Spurgin's Beaver Slide, Wyoming
September 3, 1877 - Captain Spurgin gets the wagons through
Several of the army wagons had no choice but to descend one particularly steep bit of ground that became known as Spurgin’s Beaver Slide after Captain William F. Spurgin who headed the effort.
Fortunately they had a 100 foot rope in one of the wagons. They wound the rope around a tree at the top of the slope and tied the other end to a wagon. With several men holding the end of the rope, they carefully lowered the wagons one at a time. Once 100 feet were gained they secured the wagon to a tree with a shorter rope while they moved the longer rope down slope for the second 100 feet. In this manner, the army wagons “slid” down the steep slope. George Cowan, the injured Radersburg tourist, was in one of those wagons.
“Cowan suffered intensely, but bore it all bravely. Part of the time he was standing on his head, and then again he would be on his feet. It was enough to make a well man sick.”
– A.J. Arnold (tourist, Radersburg party)
The rope burns created on the trees were visible for years. Several of these stumps are preserved in the Yellowstone Heritage and Research Center.
