People who own the land can own the stories-at least for a time Devil's Gate-the name conjures difficult passage and portends a doubtful outcome. In this eloquent and captivating narrative, Tom Rea traces the history of the Sweetwater River valley in central Wyoming-a remote place including Devil's Gate, Independence Rock, and other sites along a stretch of the Oregon Trail-to show how ownership of a place can translate into owning its story. Seemingly in the middle of nowhere, Devil's Gate is the center of a landscape that threatens to shrink any inhabitants to insignificance except for one...