Freelance writer Frances E. Hanson, owner and manager of Avalon Writing Center, is an award-winning author of five published books that includes regional (Wyoming) nonfiction, genealogical, and two historical cookbooks: American Treasury of Heirloom Fruitcakes and Puddings, and In addition, Hanson writes a monthly column, Mountain Cooking for The Fence Post magazine, where her work is regularly featured.

Hansons work has also appeared in the Casper College publication, The Chinook, The Casper Star Tribune, The Casper Journal, The Rawlins Daily Times, and The Wyoming State Journal, A Taste of Home, as well as several web magazines.

Since the formation of Avalon Writing Center, Hanson has researched and compiled four genealogies, ghost-written 17 book-length manuscripts, written hundred of literary reviews for various agencies, as well as done technical editing and editing for publication.

Hanson, a graduate of Casper College, began her writing career over fifty years ago as a high school journalist, and has taught self-publishing as a business, at Casper College. In addition, she mentored a writing group for three years in which three of the group members became award-winning writers.

Hanson mentors home-schooled children in writing and desk top publishing, and is currently working on her sixth book.

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Editor's Note: Upon the death of my proofreader and copy editor of many years, Ilene Lawson, I inherited a box of historical newspaper clippings from the Saratoga Sun. Among the clippings was this fascinating story by Saratoga pioneer J.A. Mauk. Although my research did not find a date for the story, it was written by Mr. Mauk as part of his memoirs probably in the late 1930s or earlier. This story is of historical importance, since it has not been published in any other form. The author has edited it for grammar, clarity and inserted documentation for events and dates in the story.

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General John C. Fremont made his first trip through the wilderness of what is now Wyoming in 1842. Fremont went from Fort Laramie up the Platte River then up the Sweetwater and over South Pass and to the present day Pinedale area, where he climbed the peak that now bears his name. The following year he set out to make further explorations, and decided to investigate the high mountain peaks that had been seen to the south, from the main road up the Sweetwater. In the spring of 1843, with Kit Carson as his guide, he and his party left Bents Fort, Colorado, and skirted the mountains near Tie Siding, south of present day Laramie, Wyoming, thence to a joint just south of Rock River; then turned the trail southwest toward the pass south of Elk Mountain and entered the pass following Pass Creek. The trail crossed about ten miles this side of Midway, up a small hill, over the north edge of the hill and on west.

The old trail traced up Sage Creek, passed three or four miles west of Rawlins, and went North to the Sweetwater, (a little west of the present Rawlins-Casper highway). Fremont then went up the Sweetwater, over South Pass, and on west to the vicinity of what is now Pocatello Idaho, and then turned east again.

Early day residents called the trail by three names: 1). The Fremont Trail, 2) The Kit Carson Trail, and 3) The Cherokee Pack Trail. This was the oldest road leading into the Platte River Valley. The Immigrant Trail, or the Overland Trail, did not come into being until twenty years later in 1863.

Soon after the Overland Trail opened ( between 1863-1865), a small group of immigrants formed their own wagon train and began the journey west. Without road maps, trail markers, and lacking an experienced guide, the party began their journey on the Overland Trail. and followed it through Colorado and Wyoming.

All went well until the immigrants crossed the Medicine Bow River, at the Crossing now know as the town of Elk Mountain. Just east of the town, the old trail and the Overland trail ran close together. The old trail ran through had been heavily traveled and ran through Oberg Pass, Pass Creek Basin, and Pass Creek Pass. The leader of the wagon train mistakenly chose the wrong trail. The Indians soon discovered this and followed them over Pass Creek. As the train reached the foothills of Coad Mountain the Indians overtook them. The wagons were burned, the white immigrants massacred, and the immigrants livestock confiscated. There had been a landslide at the foot of the mountain, and the old massacre ground was about half a mile east of this slide and three-fourths a mile from south Pass Creek in a sagebrush basin about half-way between the Oberg Pass road and Pass Creek.

News of the massacre reached mountain man and trapper, Jim Baker. Baker and his fellow trappers knew the country where the massacre occurred well. It was near the old trappers trail, where the trappers came from Fort Laramie or the Poudre River and branched off to travel to various trapping grounds or continue on to the Snake River.
Baker and a few of his friends traveled to the site of the massacre. Later, Baker would tell Albert Bullock that he thought a few of the white people apparently got away and put another fight near the springs (present day fish hatchery once the Pennock ranch). From this point Baker and his party no further signs of the immigrants.

Traces of the Massacre
In 1877, Albert Bullock mixed tallow and resin, greased his wagon wheels, fastened the linch pins and packed his family in the wagon. Bullock had worked a year at Virginia Dale and now pressed on to the Platte River Valley. At Elk Mountain they chose to follow the old trail through Pass Creek.

The Bullock family made camp at the lower end of the Pass, where John Allen and his family also camped for the night. The two families became acquainted and decided after traveling at the breakneck speed of ten to fifteen miles a day, the cattle and women folk needed a rest. Prospects for excellent fishing were good in the creek, also.

After fishing the creek up and below their camp with no luck, the families thought to try their fishing luck on Little Brush Creek, whose source is from Elk Mountain on the west and flows into Pass Creek on the old Schoonjans ranch. As the Bullock and Allen families followed the stream they caught no fish but discovered a large quantity of harness leather cut into small pieces and a piece of charred ham. Upon further investigation Bullock came to the conclusion that some kind of an Indian fight had taken place at this location.

Later, the Allen family continued their trip to Oregon^[1] and Bullock went on to Fort Steele, where he went to work for Charles Scribner, removing ties from the river after the tie drive.^[2]  In 1880 Bullock homesteaded in the Saratoga area land that would become the Pennock ranch. Ranch hands working about one mile east of the Pennock buildings dug into the grave of a child. The child had been dressed in highly decorated beadwork. Small pieces of buckskin and a number of shell ornaments were also found. Other artifacts found were, leather shoes with nailed shoes, part of a frying pan and a nickel-plated back band from a harness. Evidence present at the time indicated that the Indians had buried the child. However, the grave was four and a half feet deep and had rocks placed over it that had been carried about two hundred yards. Some thought the grave had some connection to the Pass Creek massacre.

Years later, (about 1893) Pass creek residents, John Allen, Shelton Allen, Chap Omary, George Allen, James Case the Obergs and their friends held a picnic in the foothills of Coad Mountain. The group took wagon and teams to what was known as the massacre grounds to see what they could find. John A. Allen found a bone that had washed out of the ground. Allen had Saratoga physician, Dr. Sam F. Price examine the bone. Dr. Price declared the bone to be that of a leg or arm of a woman.

Indian Burial Grounds
About three-quarters of a mile from where the wagon train had been burned there was an Indian burial ground of sorts. It was located on the east side of Oberg Pass, at the foot of the mountain and just north of the road. The deceased Indians were put down into the crevasses of a small limestone ridge and rocks piled on them. Settlers on Pass Creek discovered the Indian burial grounds and wantonly destroyed them. Large quantities of beads were gathered there. Writing in the Saratoga Sun, J. A. Mauk said of the beads, They were easy to get. All one had to do was locate a dead Indian, take a few rocks off him, throw the bones out of the way, then crawl down in the crevasse and scoop up beads by the cupful.

[1] John Allen returned to Saratoga the following year and homestead in the Platte Valley, which later became the Walker ranch. [2] Bullock was instrumental in introducing trout into Platte Valley water.

Copyright © 2003 Frances E. Hanson. No unauthorized reproduction or transmission by any means whatsoever permitted under federal criminal law.