Granger, Wyoming? Where's that?

Actually, it's a town that you'll probably miss if you blink, with the name that hardly anyone remembers, used to be a big deal in this state.

Take I-80 West past rock springs and just beyond original Little America, and make a right up to highway 30.

The town is just off from the west side of the highway. You won't drive through it unless you turn off the highway toward it.

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The site is not much to look at. Even back in its boom days, there was not much to see. But it was at the crossing of many important trails and rivers. That is why people gathered there.

Granger had a station for folks traveling the Oregon Trail to stop. It was also a Pony Express stop. it was even a stagecoach stop. The Wells Fargo Stagecoach Stop is still standing in Granger today.

Folks could rest, get a meal, spend the night, or just change horses.

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So much like the Little America down below, which is very busy today, Granger was just such a rest stop before the automobile was invented.

Granger was an important stop for mountain men who were trapped in the early years of the American West. It was chosen as the site of their annual rendezvous.

The American Fur Company, among other suppliers, was present, and American Indians and trappers traded furs for goods. Several weeks were spent recounting events from the previous year and reveling in assorted amusements, while lubricated with liquor. The event occurred at the junction of the Hams Fork and Blacks Fork rivers.

Today, 139 people live in the town of Granger. You might look around and ask why they are here. The world seems to have bypassed them a long time ago. Perhaps they stay because they like it that way.

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