View Full List of National Register: Wyoming Listings

Archaeological investigations of the Bridger Antelope Trap was conducted by Dr. George Frison of the University of Wyoming in the late 1960s. At that time it was estimated that the trap was probably in use prior to 1850. The site provides evidence of a unique example of food procurement on the Northwestern Plains. The method used by Native Americans of the Late Prehistoric Period was to drive a herd of antelope into the long entrance or wing of the trap which was constructed of juniper wood, and head them toward the trap proper which was located at the base of a hill. This part of the trap was a circle, an endless path around which the antelope were driven until they were exhausted and dispatched by the hunters. The circle was also formed by juniper wood. The Antelope Trap itself covers approximately twenty-six acres. The arc-shaped wing or entrance to the trap is about one-quarter of a mile in length and extends in a northeast-southwest direction across a smooth valley. The trap proper forms an extension of the wing and is about 700 feet in diameter.

National Register form available upon request.