1863 Bozeman Trail
On State Highway 387 about 8 miles west of Pine Tree Junction

John Bozeman and John Jacobs laid out this route from Fort Laramie to the Virginia City, Montana gold fields. In 1865 the Powder River Military Expedition under Gen. P. E. Connor, established Ft. Connor on the Powder River. In 1866 Forts Reno, Phil Kearny, and C. F. Smith were built for its protection against the Indians who fought bitterly to hold their last hunting grounds. It became known as the Bloody Bozeman. Portugee Phillips rode over this trail to Ft. Laramie to report the Fetterman Massacre. In 1866 Nelson Story trailed the first herd of Texas longhorns to cross Wyoming along this road. Indian hostiles forced abandonment of the trail in 1868.
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