Moving day 1: Martin's Cove, Independence Rock, Casper Wyoming

On our first day after leaving Utah, we drove up through Wyoming on our way to Mt Rushmore. We stopped at Martin's Cove and Independence Rock. Martin's Cove is a special place for members of my church and more specifically my family. In 1856, during the trek westward by pioneers, a group of Mormon immigrants from Europe called the Martin Handcart Company left for Utah pulling all of their worldly possessions in handcarts. Due to delays in their ship leaving Europe, they ended up leaving much later than anticipated and suffered delays and breakdowns throughout their journey. A wagon company with freight for the settlements in Utah followed them with supplies. My 3-great grandfather was a teamster for this company and my 3 great grandmother traveled with him. This is how they were able to afford getting to Utah from Denmark, having sent all of their other children(except my 2 great grandfather, Mads) on before them. An early and harsh winter storm hit, stranding them in a barren area of Wyoming, starving and unsheltered from the elements, unable to move forward. A rescue party was sent out from Utah to rescue these stranded pioneers, but as the scouts from the rescue party arrived, another storm hit and they were forced to bunker down in a little cove, now called Martin's Cove. The wagons and my family stayed about a mile away at Devil's Gate. My grandfather became sick and succumbed to the elements while there. Over 25% of those pioneers died, and many of the rest had limbs amputated and suffered residual ailments for the rest of their lives. This area and museum now stand as a tribute to the tragedy that occurred here.

Devil's Gate, where my grandfather died.

Independence Rock. Did you know all of the cool things from Oregon Trail are in Wyoming? Neither did I! I planning on having us do Chimney Rock too, but then I saw that it would add an extra 3 hours to the trip and it's really small from all of the weathering.

You can still see the wagon tracks from all the wagons cutting through the praire

So the biggest disappointment of the rock, you know how you always hear about how the pioneers carved their names in the rock? Well, it's so windy and harsh there that all of names have worn off. The letters in the picture that you can read if you squint are from 1900 and were carved about 2 inches deep into the rock.