Last updated: May 6, 2026
Place
Martin’s Cove: Mormon Trail Site and Martin’s Cove National Historic Site
NPS Photo
Quick Facts
Location:
Martin’s Cove Visitors’ Center, 47600 W WY-220, Alcova, Wyoming, is about 5 miles southwest of Independence Rock State Park.
Significance:
Martin’s Cove Visitors’ Center is located on the Tom Sun Ranch National Historic Landmark. The NHL includes the site of historic Fort Seminoe, owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Nearly 1,000 destitute Latter-day Saint emigrants sheltered from a blizzard in the area from Nov. 2 to Nov. 9, 1856.
Designation:
National Historic Site, Tom Sun Ranch National Historic Landmark, Certified NHT Site, Historic Site on the Mormon Pioneer, California, Oregon, and Pony Express NHTs.
Amenities
5 listed
Historical/Interpretive Information/Exhibits, Information, Restroom, Trailhead, Water - Drinking/Potable
One of the great tragedies of the overland emigration, the Martin Handcart Company disaster of 1856, occurred in this area of the Sweetwater Valley. The story of the emigrants’ sufferings here and their rescue is well known among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but may be unfamiliar to others. An early winter storm caught the Martin Company of around 600 men, women, and children at a crossing of the North Platte River near Casper, WY, on Oct. 19.
These Latter-day Saint emigrants with their handcarts and a small group of rescuers moved through winter conditions while living on starvation rations and reached Devil’s Gate on Nov. 2. Lacking adequate clothing in sub-zero temperatures, they tried to shelter in or near the remains of an abandoned trading post known as Fort Seminoe. Two days later the company, aided by the rescuers, moved a couple of miles west and forded the Sweetwater River, about 100 feet wide and choked with ice.
The emigrants took shelter in a cove in the Sweetwater Rocks, on the north side of the valley. Powerful winds and heavy snow knocked down many tents, leaving people exposed to the elements. Unable to move due to snow and sub-zero temperatures, they stayed with little shelter and provisions for 5 days at that place, now called Martin’s Cove. John Kirkman, then 8 years old, later recalled, “Death had taken a heavy toll and the Ravine was like an overcrowded tomb. No mortal tongue could describe the suffering.” When the weather warmed on Nov. 9, the company started west with help from the rescuers and 2 small Latter-day Saint wagon trains with around 430 emigrants, which had followed the handcarts on the journey and sheltered near Devil’s Gate.
The freight from the wagon trains was unloaded into Fort Seminoe so that the weakest of the emigrants could ride in the emptied wagons. Additional rescuers with provisions and wagons from Salt Lake City met them progressively along the way and helped them to the valley, where they began arriving on Nov. 30.
Some 100 to 125 members of the Martin Company died along the trail, with most of the deaths occurring between present-day Casper and the Salt Lake Valley.
A cattleman named Tom Sun established a ranch at Devil’s Gate in 1872. The ranch, listed as a national historic landmark in 1960, was purchased by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1996. Today the Church operates the original ranch house as Martin’s Cove Visitors’ Center, offering exhibits and a film about the handcart disaster.
Nearby, the reconstructed Fort Seminoe and a small museum are open to visitors. Monuments, memorials, and sculptures are found throughout the site. Visitors can hike an ADA-wheelchair-accessible trail to Martin’s Cove from the visitors’ center or drive west along the old state highway to a trailhead closer to the cove. Church-sponsored handcart reenactments set out from here in the summer, and handcarts are available for other visitors to borrow.
Site Information
Location (Martin’s Cove Visitors’ Center, 47600 W WY-220, Alcova, Wyoming, is about 5 miles southwest of Independence Rock State Park.)
Amenities
Historical/interpretive information/exhibits; restroom; benches/seating; information-volunteer/staff members present; parking – auto, bus/RV; picnic shelter/pavilion; trailhead; water-drinking/potable; ADA wheelchair accessible paths, handcarts for public use. Free tours. Overnight camping available (daily fee) at Ranch 66 Missionary Village, 10 mi west on WY-220.