Prior to 1850, the (2) Cherokee Trail was called the Arkansas Emigrant Road, and the California Road. The Cherokee Trail served as the main connecting link between the Arkansas and Platte River systems. In the spring of 1857, the Fancher Train probably traveled on the Cherokee Trail, which followed the Arkansas River from Tahlequah, Oklahoma through Kansas, up the front range of the Colorado Rockies, into southern Wyoming.In Colorado, they would have passed Pike's Peak. Because of the Peak’s height (more than 14,000 feet) and proximity to the Great Plains, it was a visual landmark for wagon trains heading west.
Going west by overland routes meant crossing the Rocky Mountains. The best known trails went over (3) South Pass. From the Cherokee Trail, the Fancher Train would have had to cut north to the Oregon Trail (near Independence Rock) in order to cross South Pass (The Continential Divide, or Great Divide).South Pass was the easiest passage through the Rockies and perhaps the most important landmark along the emigrant trails. It marked the emigrants' arrival at the Oregon frontier. About 20 miles wide, South Pass is located at the head of the Sweet Water River. South Pass itself dictated the location of the emigrant trail, for only by its gradual ascent was wagon travel over the Continental Divide practical for large-scale emigration. South Pass is the wide, flat summit of a long and gradually ascending plateau, with low ridges and hills on both sides and a wide sage and grass-covered saddle between. Emigrants commented that they hardly noticed the ascent or the crossing.
From South Pass, the Fancher Train would have traveled west to Fort Bridger. Located on the Oregon Trail, Fort Bridger was an emigrant supply stop in southern Wyoming, where all of the roads to Utah converged. From this point on, travel became increasingly difficult.
Map of the Fancher's route on Cherokee Trail following the Arkansas River
Map of the Cherokee Trail through Colorado, passing Pikes Peak.
Map of South Pass and Fort Bridger in Wyoming.
Additional Information and detailed map.
Virtual Tour of South Pass - Click on "South Pass" on the map
at this link
Next ~
(4) Fort Bridger on the
Oregon Trail
©Fancher
Family Association
