South Pass City State Historic Site worth a stop

Earlier this month I had a Wyoming State Parks & Cultural Trust commissioner meeting in Lander. One of the activities was touring South Pass City. Raise your hand if you have driven by the directional sign for the city a zillion times as you drive through South Pass. Raise your hand if you have never stopped. Raise your hand if you have stopped. I’m guessing that more of you raised your hands for never stopped.  Me too. 

Next time you travel over South Pass, consider stopping but not in the winter!  The site is a preserved gold mining town. You can take a tour of the restored Carrissa Mill and of the “English Tunnel”. The tunnel is just that…a mining tunnel. Take the tour by candlelight. 

 Did you know that the first female Justice of the Peace, Esther Hobart McQuigg Slack Morris filed the paperwork to become the Justice in South Pass City? You can go in the building where she filed. 

Another building is dedicated to photos from when South Pass was a bustling town. “Pictures of South Pass City: Photography from the Collections & Archives” Yet another is a general store with a working crank telephone. You can pan for gold too. 

 Zoie Green was a twenty-four old woman who took down the mill at Atlantic City, hauled it to south pass by wagon and then reconstructed it as the Carrissa Mill. 

On July 18, 1926, Eric Ediin and George Knapp were out on a mining claim near South Pass City. A short while later Eric went into town calling for help; George had fallen down the shaft. After an independent investigation, Eric was arrested for George’s murder. The evidence against him included a pick with hair on it and fabric that matched one of George’s hats. Eric only served three years in prison for the murder.

These are just a few of the fun and amazing stories you’ll learn and experience when you go to South Pass City.