Cherokee Trail
Encyclopedia
The Cherokee Trail was a historic overland trail through the present-day U.S. state
s of Oklahoma
, Kansas
, Colorado
, and Wyoming
that was used from the late 1840s up through the early 1890s. The route was established in 1849 by a wagon train headed to the gold fields in California. Among the members of the expedition were a group of Cherokee
.
near present day Salina, Oklahoma
, northwest to strike the Santa Fe Trail
at McPherson, Kansas
. From there it followed the Santa Fe Trail west, then turned north along the base of the Front Range
of the Rocky Mountains
over the Arkansas/Platte River divide and descended along Cherry Creek (Colorado)
into the valley of the South Platte River
. The original 1849 trail followed the east side of the South Platte River to present-day Greeley
then west via a wagon road to Laporte
in Larimer County
. From Laporte, the wagon road was built north past present-day Virginia Dale Stage Station to the Laramie Plains
in southeastern Wyoming
. The trail was then blazed westward and northward around the Medicine Bow Range crossing the North Platte River
then turning north to present day Rawlins
. The trail proceeded west along the route of present Interstate 80, finally joining the Oregon
, California
, and Mormon
trails near Granger, Wyoming
.
In 1850, an additional route was blazed on the west side of the South Platte River, crossing the Cache la Poudre River
, and then to the Laramie Plains. There the trail turned west near present day Tie Siding
, and proceeded along the Colorado/Wyoming border to Green River
and to Fort Bridger
where it struck the other emigrant trails.
Parts of the 1850 trail can be seen on Bureau of Land Management
land in Wyoming. In Sweetwater County the trail on BLM sections is marked with 4 feet (1.2 m) concrete posts.
In Colorado parts of the trail are still visible and walkable in Arapahoe, Douglas and Larimer counties. An approximation of the route can be driven on State Highway 83 from Parker
near Denver to Colorado Springs.
, escorting the mail from Santa Fe to the east, turned south at McPherson
, Kansas
, to follow the recently blazed Evans/Cherokee Trail to Fort Gibson
, Oklahoma
, and then connected with another trail to nearby Fort Smith
, Arkansas
. Starting in 1850 the trail was used continuously by gold seekers, emigrants and cattle drovers from Arkansas, Texas, Missouri, and the Cherokee Nation
.
In 1850, a member of a wagon train en route to California discovered gold in Ralston Creek
, a tributary of Clear Creek
north of present day Denver. Stories of this discovery led to further expeditions in 1858, and the subsequent 1859 Colorado Gold Rush
.
In the 1860s portions of the trail from northern Colorado to Fort Bridger
in Wyoming were incorporated as part of the Overland Trail
and stage route between Kansas and Salt Lake City, Utah
.
The outlaw
L.H. Musgrove
traveled on the Cherokee Trail from Colorado into Wyoming during the 1860s.
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
s of Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, and Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
that was used from the late 1840s up through the early 1890s. The route was established in 1849 by a wagon train headed to the gold fields in California. Among the members of the expedition were a group of Cherokee
Cherokee
The Cherokee are a Native American people historically settled in the Southeastern United States . Linguistically, they are part of the Iroquoian language family...
.
Route
The route of the trail ran from the Grand RiverGrand River (Oklahoma)
The Grand River is an alternate name for the lower section of the Neosho River, a tributary of the Arkansas River in Oklahoma. "Grand River" refers to the section of river below the confluence of the Neosho and Spring rivers in Ottawa County near Miami...
near present day Salina, Oklahoma
Salina, Oklahoma
Salina is a town in Mayes County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 1,396 at the 2010 census, a slight decline from 1,422 at the 2000 census.-History:...
, northwest to strike the Santa Fe Trail
Santa Fe Trail
The Santa Fe Trail was a 19th-century transportation route through central North America that connected Missouri with Santa Fe, New Mexico. Pioneered in 1822 by William Becknell, it served as a vital commercial and military highway until the introduction of the railroad to Santa Fe in 1880...
at McPherson, Kansas
McPherson, Kansas
McPherson is a city in and the county seat of McPherson County, Kansas, United States, in the central part of the state. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 13,155. The city is named after Union General James Birdseye McPherson, a Civil War general...
. From there it followed the Santa Fe Trail west, then turned north along the base of the Front Range
Front Range
The Front Range is a mountain range of the Southern Rocky Mountains of North America located in the north-central portion of the U.S. State of Colorado and southeastern portion of the U.S. State of Wyoming. It is the first mountain range encountered moving west along the 40th parallel north across...
of the Rocky Mountains
Rocky Mountains
The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...
over the Arkansas/Platte River divide and descended along Cherry Creek (Colorado)
Cherry Creek (Colorado)
Cherry Creek is a tributary of the South Platte River, long, in Colorado in the United States.-Location:Cherry Creek rises in the high plateau, east of the Front Range, in northwestern El Paso County...
into the valley of the South Platte River
South Platte River
The South Platte River is one of the two principal tributaries of the Platte River and itself a major river of the American Midwest and the American Southwest/Mountain West, located in the U.S. states of Colorado and Nebraska...
. The original 1849 trail followed the east side of the South Platte River to present-day Greeley
Greeley, Colorado
The City of Greeley is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Weld County, Colorado, United States. Greeley is located in the region known as Northern Colorado. Greeley is situated north-northeast of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. According to the...
then west via a wagon road to Laporte
Laporte, Colorado
Laporte is a census-designated place in Larimer County, Colorado, United States. The population was 2,691 at the 2000 census...
in Larimer County
Larimer County, Colorado
Larimer County is the seventh most populous and the ninth most extensive of the 64 counties of the State of Colorado of the United States. The county is located at the northern end of the Front Range, at the edge of the Colorado Eastern Plains along the border with Wyoming...
. From Laporte, the wagon road was built north past present-day Virginia Dale Stage Station to the Laramie Plains
Laramie Plains
The Laramie Plains is an arid highland in south central Wyoming in the United States. The plains extend along the upper basin of the Laramie River on the east side of the Medicine Bow Range. The city of Laramie is the largest community in the valley...
in southeastern Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...
. The trail was then blazed westward and northward around the Medicine Bow Range crossing the North Platte River
North Platte River
The North Platte River is a major tributary of the Platte River and is approximately long counting its many curves, It travels about distance. Its course lies in the U.S...
then turning north to present day Rawlins
Rawlins, Wyoming
Rawlins is a city in Carbon County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 8,538 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Carbon County...
. The trail proceeded west along the route of present Interstate 80, finally joining the Oregon
Oregon Trail
The Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat...
, California
California Trail
The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California...
, and Mormon
Mormon Trail
The Mormon Trail or Mormon Pioneer Trail is the 1,300 mile route that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traveled from 1846 to 1868...
trails near Granger, Wyoming
Granger, Wyoming
Granger is a town in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, United States. The population was 146 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Granger is located at ....
.
In 1850, an additional route was blazed on the west side of the South Platte River, crossing the Cache la Poudre River
Cache La Poudre River
The Cache la Poudre River is in the state of Colorado in the United States.Its headwaters are in the Front Range in Larimer County, in the northern part of Rocky Mountain National Park. The river descends eastward in the mountains through the Roosevelt National Forest in Poudre Canyon...
, and then to the Laramie Plains. There the trail turned west near present day Tie Siding
Tie Siding, Wyoming
Tie Siding is a tiny unincorporated community in far southeastern Albany County, Wyoming, United States, approximately eight miles north of the Colorado border. It was strategically located to service the expansion of railroad systems in the West from the late 1860s to early 1900s. Tie Siding...
, and proceeded along the Colorado/Wyoming border to Green River
Green River, Wyoming
Green River is a city in and the county seat of Sweetwater County, Wyoming, United States, in the southwestern part of the state. The population was 11,808 at the 2000 census....
and to Fort Bridger
Fort Bridger
Fort Bridger was originally a 19th century fur trading outpost established in 1842 on Blacks Fork of the Green River and later a vital resupply point for wagon trains on the Oregon Trail, California Trail and Mormon Trail. The Army established a military post here in 1858 during the Utah War until...
where it struck the other emigrant trails.
Parts of the 1850 trail can be seen on Bureau of Land Management
Bureau of Land Management
The Bureau of Land Management is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior which administers America's public lands, totaling approximately , or one-eighth of the landmass of the country. The BLM also manages of subsurface mineral estate underlying federal, state and private...
land in Wyoming. In Sweetwater County the trail on BLM sections is marked with 4 feet (1.2 m) concrete posts.
In Colorado parts of the trail are still visible and walkable in Arapahoe, Douglas and Larimer counties. An approximation of the route can be driven on State Highway 83 from Parker
Parker, Colorado
The Town of Parker is a Home Rule Municipality in Douglas County, Colorado, United States. As a self-declared "Town" under the Home Rule Statutes, Parker is the 2nd most populous town in the county, behind Castle Rock. In recent years, Parker has become a commuter town at the southeasternmost...
near Denver to Colorado Springs.
History
In 1849, Lieutenant Abraham BufordAbraham Buford II
Brigadier General Abraham "Abe" Buford II was a soldier and Thoroughbred horse breeder. Born in Woodford County, Kentucky, his origins were a Huguenot family named Beaufort who fled persecution in France and settled in England before emigrating to America in 1635.Abraham Buford was the son of...
, escorting the mail from Santa Fe to the east, turned south at McPherson
McPherson, Kansas
McPherson is a city in and the county seat of McPherson County, Kansas, United States, in the central part of the state. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 13,155. The city is named after Union General James Birdseye McPherson, a Civil War general...
, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...
, to follow the recently blazed Evans/Cherokee Trail to Fort Gibson
Fort Gibson, Oklahoma
Fort Gibson is a town in Cherokee and Muskogee counties in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The population was 4,054 at the 2000 census. It is the location of Fort Gibson National Cemetery and is located near at the end of the Cherokees' Trail of Tears at Tahlequah, Oklahoma.Colonel Matthew Arbuckle of...
, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...
, and then connected with another trail to nearby Fort Smith
Fort Smith, Arkansas
Fort Smith is the second-largest city in Arkansas and one of the two county seats of Sebastian County. With a population of 86,209 in 2010, it is the principal city of the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area, a region of 298,592 residents which encompasses the Arkansas...
, Arkansas
Arkansas
Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...
. Starting in 1850 the trail was used continuously by gold seekers, emigrants and cattle drovers from Arkansas, Texas, Missouri, and the Cherokee Nation
Cherokee Nation (19th century)
The Cherokee Nation of the 19th century —an historic entity —was a legal, autonomous, tribal government in North America existing from 1794–1906. Often referred to simply as The Nation by its inhabitants, it should not be confused with what is known today as the "modern" Cherokee Nation...
.
In 1850, a member of a wagon train en route to California discovered gold in Ralston Creek
Ralston Creek (Colorado)
Ralston Creek is a tributary of Clear Creek, approximately long, in central Colorado in the United States. It drains a suburban and urban area of the northwestern Denver Metropolitan Area. It rises in the foothills in northeastern Gilpin County, in southern Golden Gate Canyon State Park...
, a tributary of Clear Creek
Clear Creek (Colorado)
Clear Creek is a tributary of the South Platte River, approximately long, in north central Colorado in the United States. The creek flows through Clear Creek Canyon in the Rocky Mountains directly west of Denver, descending through a long gorge to emerge on the Colorado Eastern Plains where it...
north of present day Denver. Stories of this discovery led to further expeditions in 1858, and the subsequent 1859 Colorado Gold Rush
Colorado Gold Rush
The Pike's Peak Gold Rush was the boom in gold prospecting and mining in the Pike's Peak Country of western Kansas Territory and southwestern Nebraska Territory of the United States that began in July 1858 and lasted until roughly the creation of the Colorado Territory on February 28, 1861...
.
In the 1860s portions of the trail from northern Colorado to Fort Bridger
Fort Bridger
Fort Bridger was originally a 19th century fur trading outpost established in 1842 on Blacks Fork of the Green River and later a vital resupply point for wagon trains on the Oregon Trail, California Trail and Mormon Trail. The Army established a military post here in 1858 during the Utah War until...
in Wyoming were incorporated as part of the Overland Trail
Overland Trail
The Overland Trail was a stagecoach and wagon trail in the American West during the 19th century. While portions of the route had been used by explorers and trappers since the 1820s, the Overland Trail was most heavily used in the 1860s as an alternative route to the Oregon, California and Mormon...
and stage route between Kansas and Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
.
The outlaw
Outlaw
In historical legal systems, an outlaw is declared as outside the protection of the law. In pre-modern societies, this takes the burden of active prosecution of a criminal from the authorities. Instead, the criminal is withdrawn all legal protection, so that anyone is legally empowered to persecute...
L.H. Musgrove
L.H. Musgrove
L. H. Musgrove was an outlaw of the American West who was sprung from jail in Denver, Colorado, and hanged by a vigilante mob. Over a number of years, he had been was charged with several murders and the theft of horses....
traveled on the Cherokee Trail from Colorado into Wyoming during the 1860s.