A drive down the Yellowstone in Wheatland

The Parkway Court once sat on U.S. Highway 87 and the Yellowstone Highway in Wheatland, Wyoming. It had up-to-date rooms and suites with baths and was open year-round, the back of the postcard states.
Gregory R.C. Hasman Collection

The world has gone mad, but there is a silver lining, I am still alive and can breathe and drive the next mile.

I do not care what one's politics are. I have friends and family all over the spectrum and I hope and pray we can get through this time.

To harness my emotions of the turbulent era we are in I am going to focus on my passions, driving down two-lane highways and photographing and writing about things, and people I may find along the way.

Let's start by looking back at a couple of trips starting with a drive into southeast Wyoming.

Prior to the Lincoln Highway Association's annual conference that took place in Sweetwater County, Wyoming, from June 18-21, 2019, I spent time on another auto trail that preceded the two-lane highway and interstate, the Yellowstone Highway.

The route went from Rocky Mountain National Park to Yellowstone National Park. In Wyoming, it ran in a north by northwest direction through communities such as Cheyenne, Chugwater, Wheatland, Douglas, Glenrock, Casper, Thermopolis, Basin and Cody before reaching the park. Travelers on the route during 1910s and 20s were guided by yellow and gray markers with the black letter "H" on it.

"The entire route across the state is passable for wagons and automobiles under good weather conditions, but is in need of a large amount of work, including the construction of bridges and culverts, the reduction of excessive grades, and ditching and crowning of the road to care for the surface draining," a 1913 state engineer's report about the Yellowstone Highway to Wyoming Gov. Joseph Carey states.

On June 15, I made the four-hour drive from Rock Springs to attend the 34th annual Chugwater Chili Cook-off. Chugwater sits on the Yellowstone Highway and old U.S. 87 just off Interstate 25 north of Cheyenne. During the trip I drove on parts of the Yellowstone Highway in Wheatland, Chugwater and the unincorporated community of Uva.

On to Wheatland

About five miles south of Wheatland in the 1910s, the Yellowstone Highway was "is in bad shape because of seepage and washes, and will require the expenditure of probably $5,000 before it will be in good condition for travel," the 1913 Wyoming state engineer's report states.

Entering Wheatland from the south on old U.S. Highway 87.
Gregory R.C. Hasman Photo

In 1924, things began to change.

According to that year's volume four edition of the Official Automobile Blue Book, the route consisted of "improved gravel and dirt roads."

"The route extends are over a rolling prairie county," it states. "Chugwater and Wheatland are surrounded by a prosperous, irrigated farming community."

Development of a community

Wheatland was reportedly where the nation's first and largest private irrigation district. In the late 1800s, the Wheatland Development Company, headed up by the likes of Territorial Governor Francis E. Warren, Judge Joseph Carey, and Andrew Gilchrist was organized to entice people to establish homes and businesses in the area. They built a Wheatland Development Company building on Main Street. For more on the irrigation district click here.

Before the late 19th century, the area around the future site of Wheatland was a flat, arid landscape with desert-like vegetation. In 1883 local rancher and judge Joseph Carey, along with Horace Plunkett, John Hoyt, Morton Post, Francis E. Warren, William Irvine, and Andrew Gilchrist, established the Wyoming Development Company. The company hoped to irrigate in the Wheatland Flats and profit from new development.

By the fall of 1883 an irrigation system was constructed on the Wheatland flats including a 2,380 foot long tunnel to divert water for irrigation into Bluegrass Creek and the first two of the system's canals. The Cheyenne and Northern Railway line reached the Wheatland flats in July 1887, eventually extending to the Wyoming Central Railway at Wendover. Lots in the town of Wheatland were auctioned in 1894. The development caused an upsurge of settlement.

The community was incorporated in 1905 by an unanimous vote. "Go ahead, we want Wheatland incorporated," was part of the headline that appeared in the Aug. 24, 1905, edition of The Laramie County News.

When Platte County was created from a portion of Laramie County in 1911, Wheatland was chosen as county seat and in 1917, the county courthouse was built in the community.

Today, Business U.S. Highway 87 in Wheatland was on the Yellowstone. In the Automobile Blue Book it states that it was on 9th Street and Gilchrist Avenue by an Art Deco building that is currently a Wells Fargo. It then proceeds north pass the Platte County Courthouse.



The Platte County Courthouse sits on the Yellowstone Highway and old U.S. Highway 87 in Wheatland, Wyoming, the county seat.
Gregory R.C. Hasman Photo

One business that operated during the highway's heyday was the Commercial Hotel, owned by J.J. McCutcheon. It was considered the "headquarters for automobile parties," according to the guide.

Travelers could spend a night in the hotel for at least $1, according to the 1920 edition of The Official Hotel Red Book and Directory.

As for Wheatland as a whole, it was described by the Blue Book as "one of the first trading centers of the state and a 'real town' in the days of the cowboy."

Today, the community hosts the Platte County Fair and Rodeo along with other events, Summer Fun Fest, Quilt Shows, Town and Country Appreciation Night Dance, Moonlight Madness. Also, check out the Laramie Peak Museum.

The Yellowstone just outside Wheatland

After passing the courthouse in Wheatland, the Yellowstone Highway continues straight where it passes by a couple of former roadside businesses.

Down the Yellowstone Highway and old U.S. Highway 87 appears to have been a former motel court and garage. It may have been part of the Parkway Court.
Gregory R.C. Hasman Photo

About a mile or two later the road splits. Take the fork on the right, which is Wyoming Highway 320 or the North Wheatland Highway. According to the Wyoming State Highway Commission in 1917, the road was originally graded by a tractor outfit.

After getting on Wyoming 320 go north for about five miles before making a right onto East Laramie River Road. Cross the North Laramie River then continue in a s-shaped direction until reaching Uva, according to the guide.

A bridge crosses the North Laramie River on an alignment of the Yellowstone Highway west of Uva, Wyoming.
Gregory R.C. Hasman Photo

After exploring for a mile or so turn the road enters private land. Turn around and head back on the route. Go north until it intersects with U.S. 26. Wyo. 320 was also at one time U.S. 185 then later U.S. 87 then turn back to Wheatland.

For more on the Yellowstone Highway, check out a website Historian Lee Whiteley, who spoke at the Lincoln Highway Association Conference this year, created about the Yellowstone Highway.