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Just north of Glenrock at the Platte River
A narrow gorge a few miles west of present day Casper, Wyoming, forced all pioneers traveling the south bank of the North Platte to cross to the other side. Three such crossings were in general use near old Fort Caspar, but with the hordes of 49ers glutting the trails during the California Gold Rush, wagon trains were forced to wait for days to be ferried across.
Impatient gold-seekers, unwilling to waste precious time, began crossing just above the mouth of Deer Creek. Imprudent prospectors attempted to swim across, resulting in a long list of drownings reported daily. More cautious pioneers took time to build adequate ferries.
Such was the case when J.G. Bruff reached Deer Creek on July 16, 1849: “…which we crossed, passing through hundreds of tents, wagons, camp fires and people of every age, sex, congregated on its banks … camped on the banks of Platte, at the Ferry … “ He described the ferry being of eight dugout canoes. On July 25 of the same year, Capt. Howard Stansbury paid to have his troops transported across the Platte for $2.00 per wagon, describing the raft as being made of seven canoes. Yet another ferry was mentioned in Charles Gould’s diary as being “… constructed of six ‘dug-outs’ fastened together, worked by oars …”
Sensing fat profits, in 1851, John Richard (pronounced “Reshaw”), a squaw-man, along with four other French traders, built the first bridge to span the North Platte River just above the mouth of Deer Creek. Although it was washed out in the spring flood of ‘52, it holds the distinction of being the first such enterprise in Wyoming.
Excerpted from Glenrock Historical Commission brochure.
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