Devil’s Gate is a narrow gorge cut by the Sweetwater River in the Rattlesnake Mountains of Wyoming. The gorge was too narrow for wagons to pass. They had to go through a pass to the south of the ridge. Many pioneers took the shortcut through Devil’s Gate on foot. To represent the danger of passing through Devil’s Gate on our “Oregon Trail” we used a fallen log. Each student was helped up onto the log
and they had to walk the length of the log
where they could climb down and continue on towards South Pass.
South Pass is the lowest point on the Continental Divide between the Central Rocky Mountains and the Southern Rocky Mountains. The passes furnish a natural crossing point of the Rockies. The historic pass became the route for emigrants on the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails to the West.