Martin's Cove

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Martin's Cove, Wyoming

Martin's Cove is a historic site in Wyoming. The 933 acre (3.8 km²) cove is located 55 miles (89 km) southwest of Casper, Wyoming, in Natrona County. It is located on the Mormon Trail and is also part of the North Platte-Sweetwater segment of the Oregon Trail. The Cove was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on March 8, 1977.

[edit] History

In November 1856, about 500 Mormon emigrants in the Martin Handcart Company were halted for five days in the Cove by snow and cold while on their way to Salt Lake City. That autumn two handcart companies, the Willie and Martin companies, began their journey dangerously late and met disaster in the cold weather of Wyoming. Although the number who died in the Cove is unknown, more than 145 members of the Martin Company died before reaching Salt Lake City. On November 4 the company forded the bitterly cold Sweetwater River and sought shelter in the Cove. That evening a powerful north wind blew the tents to the ground. The tents were set up again, but a blizzard brought heavy snow. The company remained in the camp for five days, unable to proceed due to the snow and cold. A number of the company's cattle died there and were preserved in a frozen state. Finally on November 9 the weather warmed and the company was able to move on toward Utah. The survivors would finally reach Salt Lake City on November 30.

In the late 20th Century, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints tried to gain control of the area. A law passed by Congress in 2002 required the Bureau of Land Management, part of the Interior Department, to negotiate a long-term lease with the church, which has constructed and operates a museum, visitor center, and teaching complex on the site, which includes areas commonly used as campgrounds by emigrant trains, and other landmarks such as Devil's Gate. In 2006 a settlement following a lawsuit by the American Civil Liberties Union modified the way the site is administrated, requiring that the Bureau of Land Management remove religious references from the site and provide another entrance independent of the Visitors' Center, which is allowed to exclude visitors based on their viewpoints. [1]

About 100,000 people visit the site each year, of which a majority are Latter-day Saints, but increasingly other tourists are visiting the site. It is located near Independence Rock, another key landmark on the trails.