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South Pass

South Pass is located in present-day west central Wyoming (Fremont County). It was one of the most important points along the Oregon Trail, being the passage through the Rocky Mountains at a relatively low 7,550-foot elevation. The Pass is not a narrow notch in the mountains, but a broad valley almost 20 miles wide. The pass had been used by Native Americans and fur trappers for many years, but Jedediah Smith in 1824 was the first to use it for leading settlers to new homes in the Oregon Territory. South Pass would later be part of a route used by the Pony Express.