Wyoming Places Wiki / Whiskey Peak

Located in Carbon County beyond the outer southwestern edge of Natrona county is a breach in the hills that are a continuation of Ferris Mountains. This gap was given its name in 1862, when a change in the Western Mail route was being made from the Old Oregon Trail to the southern route. The equipment of the mail contractors, consisting of the rolling stock, horses, mules and other property, was being moved from the Sweetwater Station to Fort Halleck. Company A, of the 11^th Ohio cavalry with Major Farrell in command, was escorting the company’s property across the plains to protect it from being raided by the Indians.

The first day the long train of coaches, wagons, horses and mules made 11 miles from the station where the property had been gathered. In the evening a camp was selected where there was a fine spring of water and plenty of wood. Shortly after going into camp the officer in charge discovered that a number of the soldiers showed the effects of a strong drink. The soldiers were doing escort duty not only for the company but also for a number of emigrants who had availed themselves of the opportunity for safe conduct. Orders were given to search all the wagons and if whiskey was found to destroy it. A barrel of whiskey was soon found in one of the wagons. It was rolled out, the head of the barrel was knocked in and the liquid was poured out on the ground. The spot where the whiskey was emptied was just above the spring, and what did not soak in the ground found its way to the spring. The soldiers and some of the others lost no time in rushing forward with cups, canteens, buckets and anything else that came in handy to save what they could of the whiskey. The gap in the mountains up to that time had not been named, and the soldiers afterwards, in referring to it, called it Whiskey Gap and the name has clung to it ever since.

Source: WPA

When Ben Holladay shifted his stage route in the summer of 1862, all equipment was assembled at Devil's Gate and moved southward under the protection of a troop of the 11th Ohio Volunteer Cavalry. While encamped in this canyon, some of the soldiers showed signs of intoxication. Officers found a barrel of whisky in one of the civilian wagons, knocked its head in and poured the liquid on the ground above the spring. Soon soldiers, teamsters, roustabouts, and guides converged on the spring, with cups, canteens, buckets, camp kettles and plates. That night, in his report, the commanding officer thanked heaven, parenthetically, that the Indians did not attack.

Source: Wyoming Guide

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1:24000 Quadrangle: Sagebrush Park

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