Green River's population is approximately 13,000. The railroad is still a major presence. Mining, particularly of trona, is the major industry in the area. Even with the Interstate, the railroad, and other trappings of modern society, the City continues to sit at the crossroads of the west—a timeless, peaceful place.
Incorporated in 1868, in what was then Dakota Territory, and named for the swift flowing greenish river that courses through town, the City of Green River has a long and varied history.
Native Americans, indigenous animals (antelopes, buffalo, deer, etc.), mountain men, pioneers, ranchers, railroad people, and miners have all left their footprints and their legacies in Green River. It was from the Green River that John Wesley Powell started his famous explorations of the Green River, the Colorado River, and the Grand Canyon in the late 1800s.
