WEDNESDAY, June 3, 2026 |
Photo – Walk250 advertisement – Courtesy Journeys to Carbon County
Journeys to Carbon County
Walk America
By Justin Horn
On April 30, 2026, the Saratoga Museum led a walking tour of historic Saratoga, WY as a field trip for the attendees of the Wyoming Outdoor Recreation Summit. Carbon County decided to welcome the conference attendees by showing her loving embrace in the form of a wet spring snowstorm. Nothing too severe for those familiar with Wyoming’s fickle weather, but it does force one to cast their mind back to the early immigrants, soldiers, and fur traders who first came to what-is-now Wyoming… many of them walking.
Several people joined a walking tour in Saratoga – Courtesy Journeys to Carbon County Committee
One example, the “boys of Company K.” During the American Civil War, horses were in high demand back East. Thus, soldiers on the Western frontier, even the “horse soldiers” of the cavalry, often found themselves without mounts. Tasked with patrolling trails, protecting mail and emigrant routes, and securing telegraph lines, many of the men of Company K of the 11th Ohio Cavalry found themselves walking from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas to Fort Laramie, Wyoming Territory. From Fort Laramie, the company was officially transferred to Fort Halleck (at the base of Elk Mountain) in November 1864. 75 soldiers and two officers completed an arduous, snowy, 100-miles as the crow flies, five-day march, finally arriving at Fort Halleck on November 24.
Thinking about Company K put things into perspective while we were walking in beautiful downtown Saratoga. It was a little cold, but after an hour on the tour, we returned to the Platte Valley Community Center to warm up. A luxury Company K could only have dreamed of.
But walking does offer some advantages. A chance to slow down. A chance to take in the beauty and history of our amazing country. That is one reason the Carbon County 250 Committee is promoting the national Walk250 incentive. To walk 250 miles by the 4th of July! Anyone who participates will be honored at the Carbon County Wyoming Day celebration on July 10 at Depot Park in Rawlins.
To further help motivate and engage with this America250 initiative, the Saratoga Museum has produced a historic walking tour of Saratoga. It is available off the izi.travel app at https://cms.izi.travel/94361/tours/1774146.
