HISTORICAL ROUTES NEAR THE OREGON TRAIL CENTER

   The Oregon/California Trail wasn't the only history that passed through our little valley.  If you follow I15 North from Salt Lake City and cut off at Brigham City, Utah you will find Scenic By-Way US Highway 89.

     Taking US Highway 89 brings you right into Montpelier, Idaho.  If you follow the signs and continue up 89 to Jackson Hole, you pass the Montpelier reservoir.  This is where the old freighter's route begins.

     The route is known even today as the Crow Creek Road and was the link between the settlements of Afton, Wyoming and Montpelier, Idaho.  The 100 mile round trip between Afton and the rail head at Montpelier would take a team of horses from three to seven days depending on the conditions along the way.  The route started in 1879 and was used by Star Valley's first settlers.

     John and Sara Broadbent Nield moved their family to Star Valley in 1888 over the Crow Creek Road.  In 1890 sons Joseph L and John E Nield subcontracted the mail for two years from Montpelier to Afton, and the Nield family carried mail under this contract for twelve consecutive years.

      By 1934 trucks rolled over this road and brought mail to the valley.  The Crow Creek Road has several interesting stopping points along the way.  One such spot is the White Dug Way.  The dug way is composed of white shale.  Freighters learned to be cautious as a wagon or sleigh could easily slide off the dug way and tip over.  Other interesting sites along the way are the Half Way House, Camp Give Out, Snow Slide Canyon and Whiskey Flats.  Each one of these sites are marked with historical information about that site.

 

 For fifty years the life line of the Star Valley Community  was the Crow Creek Road.  Cheese, butter, hides, wool and hogs, loaded on sleighs and wagons, moved to the rail head at Montpelier, Idaho.  Machinery and equipment large and small, household goods, food, clothing, and medical supplies were hauled on the return trip.  The Star Valley Stage moved Mail and passengers daily.

 The Crow Creek Road is still accessible today by car or truck.  Many locals will use it to "go get a burger & fries" in Star Valley.  Markers and historical information is available at each of the sites along the route.