This month, we’re spotlighting Sheridan Community Land Trust (SCLT), a nonprofit organization protecting the spectacular scenery and Old West heritage of northern Wyoming’s Bighorn Mountain region, midway between Yellowstone and Mount Rushmore. SCLT’s mission is to preserve open spaces, healthy rivers and creeks, working ranches, wildlife habitat, and vibrant history, while expanding recreation opportunities to connect people with the places they love.

SCLT has just completed building their third tour with us, Iron Riders Trail. This tour celebrates the legacy of the 25^th Infantry Regiment Bicycle Corps., a unit of 20 Black soldiers who underwent a series of military tests known as “The Great Bicycle Experiment” to evaluate how effectively troops could travel via bicycle.

The story of these buffalo soldiers, known as The Iron Riders, had been lost to history, but with the help of some citizen and professional researchers, their story has been brought to the present to be revealed and honored.

SCLT will be unveiling this monumental tour with a special Juneteenth celebration, featuring reenactors from the 10^th Calvary Buffalo Soldiers and numerous special guests. The event will take place this afternoon, June 19^th, at 2 pm MT at the Historic Sheridan Inn in Sheridan, Wyoming. For more information about the event, please visit SCLT’s Iron Riders Tour Unveiling event page.

SCLT’s History Program Manager, Kevin Knapp, gave us a little insight into the importance of building this tour.

Q: What is your favorite story on the tour and why? 

A: I will select story number four, "From Parkman to Arvada" because it quickly introduces you to the hardships the Iron Riders frequently encountered on their journey. The tour provides details later about the storms and mud, and how much trouble these forces of nature could cause the Iron Riders. This first introduction to the Bicycle Corps summarizes the difficulties that would plague them throughout their trip. The description of the men fording a river multiple times while carrying 60-pound iron bicycles on their shoulders was especially compelling.

Q: Is there anything that surprises visitors about the tour?

A: Not everyone is accustomed to driving on a remote and largely unchanged road like Ulm Road. The entire route is a unique experience for those who didn't grow up in a sparsely populated ranching community. The tour is presented unconventionally, story-based rather than a traditional historical narrative. A narrator and actors blend elements from newspaper reports, journals, and other sources to creatively and captivatingly tell the story.

Q: Please briefly describe your target audience for these tours.

A: Those interested in the unique history of Sheridan County will enjoy the Iron Riders tour. I recommend this tour to people of all ages interested in military history, Black history, or any type of Western history around the turn of the 20th century. I hope that the active community of historians and other professionals interested in Buffalo Soldiers and the Iron Riders, specifically, might visit Sheridan to experience the tour.

Q: Why did you want to tell the stories on your tour?

A: The history of the Iron Riders was relatively unknown until recently. The story has both specific and broad scope, focusing on Sheridan County but also involving a large area of the United States. Detailed first-person accounts from journals and letters were used to create a semi-theatrical presentation, aiming to immerse the audience in the experience of riding bicycles through this terrain.

Q: How does telling your stories through the TravelStorys audio tour platform compare to other ways you've communicated with your audience in the past?

A: Unlike a history presentation or an in-person tour, I do not have to be present to relate stories to an audience, thus they can happen day or night. Place-based storytelling is exciting because it engages people and connects imaginations to concrete landscapes, immersing the listener in history. Engaging all five senses, this type of storytelling has more depth than any flat-screen presentation or virtual tour can hope to capture.

Q: What part of the tour-building process do you enjoy most or find most interesting — and why?

A: The connections I have made as a historian while making this tour, both within the county and outside of it, have strengthened my understanding of Sheridan County. These collaborations will enhance and inform my future historical endeavors. Connecting the dots, in space and time, to actual historical places, events, and characters is an ideal way to learn history and have it stick. In the end, I really enjoyed actually driving the route over the various phases of development and watching a rough idea take shape into a polished experience.

History on the Solider Ridge Trail

Discover this beautiful landscape, walk in the footsteps of the Plains Indians, and learn how the expansion of the U.S. frontier impacted Native Americans.

Black Diamond Byway

Explore the many coal mines and camps, hear first-hand accounts of those who grew up in the coal towns and learn why the coal from this region is referred to as Black Diamonds.

Explore all our tours (268 and counting!) at travelstorys.com.