Wyoming, Fremont County, near South Pass City
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A region rich in history. A city rich in gold. From 1812 to 1868 this open country at the end of the Wind River Mountains provided a passage - the only passage - through the Rocky Mountain barrier of the Continental Divide for some 500,000 westering Americans. Through this Great South Pass came the Mountain Men, fur trappers and traders, explorers, missionaries, pioneers in covered wagons traversing the Oregon, California and Mormon trails, overland stage coaches, military expeditions, and Pony Express riders.
In 1866, however, traffic on the great trails had dwindled with the anticipated completion of the transcontinental railroad. Then, in 1867, gold was discovered on Willow Creek. The rush was on. By 1869 more than 30 mines were in operation and some 3,000 people populated the region. The instant towns of South Pass City, Atlantic City and Miners Delight were rip-roaring and wide open for business.
This lusty, male-dominated mining district became the unlikely center of a move for female suffrage when it elected William H. Bright, a South Pass City miner and saloon keeper, to the first Wyoming Territorial Council in Cheyenne. Bright introduced a Female Suffrage Act that gave all adult Wyoming women the right to vote and hold public office. The Act was passed by the legislative body and signed into law on December 10, 1869, making Wyoming the first official government in the country to grant equal rights to women.
The mining boom went bust in the 1870s, and the population moved on to the next bonanza. The towns became near ghosts, although some limited mining activity continued. Today the region is operated as a Historic Mining District by the Bureau of Land Management. South Pass City, two miles south, is a Wyoming State Historic Site.
(Civil Rights • Roads & Vehicles • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
A region rich in history. A city rich in gold. From 1812 to 1868 this open country at the end of the Wind River Mountains provided a passage - the only passage - through the Rocky Mountain barrier of the Continental Divide for some 500,000 westering Americans. Through this Great South Pass came the Mountain Men, fur trappers and traders, explorers, missionaries, pioneers in covered wagons traversing the Oregon, California and Mormon trails, overland stage coaches, military expeditions, and Pony Express riders. In 1866, however, traffic on the great trails had dwindled with the anticipated completion of the transcontinental railroad. Then, in 1867, gold was discovered on Willow Creek. The rush was on. By 1869 more than 30 mines were in operation and some 3,000 people populated the region. The instant towns of South Pass City, Atlantic City and Miners Delight were rip-roaring and wide open for business.
This lusty, male-dominated mining district became the unlikely center of a move for female suffrage when it elected William H. Bright, a South Pass City miner and saloon keeper, to the first Wyoming Territorial Council in Cheyenne. Bright introduced a Female Suffrage Act that gave all adult Wyoming women the right to vote and hold public office. The Act was passed by the legislative body and signed into law on December 10, 1869, making Wyoming the first official government in the country to grant equal rights to women.
The mining boom went bust in the 1870s, and the population moved on to the next bonanza. The towns became near ghosts, although some limited mining activity continued. Today the region is operated as a Historic Mining District by the Bureau of Land Management. South Pass City, two miles south, is a Wyoming State Historic Site.
(Civil Rights • Roads & Vehicles • Settlements & Settlers) Includes location, directions, 2 photos, GPS coordinates, map.
was established to protect from Indians the gold mining camps of South Pass City, Atlantic City, Miners’ Delight, and others. It was named for 1st Lt. Charles B. Stambaugh, 2nd Cavalry, U.S.A. who was shot from his horse by Indians when defending a freighting party, May 4, 1870. Site about 6 miles East.
The complex that includes the McElroy-Severn House/Stagecoach House and Onion Creek Post Office occupies a 51-acre tract of land on a high bluff above a branch leading into Onion Creek, about a quarter mile east of Buda. The post office and stagecoach served the area's residents and people traveling on the Old San Antonio Road beginning in 1875. Once mail service moved to the new railroad town of DuPre (Buda) in 1880, the former station house was converted to a private residence and served as headquarters for a family ranching operations for more than a century.
Development Committee
Thousands rushed to the South Pass area following the find of substantial gold deposits at the Carissa Mine in 1867. As the boom gained steam, the Carissa sat at the center of mining development, serving as the primary economic force for South Pass City. Eventually, the gold played out and the Carissa’s mining technology reached its limit. As a result, the Carissa closed, contributing to the gold bust and the decline of South Pass City in the 1870s. 
Founded 1868 
Emigrant travelers on their way west likely discovered small amounts of gold in the 1840’s, but it took until 1868 for the first mining claims to be staked. Word of the new gold rush spread and the summer of 1868 brought an influx of people from every corner of the globe to partake in the bonanza. A torrent of mining activity followed for the next several years. In 1869 South Pass City, with perhaps 3,000 people, was Wyoming Territory’s second largest town. 
In 1858, this ancient path, which had been used by Indians, explorers and mountain men as a short cut to the Snake River country was developed by Frederick Lander in to an alternate route on the Oregon Trail. What is commonly called the Lander Trail or Lander Cut-Off starts 9 miles to the southeast at Burnt Ranch (directly behind this sign), crosses the Sweetwater River 6 miles to the northwest, and continued along Lander Creek for 13 miles to the Continental Divide at Little Sandy Creek, the headwaters of the Pacific Ocean. From there it travels west across the Green River Valley, the Wyoming Range, and the Salt River Range before entering present-day Idaho. The Cut-Off rejoins the original Oregon Trail near Fort Hall. 
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named for the Carvell family who 
named for James Peake, 
Born in Charlottetown, Davies studied law at the Inner Temple and was admitted to the bar in 1867. A member of the Legislative Assembly (1872-9) and Premier for the last three years of that period, he defended the rights of tenant farmers while working towards the resolution of the land tenure question. He was equally effective in serving the interests of his country as counsel to the International Fisheries Commission at Halifax in 1877. Member of the House of Commons (1882-1901) and Minister of Marine and Fisheries in 1896, he was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1901 and became Chief Justice in 1918. He died in Ottawa.
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