Oregon Buttes

Oregon Buttes
Oregon Buttes
Highest point
PeakNorth Butte
Elevation8,562 ft (2,610 m) Oregon Buttes
Geography
Map
LocationSweetwater County
CountryUnited States
StateWyoming
Range coordinates42°15′36″N 108°50′55″W / 42.259897°N 108.848673°W / 42.259897; -108.848673

The Oregon Buttes are small buttes, near the Oregon Trail, in what is now the state of Wyoming.

They are just past South Pass, and are two flat-topped summits plus a smaller, conical one. For travelers on the Oregon Trail, the buttes were on the horizon for a day's travel, perhaps more. This was as they crossed Rock Creek, then Willow Creek, and, for the last time, the Sweetwater River.[1]

Pioneers on the trails used physically descriptive names for the buttes: "Table Rock," or "Table Rocks."[2]

Currently, they are in a remote area and can be difficult to get to.[1] From the top of a butte one can see for miles, including to the north the Wind River Mountains, and to the southwest the Uinta Mountains.[3]

They rise about 1,500 feet (460 m) from the plain and are flat-topped.[4]

Petrified wood is found in the area,[5] but it is closed for hunting of minerals, as well as gold panning.[3]

Near 12 miles (19 km) southwest of Oregon Buttes stands the Tri-Territory site. This site is where the Oregon Territory, First Mexican Empire, and the Louisiana Purchase met at a single point.[6][7]

Their relationship to the Oregon Trail

As the Oregon Buttes are just pass South Pass over the Rocky Mountains, to pioneers on the Oregon Trail they signified the entrance to the Oregon Territory.[2] In 1843, Theodore Talbot wrote "Today we set foot in the Oregon Territory, the land of promise." But hardships already experienced made him feel cautious, and probably thinking of recent hard travel, he added, "As of yet it only promises an increased supply of sage and sand." Joseph Warren Wood wrote "We are now in Oregon,"[4] In general, travelers on the Oregon Trail considered Oregon Buttes as marking the trail's halfway point. Pioneers also felt they had entered the Pacific Watershed.[8]

Geography

The Continental Divide of the Americas splits at Oregon Buttes; to the southeast is the Great Divide Basin.

Ecology

In Oregon Buttes there are many types of vegetation which include thick stands of aspen, stands of limber pine, plus meadows.[1] The area is prime raptor habitat.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c "South Pass - Oregon Buttes".
  2. ^ a b "Oregon Buttes, Landmark on the Oregon Trail". WyoHistory. February 18, 2017.
  3. ^ a b c "Oregon Buttes Wilderness Study Area". BLM.
  4. ^ a b Zeller, H. D. "Geology of the Oregon Buttes Area Sweetwater, Sublette And Fremont Counties Southwestern Wyoming" (PDF).
  5. ^ "6 Best Location for Finding Petrified Wood Near Me (USA)".
  6. ^ "Near Lander in Fremont County, Wyoming — The American West (Mountains)".
  7. ^ "US Bureau of Land Management".
  8. ^ Oregon Buttes, Big Sandy Resource Area, Area of Critical Environmental Concern.

See also