The well-weathered marker denotes Split Rock, a notch in the distant mountains of Fremont County, Wyoming, not visible in this image. The notch was an important landmark to westward-moving emigrants along the Oregon Trail (and the Mormon Trail, California Trail, and Pony Express route) which followed the same path before diverging in western Wyoming. Split Rock could be viewed for miles, and the gunsight-looking notch pointed them directly to South Pass to the west. There, the emigrants could cross through the rugged Rocky Mountains via a low, passable valley. Photo by Carol Highsmith, 2016.