For this #TBT we will start a series following the historic stagecoach routes in Sheridan County from 1878 to 1894.
The routes and history of the cross-county stage roads were determined by the railroads from the beginning.
The route began as a connection between Rock Creek, Wyoming, on the Union Pacific Railroad, and the settlements on the Yellowstone River in Montana.
The first stage road in Sheridan County appears on the 1880-81 General Land Office survey plat. It was designated star postal service Route No. 37110 by the U.S. Post Office department from 1878-1882. The route of the first stage road followed the 1867-68 military route of the Bozeman Trail from the base of Fetterman Ridge to Big Horn, General George Crook’s 1876 route from Big Horn to Sheridan, and the 1864-66 emigrant route of the Bozeman Trail from Sheridan to the Montana state line. The second stage road was a county road that was platted in 1882, but it was not used as a cross-county stage route until 1885. Meanwhile, the star postal service route designation had been changed in 1883 to route 37109. The second stage road follow the same route as the first to Big Horn, but from there it went over the 1867-68 military route of the Bozeman Trail to the Montana line, intersecting the first road about two miles south of the state line.
Book a seat next week to learn more details about the sights and stops along this route.
Special thanks to the Sheridan County Historic Preservation Commission and Susan Badger Doyle.
PHOTO: Map from interpretive signs placed by the Sheridan County Historic Preservation Commission.
