Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
In April 1893, Spenser and Burnett were the target of a posse of vigilantes from
Montana. Sixteen men on horseback rode up to the little cabin on Spread Creek under cover
of darkness and waited in silence for dawn. Spenser and Burnett's dog barked in the early
morning hours, perhaps warning the men of the ambush that awaited them. Spenser dressed,
armed himself, and walked out the front door. When the posse called for him to hold his
hands up, Spenser fired his revolver in the direction of the speaker and was immediately
shot. He propped himself up on one elbow and continued to fire until he collapsed. Burnett
came out next, armed with a revolver and a rifle. The men shot at him, but Burnett man-
aged to shoot the hat off one of the posse members and “crease his scalp” with the bullet.
Burnett was shot and killed moments later. The two men were buried in unmarked graves a
few hundred yards southeast of the cabin on the south side of a draw. Some of their bones
were eventually excavated by badgers.
Mormon Row and Antelope Flats
Interesting both for its wildlife and human history, the area around Mormon Row is
instantly recognizable from some of the region's most popular postcards, featuring a
weathered barn leaning into the stunning mountainous backdrop. Listed on the National Re-
gister of Historic Places, Mormon Row is a collection of six fairly dilapidated homesteads
that can be explored on a self-guided tour (brochures are available near the pink house).
The area was settled around the turn of the 20th century by a handful of Mormon families
who built homes, a church, a school, and a swimming hole. The settlement was abandoned
and left to the elements when the Rockefellers bought up much of the land and transferred
it to the National Park Service. In the 1990s the historical and cultural value of the site was
recognized; the area was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997 and steps
were taken to preserve the structures.
The Antelope Flats area—excellent for walking or biking on a flat, unpaved
road—offers prime habitat for antelope, bison, moose, coyotes, ground squirrels, northern
harriers, kestrels, and sage grouse. In the winter, the first mile of Antelope Flats Road is
plowed to a small parking area, giving visitors easy snowshoe or cross-country ski access
to Moulton Ranch, one of the homesteads on Mormon Row.
MM
Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center
Opened in 2007, the
Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center
(307/739-3399,
8am-7pm daily early June-Labor Day, 8am-5pm daily Labor Day-Oct. 31 and May 1-early
June, 9am-5pm daily Nov. 1-April 30, reduced hours on Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve,
closed Christmas Day) is, among other things, an architectural masterpiece, mimicking the
