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Wildlife & Habitat
On Horse Creek Road about 13 miles south of State Highway 220.
At Ryan Hill Interpretive Site.
On Horse Creek Road about 13 miles south of State Highway 220.
At Ryan Hill Interpretive Site.
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Wildlife & Habitat
On Horse Creek Road about 13 miles south of State Highway 220. At Ryan Hill Interpretive Site. |
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| The surrounding sagebrush/grassland habitat supports a variety of wildlife species today, just as it did during the active trail use days. Most of the plant and animal species observed and used by the early emigrants still inhabit this area. A notable exception is the buffalo, which is no longer found here. The grasses fed the emigrants’ livestock, and the sagebrush fueled their fires, though not as satisfactorily a they might have wished. William G. Johnson noted in his journal on June 5, 1849, that it had drawbacks—it “sends forth great volumes of blinding smoke, particularly damaging to the eyes of the cook.” The emigrants shot buffalo, sage grouse, and cottontail rabbits as they moved through the area, supplementing their meager diet with the fresh meat. With the exception of the roads, pipelines and other structures of human origin, this area appears today much as it did in the 1850’s and 1860’s. | |||||||||||||||||||||
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