<p>During the 1800s, the area now known as Wyoming became the focal point for western expansion. The discovery of the South Pass route over the Rocky Mountains was the primary reason for the location of the Oregon, Mormon Pioneer, California, and Pony Express historic trails in Wyoming.
</p><p>This broad pass - the highest point on the trail, located at the summit of an almost imperceptible approach to the Continental Divide - was the key to the entire trail system. Every emigrant wagon train and handcart company that went westward rolled through this pass.
</p><p>Today, BLM-administered public lands in Wyoming are one of the few remaining locations where these national historic trails can be experienced in a setting relatively unchanged from the 1800s. In Wyoming, 60 percent (over 340 miles) of the Oregon, California, Mormon Pioneer and Pony Express Trails fall under BLM stewardship, with a management plan that protects the setting, nature, and purposes of this “National Trails Management Corridor.”   
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Photo by Bob Wick, BLM
Bob Wick of the <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/people/91981596@N06">Bureau  of Land Management</a>
<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/mypubliclands/19768575368/">My Public Lands Roadtrip: Historic Trails in Wyoming</a>