This is one of
the most noted landmarks along the emigrant trails. Popular legend says
the emigrants needed to reach this point by July 4, thereby giving it its
name. But emigrants arrived at this site throughout the traveling season.
Its name actually comes from a party of fur trappers who camped here on
July 4, 1824. The large granite outcropping is 1,900 feet long and 700 feet
wide and rises 128 feet. J. Goldsborough Bruff said it looked "like
a huge whale" from a distance. The site was a popular camping site.
While encamped here, many many emigrants inscribed their names on the sturdy granite. As early as 1842, fur trapper Rufus B. Sage noted that "the surface is covered with names of travelers, traders, trappers, and emigrants, engraved upon it in almost ever practicable part, for the distance of many feet above its base…"* The Jesuit missionary, Pierre Jean De Smet, is credited with giving it the name "Great Register of the Desert."**
Names were placed on the rock through engraving or by painting them with wagon grease, tar or a combination of buffalo grease and glue. Over time, many of these name have flaked off or been obscured by lichens. Despite this, thousands of names remain and are a source of delight to those who climb the rock.
Service Comprehensive Management Plan
Hileman, Levida. In Tar and Paint and Stone (Glendo, WY: High Plains Press, 2001)