From boom to rust...at the head of the old Texas Trail
Pine Bluffs, Wyoming - The town the Interstate left behind.
Straddling the Nebraska/Wyoming state line, Pine Bluffs was a boomtown in the 1880's. With vast herds of cattle moving up from Texas, Pine Bluffs became the largest cattle shipping point on the Union Pacific railroad- the head of the Texas Trail and dubbed the 'Frontier Crossroads', due to the sheer number of cattle trails descending upon the town.
A successful commercial and agricultural economy flourished during the early 20th century, and the UP tracks still run past the town, but with construction of the trans-continental Interstate 80, the modern world rapidly by-passed this former capital of the cattle trail, leaving memories of its heyday rusting along the route of US-30, the old Lincoln Highway.
Places to visit: Texas Trail Museum: 201 West 3rd StPine Bluffs, WY 82082
Useful links
https://www.pinebluffswy.gov/