Cowboy and trapper houses

I suppose a cowboy may still sleep with their saddle as a pillow if they have to, but more likely there is a remote cabin to keep them out of the elements and away from bears.  (Yes, there are grizzles in the Wyoming mountains—more on that later)

Here is an example

A sturdy little cabin with a wood stove.  I am sure the fence is to keep the horses nearby.  Water is from an enhanced spring.

This is another.  Our hostess, Donieta found numerous arrowheads chips in this area at one time.  On our way back through, there was a rock hunter this day.

One day we ate lunch at a cabin that our hosts, Donieta and Kenneth knew the name of the family once living there.

Wait, they look familiar…

The cabin had nails for hanging probably hides and a mud roof.

  These boots were a nice touch.

Wiggins Fork River was only a few feet away.

It snows early in these mountains.  It would be a hard life to live year around in any of these places.  Beautiful settings in the summer, though.

Teepee or tipi rock rings

There were so many beautiful vistas in the backroads of the Wyoming mountains it is hard to single out just a few pictures.  So, perhaps it is fitting to start this series of posts about our trip with the group of what were probably Shoshone (pronounced with a silent “e”) rock rings.  While not spectacular, they left me in awe of their significance in history.

  With just a simple search, I learned there are perhaps thousands of the rings in Wyoming alone.  Often they are found high, overlooking wide valleys.  This poster was made for a 2004 Wyoming Archeological Awareness Month.  The accompanying article is informative as well.  As long as 5,000 years ago, Plains Indians put the stones around the base of their teepees to keep the the sides from blowing.  As the article points out, “no other site offers a better symbol of the nomadic way of life.”

Here is a better picture showing the group of rings.

This is the view to the right of the picture of only a portion of the valley the teepees overlooked…

the picture at the top of the blog is a better example.  I brought in this picture to capture the herder cabin in the center of the picture .  We could not see a water source nearby.  However, the green to the right might indicate there was or is water there in a wet time of year.

Later I will write about our excellent guides for the entire four days. Without them we  most likely would have missed this historical site.

Heading home

A few more pictures

Beautiful Wyoming

Ultimate backroads