Sublette Cutoff

Eighteen miles west of South Pass, the emigrants came to the first of many decision points on the road to California. Parting of the Ways offered the choice between a safe, established trail following water and relatively level ground or a substantial shortcut through dry, barren and mountainous country. Many chose the shortcut. Mountain man Caleb Greenwood pioneered the shortcut, but it was known as Sublette's Cutoff by most pioneers. It offered a direct route west to the Bear River eliminating the southern dog-leg to Fort Bridger followed by the older, established emigrant road.

On both routes, the emigrants soon confronted the Green River, a north-south barrier to the east-west route of the Oregon-Mormon-California Trail. Every emigrant had to cross it in some manner. Over the years, a variety of fords and ferry sites were established along a 30-mile stretch of the River from the mouth of the Big Sandy to the Names Hill (La Barge), serving travelers on the Fort Bridger, Slate Creek, Kinney and Sublette branches of the Trail.

Fortunately, by the time the emigration reached the Green on any given year, the river's annual snow melt flood had mostly passed, but the Green was still a formidable obstacle. Early wagon trains drove through the river using fords that changed annually with each spring's high water. Guides would force wagons through the current using multiple teams and dozens of mounted outriders. They followed gravel bars so narrow that the deviation of even a few feet meant the loss of a wagon, or worse. In extreme cases, emigrants had to unload and dismantle their wagons and float everything across a piece at a time. Drownings of both the emigrants and their livestock were all too common.

The Mormons established the first ferry services in 1847 and eventually ran commercial ferry operations on both the Fort Bridger and Sublette branches. Mountain men also established several ferry services in locations that changed from year to year. Ben Watts arrived at the Green on July 7, 1849 and wrote, "The grass being good on the other side, we swam our stock over very early, then ferried our wagons over at the Upper Ferry owned by a Mormon."

John B. Hill, 1850

"A rope with pulleys on it was stretched across the river, and the current carried the boat across. When we were nearly across, the upper edge of the boat dipped...and I thought we would be swamped instantly...and drown the last one of us. At the time, the Green River was booming."

After crossing the Green, the emigrants headed off across the barren Sublette Cutoff. Enterprising Argonauts, always in a hurry, would refine the Sublette route into additional cutoffs with names like Slate Creek, Kinney, Hams Fork and Dempsey. Many wagon trains split up at Parting of the Ways as members disagreed on the best route to follow. James Mather wrote, "Our company separated today, eight wagons taking the common route and the others, with Major Cooper, taking what is called the cutoff."

Forty-Niner J. Goldsborough Bruff reached the fork in the road and recorded that his company, "...had a meeting, when all of them followed me on the 'Cut-off' except two ox wagons." He also noticed, "...a stick driven in the ground, with a board nailed to it, plastered with notices, of what companies, men...and when they passed, on either route."

The Sublette Cutoff was a difficult route through hostile, rugged country. Ben Watts, traveling in 1849, recorded the accepted way to cross the long, dry section. "We moved seven miles to the Big Sandy and camped, in order to rest our stock and fit them for the coming desert of 51 miles to Green River. We did not start until 6pm and traveled all night." E. W. Conyers, on the trail in 1852, described the mountain country west of the Green River. "The word steep does not begin to convey an idea of the roads. Several times I felt sure the wagon would tip over on the tongue yoke of cattle."

That the route entailed many hardships is clear from the small emigrant graveyard found on the cutoff. Among those buried here is Nancy Hill who died of cholera on June 5, 1852. Described as a "goddess of a girl," Hill was healthy one evening and dead the next. According to area legend, her fiancé returned to tend her grave for the next fifty years.

But the Sublette Cutoff saved about 50 miles and perhaps as much as three days travel time. For many emigrants, that was more than enough to justify the hardships.