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Bridge over Lodge Pole Creek, Pine Bluffs, Wyoming, approx.
1910.
Lodge Pole Creek, although slight in water, is significant as a transportation route. Ever since the construction
of the Union Pacific Railroad in the 1860's, transportation followed the creek from Chappell, Nebraska, almost to Cheyenne. Thus,
the Lincoln Highway parallelled the creek for almost 120 miles. The creek, 212 miles in length, has been described as
the longest creek in the United States. It rises along the eastern slope of the divide between
Cheyenne and Laramie, flows north of Cheyenne, crosses into Nebraska east of Pine Bluffs, turns south near
Chappell, Neb., crosses into Colorado and flows into the South Platte near Julesburg.
Pine Bluffs, 1909.
Pine Bluffs, originally "Rock Ranch," was the first town on the Lincoln Highway coming from
the east and the last town before Nebraska heading east. It received its
start with the arrival of the Union Pacific in 1868. The Railroad changed its name. The town remained as a
shipping point for cattle and was on the Texas Trail. In 1870 some 6,000 cattle passed
through town. For discussion of the Texas Trail, see Lusk.
Pine Bluffs, approx. 1910.
In the 1870's
Pine Bluffs was the home ranch of DeWitt Clinton Tracy. Tracy was, according to a 1930's anomymous description in the State Archives,
"irrascible and high-tempered" who carried with him on roundup crackers and canned sardines and "would
not eat the palatable and nutritous food of the cow camp." For a description of the
food of the cow camp see Cattle Trails . By 1924,
Pine Bluffs boasted 600 population, 2 hotels, 2 banks, and a gravelled road.
Pine Bluffs, 1920.
Today, in Pine Bluffs, one may visit a
museum devoted to the Texas Trail, in the summer the University of Wyoming
Archaeological Museum and Site, and Our Lady of Peace, a five-story high statue of the
Virgin Mary sculpted by Robert Fida. Additionally, in the area are tipi circles left by
American Indians.
Pine Bluffs, 1910's
The area of Laramie County between Pine Bluffs and
F. E. Warren Air Base is a
center of archaelogical interest due to the presence of American Indians for at least 8,000 years and possibly as long as
11,000 years. When first settled by Indians the area was warmer in the winter and cooler and
wetter in the summer.
Burns, Wyo. water tank, approx. 1915.
Approximately five miles to the west of Pine Bluffs was the rail siding of
Tracy also named after DeWitt Tracy. And further to the west, as indicated
by the above map, the Lincoln Highway originally proceeded
through the towns of Egbert, Burns, and Hillsdale, all of which were originally established by the
railroad as rail sidings. On those sidings, before the days of block signals, a train would await the passage of
higher priority train. At the beginning of the railroad, trains were managed by a system of
time schedules and orders. The orders indicating what trains were on the line, the respective priorities, and where trains
were to be sidetracked awaiting the passage of higher priority trains were relayed by telegraph, written down on
light paper knowns as "flimsies," and conveyed to the conductor of the train. The conductor was the officer of the
train, the "master of the ship" so to speak.
It then became necessary that each such siding have a clear distinctive
identity. Therefore, all sidings were named. Around some small towns would develop. Those towns would take on the
name of the siding. Such are Egbert, Burns, and Hillsdale, each having assumed the name of a siding. Others, such as
Tracy remain even today as mere sidings. On back roads paralleling railroad tracks, one may observe sidings on which there may be a
sign giving a name. It is not necessarily the name of a long-gone defunct town, but, instead, the name of the
siding.
Egbert was named after Augustus A. Egbert (1835-1895) who joined the railroad in 1867 as a conductor. He worked his way
up to a railroad superintendent. His brother, Daniel W. Egbert (1834-1923) also worked for the
railroad and ultimately served as a yard master in Iowa.
Burns, Wyoming, was also an early railroad siding until 1907. In that year, some German Lutherans established a
town next to the siding. The Lutherans attempted to name the newly formed town after Martin Luther. By 1910,
the area gained enough population to warrant a post office. The same year, the Union Pacific constructed a depot. The depot, similar to
many stations along the line, was a prefabricated structure, with waiting room, office, freight room, and quarters for the
agent. The question of the name again arose.
The railroad in its dispatches had continued to use the name "Burns." Thus, the older name which had been in use by the railroad since
its construction, was used for the
post office, the name having come available for postal use when a post office of the same name
in present day Sublette County closed. By 1920, Burns had achieved a population of about 300. Burns was apparently named by the railroad after J. J. Burns an
early railroad telegrapher. Burns worked his way from telegrapher to operator, assistant store keeper and ultimately to
purchasing agent for the Union Pacific.
Burns, Wyoming, 1908 (See text above).
The depot, pictured below, was moved to Greeley, Colorado, where it is a part of the Centennial Village Museum.
Union Pacific Depot, Burns, Wyoming, approx. 1915. (See text above).
Hillsdale was named by Gen. G. M. Dodge after Lothrop L. Hills (1831-1867) who was killed by
Indians on June 11, 1867.
The Highway was moved further to the south,
however, and the towns have been left to whither on the vine so to speak.
Next Page, Lincoln Highway, Cheyenne to Tree in the Rock.
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