Grass or Sand Springs–An Oregon Trail Campsite
North of 191/351 Junction

Here crosses the Lander cutoff—the northern fork of the Oregon Trail following a route of the fur traders. It was suggested as an emmigrant road by mountain man, John Hockaday in order to avoid the alkali plains of the desert, shorten the trip to the Pacific by five days, and provide more water, grass and wood. In 1857, it was improved as a wagon road by the government under the supervision of F. W. Lander and termed the Fort Kearny, South Pass, Honey Lake Rd. As many as three hundred wagons and thousands of cattle, horses and mules passed here each day. An expanding nation moved with hope and high courage. The trail-cut deep into the dirt of the plains and the mountains-remains as a reminder of a great epoch. Sublette County Historical Society, United States Department of the Interior Bureau of Land Management. This trail has been marked at all accessible points with brass caps.