to introduce a bill that would give women the right to vote and hold office. The passage of that bill made Wyoming the first territory in the United States to grant the franchise to women. Wyoming Territory attained the additional distinction of having the first woman ever appointed as a Justice of the Peace. At South Pass City Mrs. Morris succeeded incumbent Justice James Stillman. Starting February 14, 1870 Esther Morris presided over thirty-four cases at South Pass City before turning over the office to a new Justice on November 14, 1870. Only a few major original buildings remain at the South Pass City site on land administered by the State of Wyoming.

Carissa Building: In June 1867 the Carissa Lode was discovered near South Pass by a party of Mormons. It was the richest strike up to that date in the area. In 1868 Mr. Gaston built a general store on Main Street, the site which later became that of the Carissa Building. The building housed the Carissa saloon.

Esther Morris Cabin:The Esther Morris home and office site is located on lot number thirty-eight on South Pass Avenue, at the east end of the street along which is situated the cluster of building remnants of the town of South Pass City. The cabin itself, before its removal, was a four or five room log structure.

Exchange Bank and Recorder's Office:The Exchange Bank and Recorder's Office buildings date to about 1868. The Recorder's Office or ''Card Room'', as it is more popularly called, no longer stands west of the Exchange Bank, having been dismantled. The Exchange Bank operated for two years until 1870. In 1875 the Bank was purchased by the Sherlock family and the building remained under their ownership until 1948. The Bank was converted by the Sherlocks to a saloon. The Recorder's Office housed the county recorder, a real estate agency, lawyer, and sign painter. When the Exchange Bank became a saloon around 1890 the Recorder's Office became a room for card players.

Grecian Bend Saloon:Completed in 1889, the building is a frame structure with three interior rooms--a bar room, a store room, and an office. It was constructed by Mrs. Janet Sherlock who had owned the adjacent hotel since 1873. Mrs. Sherlock put a restaurant in the Grecian Bend and operated the two businesses, hotel and restaurant, to serve the needs of the prosperous mining community. She conducted this business until 1948.

Houghton-Colter General Store:The firm of Houghton and Colter, dealers in miners' supplies, built one of the first stores in South Pass City in 1867. In the early 1870s James Smith bought the building and continued to operate it as a store. Smith married Janet Sherlock, and when he died she ran the store until the last decade of the nineteenth century. In that decade the building to the west of the Houghton-Colter Store, the Smith-Sherlock Store was built and the Houghton-Colter Store was put to use as a warehouse until 1948.

Jean Chipp Cabin:The Jean Chipp Cabin is a one-story frame building on Dakota Street in South Pass City. It may be the second miner's residence to have been constructed in the boom town. The exact history of the building cannot be traced. It is known that Mrs. Chipp, a resident of Rock Springs, Wyoming, used the building as a summer cabin for about thirty years.

South Pass City Schoolhouse: The first public schoolhouse in South Pass City was located on South Pass Avenue. Construction began soon after the organization of Wyoming Territory in 1869 and the school was taught by Mr. James Stillman in early 1870. It was a one room log structure which remained standing until at least 1910. It is possible that sometime after that, a fire swept the town and destroyed the school house. Only the foundation remains.

Sherlock Hotel:The Sherlock Hotel was built in 1868 by W. C. Ervin. After completion Ervin sold the hotel to David Sherwood who named it the Idaho House. In 1869 the hotel passed back into Ervin's hands and he named it the South Pass Hotel. In the boom years of 1869-70 it was one of the leading centers of South Pass City life. In 1873 the hotel passed into the hands of Mrs. Janet Sherlock and remained in ownership of the family until 1948.

South Pass served as the primary mountain gateway to the West for emigrants traveling the Oregon Trail during the great westward migration of the mid-nineteenth century. It was at this site that the route traversed the Continental Divide and deposited the emigrant traveler into what was considered to be the beginning of ''Oregon Country.'' The area known as South Pass is located in west-central Wyoming, approximately ten miles southwest of South Pass City in Fremont County. The pass itself is located on the northwest edge of the Wyoming Basin--a desert-like geographical feature which extends south for 150 miles and forms a complete break in the Rocky Mountain chain. While it was feasible to cross at any point along this 150 mile break, wagon trains of emigrants traveled through South Pass because of its numerous creeks and the availability of water in an otherwise dry desert terrain.

The divide at South Pass is rimmed on the north by the Wind River Range, and on the south by barren hills, creating a broad, sagebrush-covered plain some twenty miles wide. The pass through the mountains was so gradual in its ascent that most emigrants were not fully aware of having crossed the Continental Divide until they had reached Pacific Springs three miles beyond the summit. It was there that travelers could observe for the first time water flowing west toward the Pacific Ocean, signifying their crossing over the pass and into Oregon Country.

The Split Rock Archaeological Site is a buried multiple component aboriginal campsite located in the Holocene terraces south of the Sweetwater River. The major component at this site, in terms of both quantity of recovered materials and importance to developing archaeological theories, represented the Early Plains Archaic Period. Prominent to the significance of this site was the 1984 investigation of five housepit features and two additional activity or occupation features associated with the Early Plains Archaic component.

National Register form available upon request.

The Diamond A or Spring Ranch is historically significant for its association with pioneer ranching in Fremont County. It retains fourteen well-preserved and finely-crafted stone, log, and wood frame buildings, many of which were constructed by David Williamson, a stonemason known throughout the region who also constructed many stone buildings for Wyoming towns, Fort Washakie, and nearby ranches. The log homestead cabin dates possibly as early as 1891. The main ranch house was constructed in several separate building episodes, the earliest dating from 1903. The Diamond A Ranch has operated continuously as a cattle and/or horse ranch for over one hundred years.

National Register form available upon request.

During the later part of the 19th century it was government policy to divide Indian missionary work among the several churches that carried on such services. Both the Catholic Church and the Episcopal Church were invited to commence such labors on the Wind River Reservation and both Churches made provisions to serve both the Shoshone and the Arapahoe tribes.

About 1887 at a location east of Fort Washakie, the Reverend John Roberts started a small mission to serve the Arapahoes. This mission was given the name St. Michael's but the post office and community are called Ethete. Complete records of construction of individual buildings at St. Michael's Mission have not been located. Probably about 1900 the Episcopal Church built a small log church at a site some three miles removed from the present Mission location. Between 1910 and 1917, the buildings around the oval were built and in 1920 the old church was moved to its present site. Although the Mission is called St. Michael's, the church itself is named Church of Our Father's House--this being the English approximation of the Arapahoes' medium to denote God and a place of worship.

T Cross Ranch is a well-preserved example of a late 19th century dude ranch. The engineering, construction techniques, and materials contribute to the historical context of the district’s architecture. As a uniquely American form of recreation, the dude or guest ranch arose late in the 19th century. The dude ranch concept reached its peak between the 1930s and the 1950s, with a brief downturn during World War II. Since then, several factors have combined to cause many historic dude ranches to close over time. In the Dubois area, however, T Cross and a few others have endured and thrived by offering a traditional, classic dude ranch experience.

The T Cross Ranch Rural Historic District is situated in a subalpine valley at 7800 feet within the Horse Creek watershed of the Absaroka Mountains. Horse Creek bisects the 160-acre homestead, which lies within the Shoshone National Forest at the edge of the largest roadless area in the lower 48 states. The District is 15 miles north of the town of Dubois and 2 miles south of the Washakie Wilderness area.

The contributing buildings, structures, sites, and objects date from 1919 to 1946, with the exception of a simple cabin built by the first but unsuccessful homesteader, Ernest O. Hadden. T Cross Ranch buildings are concentrated in the northwest quadrant of the District, placed on a north/south axis facing east toward two large pastures straddling Horse Creek. The Lodge and cabins are concentrated to the north end of this axis and the barns and corrals to the south end. Staff quarters are interspersed among other buildings from the Lodge to the Long Shed.

Most of the log buildings are representative of the Rocky Mountain cabin style [Preservation Briefs No. 26. p. 4]. This is a regional adaptation of traditional log buildings suited to the heavy snowfalls of the mountains. Doorways are recessed under the eaves of extended gabled roofs and open onto wide porches, which in some cases are walled on the ends. Thus doorways, any flanking windows, and occupants are protected from falling and drifting snow and from ice sliding off the roofs. The ubiquitous use of purlins for the porch roofs reflects Scandinavian construction, perhaps due to the ethnicity of the two Swedish hands hired by Seipt. With the exception of the Lodge and Ranch Office, all cabins face east and their rear elevations are to the west — the direction from which most storms come. The east-facing porches capture the warming rays of the morning sun as it climbs above the 10,000-foot Elkhorn Ridge.

The T Cross Ranch Rural Historic District’s period of significance extends from 1918 to 1957. The District was permanently settled in 1918 when German immigrant and naturalized citizen Henry Seipt claimed it as a homestead, named it The Hermitage, and moved his family there. He began building structures to support recreational activities and operated the property as a hunting and fishing destination. In 1929 Robert and Helen Cox bought the property, renamed it T Cross Ranch, and began dude ranch operations. They built additional structures to support this form of recreation. T Cross was run as a dude ranch through the end of the period of significance, 1957, and continues to be a dude ranch up to the present day.

The District is eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A, specifically under the category of Entertainment/Recreation. The District’s historical import stems from its embodiment of a quintessentially American form of recreation — the dude ranch—and the intact physical integrity of the District makes it an excellent example. Factors contributing to the District’s current state of preservation include the remoteness of its location, the protection afforded it as an inholding within the Shoshone National Forest, the dedication of its owners to preserving it, and the loyalty of several generations of guests. As a result, the District is also eligible under Criterion C. The District’s buildings, structures, sites, and objects are well-preserved examples late 19th century American West ranch architectural styles. The engineering, construction techniques and materials, their placement within the District, and the uniformity of appearance all contribute to the historical context of the District’s architecture.

The Torrey Lake Club/Ranch Historic District, built as a pleasure resort at the mouth of Torrey Lake in the 1920s, is comprised of grazing land and small groups of cabins, corrals, and bunk houses. The district consists of about 603 acres which includes thirteen contributing resources, including nine cabins, a footbridge, two privies, and a meat house. The nine contributing cabins were built by members of the Torrey Lake Club and were placed to minimize alternation of terrain and intrusion into the natural character of the site. Generally, the cabins are all distinctive one-story log buildings of a simple rectangular plan with gable roofs, and they rest on stone foundations. Dave Williamson, a stonemason from Scotland and an early settler in the Wind River Valley, built the fireplaces and did the stonework. The Torrey Lake Club/Ranch is the only known ''Club'' established with a homestead patent as a recreational resort, and formed by and for the benefit of a close association of friends led by John R. Boardman.

The Torrey Lake Petroglyph District is an extensive, discontinuous grouping of predominantly pecked rock art extending approximately 5.2 km (3.2 mi.) along the Torrey Creek Drainage. About 175 petroglyphs, 11 lithic scatters, and a probable prehistoric drive line/sheep trap have been identified within the district. Three panels within a radius of about 100 meters and containing about 35 individual figures form the largest grouping of petroglyphs. With few exceptions the Torrey Lake petroglyphs are representative of the ''Interior Line Style'' of pecked petroglyphs, consisting of surrealistic anthropomorphs and abstract designs. The best known examples of this distinctive rock art style are found about 15 km (9 mi.) to the east at the Dinwoody type site. The rock art is locally referred to as the Dinwoody style. Largely due to the surrealistic nature of much of the Dinwoody style rock art, it has been speculated that they are the product of shamanistic activity. Dinwoody style petroglyphs are found in a relatively restricted geographic area comprising the western Wind River Basin and southwestern Big Horn Basin of north-central Wyoming. The chronology and cultural association(s) of the Dinwoody style are poorly understood at present, with estimated dates ranging from the Protohistoric period to the Early Plains Archaic. Recent advances in absolute dating methods for petroglyphs promise to clarify the chronology and perhaps suggest cultural affiliation(s) for these and other petroglyph styles.

National Register form available upon request.

The Twin Pines Lodge and Cabin Camp, as it was called in 1941, is an interesting combination of tourist cabins and a small, exceptionally well crafted, log lodge. Local businessman O.E. Stringer started a basic cabin camp with small frame cabins in 1929. As his business flourished, new cabins and service buildings became more elaborate and he chose a rustic style of log architecture. The lodge, finished in 1941, is an excellent regional example of log architecture with arts and crafts detailing.

Union Pass is a strategically located passageway through the mountains of northwestern Wyoming. The pass location, at an elevation of 9,210 feet, is in a hub or core area from which three great Wyoming mountain ranges rise in gradually ascending elevations to heights of 13,000 feet or more as they radiate in three separate directions--the Wind River Range to the southeast, the Gros Ventre Range to the west and the Absaroka Range to the north. The Union Pass area, some 4,000 feet lower than mountains surrounding it on all sides, offers an easy common passageway among the headwaters of three great river systems, the Colorado, the Columbia and the Missouri. It was an important mountain crossing, north and south as well as east and west in both historic and prehistoric times.

Welty's General Store was first established in 1889 on the east side of Horse Creek due north of what is now the town of Dubois. It was built by Frank A. Welty I to adjoin the homestead cabin of his father, Dr. Francis Welty. In 1897, George Hays and Juey Yeomans formed a partnership and built a store in the town of Dubois just north of the junction of Horse Creek and Wind River. Soon this was to be the new site of Welty's General Store. In 1898 Frank Welty purchased the Hays-Yeomans business, dismantled the original Welty's General Store, and reconstructed it as a rear addition to the Hays-Yeomans building. Since 1889, Welty's General Store has provided vital and varied services to homesteaders, ranchers, tie hacks and other settlers of the Upper Wind River Valley. Having truly been a ''general store'' since its founding, Welty's has always been the hub of commercial activity in the area. Welty's also provided the residents of the valley with fundamental banking, transportation and postal services.

The Old Wind River (Trout Creek) Blockhouse, built in 1871, is one of the oldest, intact standing structures in Wyoming. It figures prominently in Eastern Shoshone oral history regarding the earliest occupation of the Wind River Indian Reservation by Chief Washakie and his affiliated bands.

The forty bridges in this thematic study are the best of their types which were still in use on the state and county road systems in Wyoming when the study was completed in 1982. Selected from a statewide survey of all functional vehicular trusses and arches using a specific evaluation criteria and methodology, most represent superlatives of their generic engineering types (i.e. truss configuration and connection types) while typifying bridgebuilding and transportation trends in the state. All were built in the first three decades of the twentieth century (1905-1935). Although bridges were put up during the earlier periods of overland wagon emigration, they had not begun to proliferate in the state of Wyoming until the early twentieth century with the emergence of the automobile as a principal form of transportation. All the listed bridges display a remarkable homogeneity of construction and operational histories. Generally, county-built trusses were contracted through competitive bidding among several Midwestern bridge erectors and built from standardized designs using prefabricated components. After creation of the Wyoming Highway Department in 1917, the role of the counties in truss bridge construction diminished. The later highway department bridges were typically designed from standard plans maintained by the department and built by local contractors from components fabricated in the same Midwestern foundries.

One feature that all steel truss bridges shared was their versatility. Quickly erected, they could also be dismantled and moved if necessary. Many county road bridges in Wyoming had begun service as railroad bridges, sold or given to the counties as obsolete structures. Similarly, early highway bridges which had become unsuitable to handle increasing volumes of traffic were sometimes replaced with new trusses, with the older bridges demoted to places along less traveled roads. After World War II, new trussbuilding was rare in Wyoming. Today trusses have been largely superseded by more sophisticated engineering designs and are seldom erected. The remaining highway and roadway truss bridges are remnants of past technologies, whose numbers are continually dwindling through attrition.