Register Cliff

A couple of miles further on from the trail ruts is Register Cliff, part of the same chalk outcrop as the site of the trail ruts.

Here the river passes by in a broad sweep and in the spring, the melting snows would cause the river to flood at places such as here. When the emigrants arrived in summer, there would be a verdant and luxurious growth of grass and so would be an ideal resting place for emigrant parties working their way along the Oregon and California Trail.

Charles A. Guernsey, a pioneer cattleman after whom the nearby town of Guernsey is named, established his ranch buildings a short distance from Register Cliff in the 1890's. Guernsey continued to operate the ranch until 1926, when it was sold to the Henry Frederick family. Frederick began another ranching operation that continues to this day. The cave at the base of the cliff face was initially blasted to use for potatoes raised on the ranch, as the stone walls insulated the produce to keep it from freezing in the winter. Later, it was used for machinery storage.

Frederick gifted a portion of the Register Cliff Historic Site to the State of Wyoming in 1932 to be preserved as a memorial to the spirit and accomplishments of the pioneers.

The photographs show some excellent examples of the signatures on Register Cliff and the cliff is covered with them. In order to prevent overwriting or vandalism from people of the modern era, many of the earlier signatures such as these are now protected behind a chain link fence.

Me standing by a chunk of autographed rock that had fallen off the cliff side...

Along the top of the cliff face were LOTS of bird nests. Look out below!

Four emigrant graves have so far been discovered here, and in the photograph on the left you can see the remains of three of them. They appear not to have been excavated, and so nothing seems to be to be known of the occupants.

One of the first inscriptions on the rock was in 1829. Later, when westward expansion began in earnest, thousands of immigrants traveling along the Oregon, California and Mormon Trails, also stopped to camp at Register Cliff and rest their livestock in the lush pastures near the river. Here, as well as at other "register rocks" all along the trails, the travelers inscribed their names upon the rocks. In many cases, they simply wanted to make a statement that they had passed by, others left their signatures and messages to signal family and friends behind them, the date at which they had reached this point. Some left behind the names of those that they had lost during the hazardous journey.

Register Cliff was the first camp west after leaving Fort Laramie and the pioneers often rested for a day or two here, giving them ample opportunity to carve their names and messages. Though many of the names and dates relate to the peak years of travel along the trail, during the 1840's and 1850's, others date further back to the days when only the trappers and traders ventured into this region. Unfortunately, there are also a number of 20th Century carvings that were made before Register Cliff came under protection as a historic site.

Several signatures have been tracked down by their descendants, including A.A. Withrow, who is thought to have been Abel "Abe" Alderson Withrow (1832-1911), a saddler from Indiana who moved to California. During the Civil War, he was a part of the "Fighting Californians" assigned to the 2nd Massachusetts Cavalry.One of the most poignant signatures belongs to A. H. Unthank. The 19 year-old Alvah Hunt Unthank, headed for the goldfields of California, carved his name into the sandstone in June 23, 1850. A week later he died of cholera on July 2, 1850 and was buried in marked grave outside Glenrock, Wyoming. His gravesite is still intact sitting silently on a hill about five miles east southeast of Glenrock opposite the Dave Johnson Power Plant. Later, Alvah’s relatives would travel the same path. His cousin, O.N. Unthank [Oliver Nixon Unthank], signed the rock beneath his name in 1869, and Oliver’s son, O. B. Unthank, [Oliver Brandon Unthank], signed again in 1931.