Rawlins to Baggs Wagon Road

David Johnson

Western Archaeological Services

February 9, 2024

The Rawlins to Baggs Wagon Road was a historic trail used to freight goods, mail, and passengers between Rawlins, Wyoming and points in southern Wyoming and northwest Colorado. The route was first known as the Rawlins to White River, or the Rawlins to Snake River Road, because the trail was originally used to transport goods and supplies to the Ute Indian White River Agency in western Colorado. There is a strong connection between the trail and the history of the Utes and events leading to the Battle of Milk Creek fought between September 29 and October 5, 1879. The battle, which was located near the White River Agency, was fought between a large band of Utes and four companies of United States Cavalry. The battle was a victory for the army in that it resulted in the forced removal of the Utes from Colorado to Utah. After the removal of the Utes, western Colorado was opened to Euroamerican settlement. The Rawlins to Baggs Road became an important supply route to the new agricultural settlements of Routt and Moffat Counties as well as the sparse settlements of southern Carbon County, Wyoming. The trail saw its greatest use between the arrival of the Union Pacific Railroad in Rawlins in 1868 and the completion of the Denver and Salt Lake Railroad to Craig, Colorado in 1913. Today much of the trail has fallen into disuse or has been covered over by modern highways. (American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming).

Rawlins to Baggs Wagon Road

The Rawlins to Baggs Wagon Road in Wyoming followed the modern Twentymile Road south from Rawlins along the base of the west slope of the Atlantic Rim. Approximately 30 miles south of Rawlins, the wagon road crossed Muddy Creek, a large north to south trending tributary of the Little Snake River. Muddy Creek cut its way through the Atlantic Rim in a narrow steep-sided canyon. This canyon was the route for the Overland Trail. The Sulphur Spring Stage Station located at the west end of the canyon was an important stop on the Overland Trail. The Sulphur Spring Stage Station closed in 1868 when stagecoach traffic ended on the Overland Trail due the construction of the Union Pacific Railroad. The stage station was repurposed as a cattle and sheep ranch and became an important stop on the Rawlins to Baggs Road. South of Sulphur Spring, the Rawlins to Baggs Road continued along the west side of Atlantic Rim passing the J O Ranch, a sheep and cattle ranch which the Bureau of Land Management owns and has restored as a historic site. North of Baggs the Rawlins to Baggs Road intersected modern State Highway 789 along the valley of Muddy Creek. The route of the Rawlins to Baggs Road follows Highway 789 to a crossing of the Little Snake River at Baggs. The trail continued through Colorado paralleling State Highway 14 where it is known as the Baggs to Craig Road. The trail ran through Craig, Colorado and ended at the town of Meeker which was located within the old Ute White River Agency.

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What would eventually become the Rawlins to Baggs Road was travelled at various times during the nineteenth century. The southern half of the Rawlins to Baggs Road along Muddy Creek was first developed in the 1830s as part of the fur trade. By the late 1830s pack trains were moving between competing fur trade posts along the South Platte River near modern Denver and the Hudson’s Bay Company post at Fort Hall, Idaho. (Western Archaeological Services).

In 1837, this traffic was enhanced by the building of Fort Davy Crockett, a fur trade post located along the Green River in Browns Park, northwestern Colorado. Travelers described crossing this area as early as 1839. In 1841 a party of fur trappers and hunters led by Henry Fraeb, a partner of Jim Bridger, was attacked by Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapahoe on Muddy Creek. Fraeb was subsequently killed along the Little Snake River near modern Dixon, Wyoming. In 1842, Fort Davy Crockett was abandoned due to Indian hostility. Other than explorer John C. Fremont who crossed the area in 1844, there is little evidence of traffic through this region for the rest of the 1840s. (Western Archaeological Services).

In 1850, the Cherokee Trail Southern Route followed the fur trapper route across the Atlantic Rim and crossed Muddy Creek. The Cherokee Trail did not originally follow the Rawlins to Baggs Road route, but crossed Muddy Creek and continued west. In 1854, the Holmes Variant of the Cherokee Trail named after its founder Calvin Hall Holmes left the Cherokee Trail Southern Route at Muddy Creek and followed the trapper route south to an intersection with the Little Snake River near modern Baggs. Cherokee Trail emigrants used this route through the 1850s and early 1860s. This marks the earliest wagon traffic along what would become the Rawlins to Baggs Road. (Western Archaeological Services).

Portions of the Rawlins to Baggs Road were also used by emigrants traveling on the Overland Trail. The Overland Trail was a major east/west wagon road which was used by emigrants, freighters, and stagecoaches. The completion of the Union Pacific across Wyoming in 1868 ended of stagecoach traffic on the Overland Trail, but emigrant wagon traffic continued well into the 1880s. (Western Archaeological Services).

The Overland Trail in Wyoming was a difficult route for wagons due to the lack of good water, grass, and wood. During the 1860s, stage stations provided these necessities but when the railroad was completed, the Overland Trail stage stations closed. Without the stage stations, difficult sections of the Overland Trail became more difficult, and emigrants had to adapt. Bypasses which avoided the worst sections of the Overland Trail developed in the 1870s. One of these ran between the Overland Trail at Sulphur Springs and Rawlins. This Overland Trail bypass utilized the Rawlins to Baggs Road. (Western Archaeological Services).

A view of Muddy Creek near the Sulphur Springs. The Rawlins to Baggs Road runs from left to right across the center of the photo and the Overland Trail emerges from the canyon and crosses the meadow. Oregon bound emigrant Mary Riddle described the trip between Rawlins and Sulphur Springs on June 18, 1878. “We drove twenty-eight miles without stopping for dinner-it is enough to kill all the teams and people too this way. We crossed the summit of the Rocky mountains to-day – now we begin our downward course toward the Pacific slope. Camped at night by the grate (sic) Sulphur Springs. This little creek is called Mud Creek – the water is very bad. Oh dear, what I would give for a good drink out of the old pump at home – this is awful”. (Western Archaeological Services)

The trail continued through Colorado where it is known as the Baggs to Craig Road. The trail ran through Craig, Colorado and ended at the town of Meeker which was located within the old Ute White River Agency. (Western Archaeological Services).

Store Fronts along the main street in Rawlins in 1883. The J. W. Hugus Co. store is visible at the far right. The Rawlins to Baggs Road began in Rawlins which was the largest town along the trail for much of its history. (American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming)

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Freight wagons at Rawlins. The completion of the Union Pacific led to ranches and towns developing in rural areas to the north and south of the railroad. These rural settlements could not exist without the railroad connection. The first phase for the use of the Rawlins to Baggs Road was between 1868 and 1882 and focused on bringing supplies from the Union Pacific Railroad to the largest of these rural settlements, the Ute White River Agency in Colorado. (American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming).

Western Colorado had been the homeland for bands of Utes for hundreds of years. In 1868, a reservation was established for the Utes in western Colorado. Within this reservation were two agencies, one on Las Pinos Creek in southwest Colorado and one along the White River in northwest Colorado. The White River Agency extended from the Continental Divide west to the Utah border and from the White River north to the Wyoming border. Euroamerican settlement was excluded from this area and annuity goods were promised to the Utes to compensate for the loss of hunting grounds. (Western Archaeological Services).

Government warehouses were built in Rawlins to store treaty-mandated annuity goods for Utes at the agency. Goods were freighted to the agency via the Rawlins to Baggs Wagon Road. (Western Archaeological Services).

By the mid-1870s tensions arose between the Utes and the Indian Agents assigned to the White River Agency. Promised annuity goods were often delayed, sometimes for months or even years, but the greatest tensions arose over the agents desires to convert the nomadic Utes to Euroamerican culture particularly sedentary farming. Matters came to a head in 1879 when newly appointed Indian Agent Nathan Meeker clashed with Ute leaders over the adoption of farming on the White River Agency. (Donated to Denver Public Library by Rocky Mountain News)

Meeker became unduly fearful of the Utes and requested military aid. In September 1879, approximately 200 troops and civilians under the command of Major Thomas Thornburgh left Fort Fred Steele and marched south to the agency along the Rawlins to Baggs Road. Thornburgh desired a peaceful resolution to the situation but when his troops crossed Milk Creek the Utes interpreted this as an invasion of their land and attacked. Thornburgh was killed and fighting continued from September 29 to October 5, 1879. (Denver Public Library Special Collections).

The troops were surrounded and cut off from fresh water. Constant firing pinned the soldiers down behind barricades and made any movements hazardous. Scout Joe Rankin rode the 170 miles from Milk Creek to Rawlins in three days to alert the army. A relief column marched south along the Rawlins to Baggs Road reaching the besieged troops on October 5. As a result of the Battle of Milk Creek; in 1882 the White River Agency was closed, and the Utes were forcibly removed from Colorado and resettled on a reservation in Utah. Troops occupied the old White River Agency and built the Camp on the White River which became the town of Meeker. (Denver Public Library Special Collections)

Freight wagons hauling freight. (National Archives). Much work went into a freighting trip. Early Colorado rancher Lee Ratcliff described a trip at the turn of the century. "The women baked light bread, cookies, and doughnuts, and the grub box was filled with flour, salt, lard, baking powder and canned milk for making biscuits and pancakes. Bacon, canned corn and tomatoes, oatmeal, eggs, coffee, etc., were also packed in with them. The cooking equipment consisted of a frying pan, coffee pot, iron kettle, and usually a dutch oven. A bedroll and tarp were included as well as a wagon iron, which served as a small anvil for shaping horsehoes and riveting used in repairing harness. A rifle or twenty-two was necessary for supplementing the meat supply with rabbits and sage hens. A keg of drinking water was fastened to the side of the wagon box. Grain and nosebags were provided for the horses, and sometimes baled hay was included, but usually the horses were turned loose to graze. The wheels of the wagon were greased with axle grease, and all was ready for the trip".

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The removal of the Utes from western Colorado in 1882 led to the second phase of use for the Rawlins to Baggs Wagon Road. Northwestern Colorado was open to Euroamerican settlement. A few cattle ranches and stores had already appeared in northwest Colorado prior to the Ute removal. After 1882 new settlers flooded into the area. A few large settlements were located along the Rawlins to Baggs or Baggs to Craig Wagon Roads. The town of Meeker, Colorado was built near the site of the old White River Agency. It was the southern terminus for the wagon road. (Denver Public Library).

Freighters on the Rawlins to Baggs Road were a mixture of professionals working for merchants such as J. W. Hugus and local ranchers looking to supply their own needs or earn some extra income. J. W. Hugus owned a chain of stores in southern Wyoming, northern Colorado, and eastern Utah. His headquarters was first located at Fort Fred Steele and then later in Rawlins from where he shipped goods to his other stores. A photo of the Hugus store in Meeker in 1887. The first Hugus store in Meeker was originally an army barracks built after the Battle of Milk Creek. (Denver Public Library Special Collections).

In the early twentieth century, the original wood frame Hugus store in Meeker was replaced by larger more impressive brick and stone building. A view of the new Hugus store at right in Meeker. (Denver Public Library Special Collections).

Freighting was a great boon to ranchers and others. After crops were planted, they could haul a load of freight, pay their grocery bill and keep their credit in good standing. Lee Ratcliff described freighting on the Rawlins to Baggs Road in the early twentieth century. “On the way to Rawlins, there were way stations where food, lodging, and horse feed could be obtained for a price. One was the Davis ranch north of Craig; others were Baggs, and a place called the Willows. On this route, they would pick up a load of wool on the range and take it to Wamsutter where they received enough money for it to pay their entire expenses. This left what they were paid by J.W. Hugus for their freighting, clear profit. They often brought back a much as nine thousand pounds of freight for which they received a dollar a hundred [weight].” (National Archives).

One significant non-agricultural site on the Baggs to Craig Road in Colorado was the Craig-Baggs Gold Placer District. The site was located south of the Wyoming border along Four Mile Creek and Timberlake Creek. Gold was discovered in 1891. By 1892, some 4000 miners had arrived in the area. Between 1902 and 1904, a floating bucket dredge was in operation with water brought in from Four Mile Creek and the Little Snake River via ditches. Small scale placer mining continued until the 1930s and included a dry land dredger. Local mining continues into the current century. (Western Archaeological Services).

A view of Baggs at the turn of the century. In Wyoming, the only significant town on the Rawlins to Baggs Road south of Rawlins was Baggs. Baggs was the major distribution center for goods from Rawlins to ranches and settlements along the Little Snake River, including Savory and Dixon to the east and a group of ranches along the river valley west of Baggs known as the Darr Settlement. The Darr Settlement was named for its most prominent settler, John Darr, who arrived in the Little Snake valley in 1886. The Darr Settlement straddled the Wyoming/Colorado border and its residents had social and economic ties to both to Baggs, Wyoming and Craig, Colorado. (American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming).

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A view of Sulphur Springs Ranch in 1892. Settlements along the Rawlins to Baggs Road in Wyoming were few and far between because the area lacked major rivers such as the Little Snake or Yampa. Only isolated ranches developed along the Wyoming section of the trail, primarily along Muddy Creek and its tributaries and springs. These ranches became the primary destination for goods and supplies freighted along the trail in Wyoming. They also became important way stations for freight and stage traffic on the trail. (American Heritage Center, University of Wyoming.

A modern view of the Sulphur Springs Ranch. The Rawlins to Baggs Road did not develop formal stage stations like those found on the Oregon and Overland Trails. Ranches on the trail known as Road Ranches fulfilled this need. Road Ranches along the Wyoming section of the Rawlins to Baggs Road included the 16 Mile Station, the 20 Mile Station, Sulphur Springs, Willows Station, Perkins, and Muddy Bridge. At these stations, agriculture was the principal activity while the support of freight and stage traffic was secondary. Some also served as Post Offices. The Sulphur Springs Ranch is on private land and is not accessible. (Western Archaeological Services).

While not a road ranch, the J O Ranch was also a significant site on the Rawlins to Baggs Road. The J O Ranch was founded in 1885 by Joe Rankin, the scout who took word of the Milk Creek battle to Rawlins in September 1879. He returned to the battle with the Army relief column. In addition to ranching, Rankin operated a livery stable in Rawlins which was involved in freighting along the trail. The J O Ranch is currently owned by the Bureau of Land Management and has been restored as a historic site. (Bureau of Land Management, Rawlins Field Office).

A restored cabin at the J O Ranch. This cabin was originally located at the Willows Road Ranch on the Rawlins to Baggs Road. It was moved to the J O Ranch following the end of stagecoach operations on the Rawlins to Baggs Road in 1909. (Bureau of Land Management, Rawlins Field Office).

Another view of the log ranch house at the J O Ranch. It was a common feature for ranch buildings to expand as was needed with rooms being frequently added, often with different construction techniques. Here a wood frame room was added to the earlier log cabin. (Bureau of Land Management, Rawlins Field Office).

A stone house at the J O Ranch. (Bureau of Land Management, Rawlins Field Office).

By 1935, the route of the Rawlins to Baggs Road was changed so that it intersected the Lincoln Highway (U.S. 30) at Creston Junction 25 miles west of Rawlins. This became modern Wyoming State Highway 789. In Colorado, Wyoming Highway 789 became Colorado Highway 14. Today, these two highways serve the purpose once served by the Rawlins to Baggs Road, a line of communication connecting southern Wyoming and northern Colorado. (Western Archaeological Services).

A view of the Wamsutter to Baggs Road. This became a shorter and more direct alternative route to the Union Pacific Railroad. The Wamsutter Road was originally used for the sheep and wool trade. Sheep were moved seasonally between winter ranges in the northern Red Desert and summer ranges near the Little Snake River in the southern Red Desert. Today, the road is a major well field access road. (Western Archaeological Services).

A view of the Twentymile Road. This road parallels and in places overlaps the historic Rawlins to Baggs Road between Rawlins and Sulphur Springs. Like the Rawlins to Baggs Road, this road sees occasional local ranch traffic. The road is blocked at Sulphur Springs and no longer provides a direct route to Baggs. (Western Archaeological Services).