Cherokee Trail

History: properly format ref

← Previous revision Revision as of 04:55, 20 April 2026 Line 19: Line 19: Parts of this trail had been traveled and reported earlier in the 19th century. According to Gardner, General [[William Henry Ashley|William Ashley]] had used part of this route as early as 1824. Gardner also mentions that emigrants heading for Oregon wrote about the routes in and out of [[Browns Park]] in 1839.{{efn|[[Browns Park]], also called "Browns Hole," is an isolated valley on the Utah-Colorado border near the extreme northwestern border of present-day [[Colorado]]. It seems to have served as a landmark in several accounts describing the Cherokee Trail.}} By 1849, three routes suitable for crossing the Continental Divide had been identified: [[Twin Groves, Wyoming]], an unnamed location near present-day [[Rawlings, Wyoming]] and Bridger's Pass. The Cherokee Trail followed the Twin Groves route.<ref name="WWCC-1"/> {{efn|According to the Topozone website, Twin Groves is now the site of [[Twin Groves Reservoir]] in [[Carbon County, Wyoming]] (Coordinates 41.3591276°N, -107.164776°W).<ref name = "Topozone">[https://www.topozone.com/wyoming/carbon-wy/locale/twin-groves-historical/ "Twin Groves (historical) Information." Topozone.] Accessed January 17, 2018.</ref>}} Parts of this trail had been traveled and reported earlier in the 19th century. According to Gardner, General [[William Henry Ashley|William Ashley]] had used part of this route as early as 1824. Gardner also mentions that emigrants heading for Oregon wrote about the routes in and out of [[Browns Park]] in 1839.{{efn|[[Browns Park]], also called "Browns Hole," is an isolated valley on the Utah-Colorado border near the extreme northwestern border of present-day [[Colorado]]. It seems to have served as a landmark in several accounts describing the Cherokee Trail.}} By 1849, three routes suitable for crossing the Continental Divide had been identified: [[Twin Groves, Wyoming]], an unnamed location near present-day [[Rawlings, Wyoming]] and Bridger's Pass. The Cherokee Trail followed the Twin Groves route.<ref name="WWCC-1"/> {{efn|According to the Topozone website, Twin Groves is now the site of [[Twin Groves Reservoir]] in [[Carbon County, Wyoming]] (Coordinates 41.3591276°N, -107.164776°W).<ref name = "Topozone">[https://www.topozone.com/wyoming/carbon-wy/locale/twin-groves-historical/ "Twin Groves (historical) Information." Topozone.] Accessed January 17, 2018.</ref>}}

The [[outlaw]] [[L. H. Musgrove]] traveled on the Cherokee Trail from Colorado into Wyoming during the 1860s. A native of [[Mississippi]], he came to California at the time of the Gold Rush. Apparently deciding that crime was more profitable than panning for gold, he was arrested and charged with murder in [[Fort Halleck (Wyoming)|Fort Halleck]], Wyoming, during 1863. Taken to Denver for trial, he was released on an unexplained technicality, and returned to a life of crime. Musgrove assembled a network of horse thieves known as the Musgrove Gang, who raided government posts and wagon trains along the Colorado Front Range, following the Cherokee Trail. Musgrove was finally captured and taken to jail in Denver. He started a rumor from his cell that friends were planning to help him escape, and that the citizens could not prevent this. Instead, a group of vigilantes demanded that the guards release Musgrove to them. The guards offered no resistance, so the vigilantes took possession of the prisoner. Quickly they moved him to the Larimer Street bridge and ended his criminal career by [[Lynching|hanging]] him beneath the bridge on November 23, 1868.<ref>[http://www.over-land.com/musgrove.html "The Musgrove Gang." Overland Trail. Undated.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809050918/http://www.over-land.com/musgrove.html |date=2022-08-09 }} Accessed January 20, 2018.</ref><ref>[ The [[outlaw]] [[L. H. Musgrove]] traveled on the Cherokee Trail from Colorado into Wyoming during the 1860s. A native of [[Mississippi]], he came to California at the time of the Gold Rush. Apparently deciding that crime was more profitable than panning for gold, he was arrested and charged with murder in [[Fort Halleck (Wyoming)|Fort Halleck]], Wyoming, during 1863. Taken to Denver for trial, he was released on an unexplained technicality, and returned to a life of crime. Musgrove assembled a network of horse thieves known as the Musgrove Gang, who raided government posts and wagon trains along the Colorado Front Range, following the Cherokee Trail. Musgrove was finally captured and taken to jail in Denver. He started a rumor from his cell that friends were planning to help him escape, and that the citizens could not prevent this. Instead, a group of vigilantes demanded that the guards release Musgrove to them. The guards offered no resistance, so the vigilantes took possession of the prisoner. Quickly they moved him to the Larimer Street bridge and ended his criminal career by [[Lynching|hanging]] him beneath the bridge on November 23, 1868.<ref>[http://www.over-land.com/musgrove.html "The Musgrove Gang." Overland Trail. Undated.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220809050918/http://www.over-land.com/musgrove.html |date=2022-08-09 }} Accessed January 20, 2018.</ref><ref>[http://www.americancowboychronicles.com/2015/08/little-known-old-west-gunmen-outlaws.html Correa, Tom. "Little Known Old West Gunmen & Outlaws - Part Four: L. H. Musgrove." The American Cowboy Chronicles. August 28, 2015.] Accessed January 21, 2018.</ref> http://www.americancowboychronicles.com/2015/08/little-known-old-west-gunmen-outlaws.html Correa, Tom. "Little Known Old West Gunmen & Outlaws - Part Four: L. H. Musgrove." The American Cowboy Chronicles. August 28, 2015.] Accessed January 21, 2018.</ref>

==Notes== ==Notes==