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to the
Sweetwater River. They were looking for a safe location to spend the winter. Smith reasoned since the Sweetwater flowed east it must eventually run into the Missouri River. Trying to transport their extensive fur collection down the Sweetwater and North Platte River, they found after a near
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By 1843 the
Sweetwater River valley was a regular wagon trail providing the water, grass and fuel needed on the Oregon, California and Mormon Trails across Wyoming. The Sweetwater provided an almost direct path from the Platte and North Platte Rivers to the wide
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rivers. South Pass was the easiest pass across the
Atlantic and Pacific drainages. These wagon trails crossed the meandering Sweetwater River about nine times on their about 10 to 20 day trips along the Sweetwater River before they reached
528:, since it is a site where two early members met, including one of the fraternity's six founders. At a time when such a meeting was incredibly unlikely, the coincidence was so fortuitous as to be chronicled in the fraternity's history.
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had taken in 1813—eleven years before. Thomas
Fitzpatrick was often hired as a trail guide when the fur trade almost ceased in 1840. Jedediah Smith was killed by Indians about 1831.
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93:
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disastrous canoe crash that the rivers in
Wyoming were too swift and rough for water passage. On July 4, 1824, they cached their furs under a dome of rock they named
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Wyoming. These trappers and traders soon established a path for their pack trains along the
Sweetwater and eventually cleared a rough wagon trail to the Green River.
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524:. The Sweetwater River's connection to the California Trail is of particular interest to members of the Fraternity of
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to the north and the Green
Mountains (Wyoming) to the south, through what are now cattle-raising areas. In southern
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they bought pack horses (on credit) and retrieved their furs. They had re-discovered the route that
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611:"Boundary Descriptions and Names of Regions, Subregions, Accounting Units and Cataloging Units"
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and started their long trek on foot to the
Missouri River via the Sweetwater, North Platte and
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U.S. Geological Survey. National
Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline data.
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635:"USGS Gage #06639000 on the Sweetwater River near Alcova, WY"
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valleys. Upon arriving back in a settled area on the
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The
Sweetwater River valley provided a route used by
356:is a 238-mile (383 km) long tributary of the
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396:. It flows ENE along the north side of the
692:Bodies of water of Fremont County, Wyoming
687:Bodies of water of Natrona County, Wyoming
467:In fall of 1823, trappers and fur traders
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400:, then ESE, through Fremont County, past
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574:United States Department of the Interior
456:as they went to their annual summertime
372:system, its waters eventually reach the
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40:1870 photograph of the Sweetwater River.
475:led their trapping crew south from the
310:120.8 cu ft/s (3.42 m/s)
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330:4,290 cu ft/s (121 m/s)
320:0.5 cu ft/s (0.014 m/s)
697:Tributaries of the North Platte River
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384:The Sweetwater rises in southwestern
278:2,880 sq mi (7,500 km)
460:located usually somewhere along the
392:Wyoming, on the southern end of the
644:. U.S. Geological Survey. 1913–2013
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565:Geographic Names Information System
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642:National Water Information System
613:. United States Geological Survey
388:, at the continental divide near
16:For the river in California, see
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570:United States Geological Survey
23:River in Wyoming, United States
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219: • coordinates
138: • coordinates
1:
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181:10,200 ft (3,100 m)
104:Physical characteristics
18:Sweetwater River (California)
262:5,853 ft (1,784 m)
258: • elevation
177: • elevation
7:
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296: • location
203: • location
122: • location
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326: • maximum
316: • minimum
306: • average
300:above Pathfinder Reservoir
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600:, accessed March 21, 2011
538:List of rivers of Wyoming
458:Rocky Mountain Rendezvous
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241:42.50694°N 109.05694°W
160:42.65417°N 109.05694°W
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434:Pathfinder Reservoir
246:42.50694; -109.05694
208:Pathfinder Reservoir
165:42.65417; -109.05694
368:. As a part of the
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560:"Sweetwater River"
509:Continental Divide
473:Thomas Fitzpatrick
358:North Platte River
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196:North Platte River
94:Sweetwater Station
682:Rivers of Wyoming
663:"Phi Gamma Delta"
482:Independence Rock
477:Yellowstone River
418:Independence Rock
406:Granite Mountains
370:Mississippi River
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59:s across Wyoming
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490:Missouri River
469:Jedediah Smith
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410:Natrona County
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398:Antelope Hills
386:Fremont County
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646:. Retrieved
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576:. 1979-06-05
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511:between the
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486:Platte River
466:
450:mountain men
446:fur trappers
443:
414:Devil's Gate
412:, it passes
402:Jeffrey City
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353:
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98:Jeffrey City
56:
53:North Platte
515:rivers and
462:Green River
454:fur traders
346:Green River
244: /
232:109°03′25″W
163: /
151:109°03′25″W
676:Categories
648:2015-12-09
617:2015-12-10
580:2015-12-10
544:References
522:South Pass
506:South Pass
426:California
420:along the
390:South Pass
362:U.S. state
348:in Wyoming
275:Basin size
229:42°30′25″N
148:42°39′15″N
360:, in the
287:Discharge
532:See also
65:Location
496:of the
440:History
366:Wyoming
84:Wyoming
70:Country
422:Oregon
380:Course
290:
267:Length
113:Source
90:Cities
638:(PDF)
191:Mouth
80:State
471:and
452:and
428:and
416:and
352:The
364:of
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626:^
589:^
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551:^
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20:.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
