Rock Springs Travel Guide

Rock Springs began as a stage station on the Overland Trail, named after a natural spring that dried up after extensive mining in the area. In 1894, Jack London wrote of Rock Springs: "It seems to be a mining town . . . . It seems to be the Wild and Woolly West with a vengeance." It's still true: Rock Springs shows the rougher side of Wyoming, powered by a coal-burning power plant, freight trains roaring through, and all-night truckers stopping for coffee, adding to a pervasive blue-collar sensibility. But it's not without pockets of culture and intellect, particularly at Western Wyoming College.This is also a pocket of unionism in a conservative state. In 1875, the Union Pacific Railroad demanded more coal to fuel its transcontinental trains, but simultaneously cut wages. When the local miners went on strike, the railroad imported about 500 Chinese laborers. More and more Chinese came to the area, and within a decade, the white miners felt displaced. Animosity festered, then burst in 1885 when a mob of laid-off miners murdered 28 Chinese and burned Chinatown to the ground. Now on the site, ironically, stands a church.Boom followed bust followed boom, and in the late 1970s, oil, gas, and coal caused the area population to double. Wages skyrocketed. So did the crime rate, and corruption raised its ugly head. Motels and bars and quickly assembled prefab homes multiplied. The streets in historic downtown can get a bit ornery, but it's interesting to walk among the weathered brick and wooden buildings. You might even stumble upon a hidden treasure in one of the many pawnshops.And you're not far from some fine outdoor attractions: Fossil Butte National Monument -- an astonishing natural storehouse of ancient plants, insects, and miniature horses -- and Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area, where a dam has backed up the Green River and made excellent fishing waters above and fine raft-floating waters below.