When gold fever hit in the late 1840s, cries of “Ho California!” could be heard across the country as eager Forty-Niners and farmers packed up their families and belongings and headed west. For the next 25 years or so, a quarter of a million people headed to California to fulfill their own Manifest Destiny.
The California Trail system was a total of approximately 5,665 miles. From Missouri, it followed the same route as the Oregon and Mormon Trails until it diverged from the Mormon Trail at South Pass and the Oregon Trail at Fort Hall. Today, trail ruts and other traces can still be seen for more than 1,000 miles from Casper, Wyoming to California.
One of "nine young men from Kentucky" who accompanied Meriwether Lewis and William Clark on their explorations of Louisiana Territory, John Colter became one of the expedition's most adept hunters. He was about thirty years old when the expedition set off in 1804, stood five feet ten inches tall, and looked out at the world through piercing blue eyes. read more
Approaching the park from the east, high bluffs surrounding the park offer the first hint of the mountains to come. read more
