From 1849 through the end of the 19th century, thousands followed the Overland Trail into Wyoming across the Laramie Plains to a toll bridge near tree on the Laramie River. The historic crossing of the marshy plains consisted of a corduroy road located southwest of the modern bridge, and the surviving corduroy road remnant is all that remains of the trail in this area. In 1862, Ben Holladay consolidated several stage and freight operations to form the Overland Stage Company and moved it from the Oregon Trail south to the Overland Trail, a route that proved both shorter and safer. He improved the trail and stage stations as he came to dominate the stage, freight, and mail businesses. Constructed in 1862, Big Laramie Stage Station served as a home station, where drivers' routes ended, passengers obtained meals, and horses were changed. Wells Fargo and Company bought Holladay's operation in 1866, three years before completion of the Union Pacific's Transcontinental Railroad ended use of the Overland Stage. The trail, however, continued to be used by local travelers and by those unable to afford railroad fare. After completing a Union Pacific grading contact, Charles Hutton, Tom Alsop, and Edward Creighton created the Hart Ranch, which encompassed the property containing Big Laramie Stage Station. Eventually Creighton sold his share, the property divided into two, and Alsop used the stage station as headquarters for his ranch on the west side of the river. The ranch is known today as Richardson's Overland Trail Ranch and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.