Recently, SCLT installed signs along the Tongue River Water Trail which highlight historic events, themes, and figures nearby. On this #TBT, we take out at Sheltered Acres Park and learn about early settlement in the Sheridan area.
Big Goose and Little Goose Creeks were named by early settlers traveling through this area for the numerous wild geese found in this migratory habitat. The town of Sheridan started out as a farming community and the relatively low elevation offered a more moderate climate and a possible longer growing season than the rest of the State of Wyoming.
Prior to the founding of Sheridan in 1882, the Goose Creek Valley was sporadically inhabited by European trappers and hay contractors. More permanent settlers began appearing by 1877. In the late 1870s, the Patrick brothers (Matthew and Algernon) operated an early stagecoach route along the old Bozeman Trail and founded the PK Ranch on Soldier Creek that is west of Sheridan. An 1880 census record indicates that 72 people were living along Big and Little Goose Creeks.
Join us next week as we launch downstream to continue learning the history of the Tongue River Water Trail.
Special thanks to the Sheridan County Fulmer Library, Wyoming Room.
Photo: Sheridan Main St.1892, Sheridan Lodge 8, Ancient & Accepted Freemasons of Wyoming, The Wyoming Room Sheridan County Fulmer Public Library
