Highlights

Deerwood Wild Horse Ranch EcoSanctuary – photos by Jana Wilson

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Itinerary

Day 1 – Cheyenne, WY

Arrive in Cheyenne, WY today for a four night stay. Dinner is on your own this evening. This is your chance to explore all downtown Cheyenne has to offer.

Day 2 – Cheyenne City Tour – Frontiers Days Old West Museum – Terry Bison Ranch

This morning, meet your local guide for a Cheyenne City Tour. This capital city of Wyoming conjures up images of the Old West – cowboys, railroads and the rolling High Plains. Cheyenne is a unique city that captured the imagination of the American West and there is much to discover in this legendary cow town.

Next, visit the Frontier Days Old West Museum that features some of the most intriguing western artifacts in the region including one of the most extensive collections of carriages west of the Mississippi. Transport yourselves through the great adventure of the “World’s Largest Outdoor Rodeo and Western Celebration” with a visit to the exhibit on the history of Cheyenne Frontier Days. Capture the drama and romance of the very first rodeo in 1897 to unveil how CFD has grown and changed over the years.

Then stop in Holliday Park to visit the “Big Boy” Steam Locomotive. Even in retirement, ol’ Number 4004 remains an imposing sight. The world’s largest steam locomotive, this powerful coal-fired engine was designed to pull a 3600-ton train over steep grades between Cheyenne, WY, and Ogden, Utah. The 4004 is one of the eight remaining Big Boys throughout the country.

Later this afternoon, head to the Terry Bison Ranch. On arrival, depart on a fully narrated 50 minute train tour aboard a custom built train that will take you from Wyoming into Colorado and back to see the Bison herd. This is a wonderful photo opportunity. Along the way you will hear about the history of the Terry Ranch while seeing other animals such as camels, ostriches, and oxen. After your tour, you head to the Senators Restaurant and enjoy a Dirty Dan Magee’s Steak Fry. (B,D)

Day 3 – Legends of Laramie Tour – Wyoming Territorial Prison – Wild Horse Sanctuary

Today, you head to Laramie, WY which takes its name from Jacques LaRamie, a French or French-Canadian trapper who disappeared in the Laramie Mountains in the late 1810s and was never heard from again.  On arrival, meet a local guide for a Legends of Laramie Tour. Learn about the places where Laramie’s first citizens lived, worked, and made their mark on this historic town.

Next visit the Old West at the Wyoming Territorial Prison State Historic Site. Beautifully restored, the site features a frontier prison that once held the notorious outlaw Butch Cassidy. Receive a “convict identity” and take a guided tour of the prison grounds. Then visit the prison Broom Factory and watch the volunteers make brooms just as the convicts did in 1892.

The afternoon features a tour of the Deerwood Ranch Wild Horse Ecosanctuary, the first Bureau of Land Management (BLM) sponsored wild horse ecosanctuary in the United States. The ecosanctuary is located on a 4,000-acre, family-owned ranch approximately 30 miles west of Laramie in southeastern Wyoming.  Here, these beautiful animals will be able to live out their lives and be cared for in a setting that is as close to possible like their natural environment… only better!

Dinner is included this evening at a local restaurant in Laramie before returning to Cheyenne for the night. (B,D)

Day 4 – Fort Laramie – Oregon Trail – Old Fashioned Melodrama & Dinner

After breakfast, depart for a visit of Fort Laramie National Historical Site. Originally established as a private fur trading fort in 1834, Fort Laramie evolved into the largest and best known military post on the Northern Plains, before its abandonment in 1890. This “grand old post” witnessed the entire sweeping saga of America’s western expansion and Indian resistance to encroachment on their territories.

The Oregon National Historic Trail is recognized as a nationally significant resource relevant to the westward expansion of the United States. It is an historic “road” or route used by hundreds of thousands of emigrants between the 1840’s and early 1870’s as they made their way west to begin a new life or to seek their fortune.

At this site, where the trail was forced away from the river and crossed a ridge of soft sandstone, the track is worn to a depth of five feet, creating some of the most spectacular ruts remaining along the entire length of the Oregon-California Trail. The geography of the area dictated that practically every wagon that went west crossed the ridge in exactly the same place, with impressive results.

Also included today is a stop at Register Cliff State Historic Site, one of the best “trail registers in the desert.” Countless emigrants inscribed their names, dates, places of origin and messages into the soft sandstone cliffs. During the peak of the westward movement of the 1840’s and 1850’s, Register Cliff was an important landmark along the California, Oregon and Mormon trails. Situated a day’s travel west of Fort Laramie, the Register Cliff area was an important stopover and resting area for weary travelers to set up camp, to rest, and to pasture their animals. With the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 wagon train activity along the trails diminished.

Returning to Cheyenne this evening, enjoy a good Old Fashioned Melodrama at the Historic Atlas Theatre. Get a taste of the old west as you cheer for the hero & boo at the villain. Let your group indulge in a fine western meal in the ornate theatre while enjoying the production. (B,D)

Day 5 – Depart for Home

After breakfast, depart for home. (B)