. JOURNEY·ALONG ... -·;:· ' . TIIEGREATiPtATTE RIVERROAD. .. ::·> . ! i! � ; '.'· . .. ·•. ' ·' ., ,.· ' ' .- · . OREGON-CALIFORNIA.TRAILS ASSOCIATION ,, , · 25™ 'coNVENTJ:ON .· · .. ·., · GERING/SCOTTSBLUFF. - . NEBRASKA ---·- Ne·?1 l.'' ''. ; .. ', T ._ .I: err)'tos t.lWl'l \ /) 'i . \•.< !I ,:·:::"­ ,.,,,,..,.,nent -�11 : ShRdt>WS Q. tiolf �-SJufl.: Coclrse - National ... - . ·...; Momltffi,nt hs- --��-. 1'v, �- i:""' u St �: 11 il . J ··-'S&c. •,�9 i;,i I' ;� MSl - ·llVficr_ otell. ; . - ...- .. - . ,--·-::: " -·:.·:... ,.. -� �- - _,,,! �- •"7;". • -i Convention Center '�- ,, j) ,:, - .-oSt·-: I To Chi:nutey� Robidoux Rd TABLE OF CONTENTS Welcome ................................................................2 Ash Hollow State Historic Park .................... 36 The Platte River ...................................................... 3 Ash Hollow Historic Markers ...................... .38 The Teton Dakota [Lakota] ....................................5 Blue Water Battlefield.................................. .40 The Early Fur Trade Period ..................................11 John Hollman Grave .................................... .41 Along Nebraska P_ioneerTrails ....... : ....................15 AncientBluff Ruins ......................................42 The Missouri Rivyr ....................................... 15 Narcissa WhitmanMarker ............................42 The Platte Valley ........................................... 16 Mud Springs Pony Express Station ...............43 The Platte Valley Trails .................................18 Amanda Lamme ........................................... .45 Oregon-CaliforniaTrail ......................... 18 Courthouse And Jail Rocks ...........................46 MormonTrail .........................................19 Sidney-Black Hills Trail................................ 47 Ox-Bow Trail ......................................... 19 Jackson Panorama ......................................... 48 Nebraska City-Fort KearnyCut-Off ...... 19 Chimney Rock ............................................... 48 Other Trails ..................................................... .. The Rebecca Winters Story ...........................50 Sidney-Black Hills Trails ....................... 20 ScottsBluff ................................................... 53 Niobrara Trail... ...................................... 20 The LifeAnd Legend Of Hiram Scott........... 55 Texas-Ogallala Trail .............................. 20 Fort Mitchell .................................................57 National Historic Trails ........................................22 Robidoux Pass ...............................................60 CaliforniaNational Historic Trail .................22 Horse Creek ................................................... 61 MormonPioneer National Historic Trail ......22 FortLaramie .................................................. 61 The 1847 Trek ........................................23 Chronological ListOfFort Laramie ..............63 Oregon Trail National Historic Trail.. ...........24 Grattan Fight .............................................. ; .. 66 Making The Trek ...................................25 Mary Homsley Grave ...................... : .............68 Pony ExpressNational Historic Trail............ 26 Register Cliff................................................. 69 TheFirst Ride ........................................27 Lucinda Rawlins Grave .................................70 TransportationIn Nebraska ..................................28 GuernseyRuts [Deep Ruts] ........................... 71 The Road Ranch ............................................28 Other Things Of Interest....................................... 72 Overland Freighting ..................................... .28 The Geography OfNebraska......................... 72 Telegraph ......................................................29 Arbor Day .....................................................73 The Union Pacific......................................... 29 FunFacts .......................................................73 Sidney-Black Hills Trail................................ 31 Nebraska State Symbols................................ 74 The Lincoln Memorial Highway ...................31 Community Info ................................................... 74 U.S. Highway 26 ...........................................32 Conclusion [Cooking WithChips] ................79 Interstate 80 ...................................................33 Convention Speakers& Topics ............................ 80 Sites ...............................................................35 Convention Workshops ................... : ....................83 CaliforniaHill ...............................................35 Convention Bus Tour Itineraries .......................... 84 Fort Sedgwick And Julesburg .......................35 Maps ...............................................................84 Welcome 1h Welcome to OCTA's 25 Annual Convention in Gering/Scottsbluff,Nebraska. Be prepared to see incredible landscapes as recorded in so many emigrant diaries. The air is clean and the sunsets amazing. Gering is a town of 8,000 located three miles south (across the Platte River) of Scottsbluff, pop. 15,000. Together, these two towns offer the amenities of big city living in a small, friendly, and beautiful setting. The Gering Civic Center is the convention headquarters. In our neck of the woods, we don't really have traffic, but we do have coal trains. Lots & lots of coal trains. For some of you waiting for coal trains may be fun at first,however the expressway with its miracle of engineering - the overpass - will let you view the trains, blinking lights, and crossing arms without having to participate in the wait. August weather in westernNebraska is usually hot and dry. If you areused to high humidity, you are in for a pleasant surprise. The nights can get quite chilly so be sure to bring a jacket. Mosquitoes can be ferocious. Bring mosquito spray - with Deet! This is also rattlesnake country although sightings are rare (they are much more frightened of you than you are of them, believe it or not!) Many of our events are planned forthe great outdoors, so please be casual and comfortable. For your entire convention stay, you will be directly on or within a stone's throw of the emigrant trails. It is easy to imagine the mighty Platte as it was in the mid 1800's. There are groves of trees along the river now and buffalo have been replaced by cattle. Standing in the shadow of Court House & Jail Rocks, the Chimney, or Scott's Bluffstill inspires "pioneer awe". We know you will love it as much as we do. With the Oregon, California, Mormon trails and with traffic to the gold fields of Colorado, Montana, and South Dakota as well as freighting, Pony Express and military traffic, remember that in Nebraska, you are NOT in the middle of nowhere, YOU ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF EVERYWHERE! Thank you, 2007 Convention Committee And Our Other Great Help Joe and Lois Fairfield Dozens of Volunteers from our community Art and Billie Johnson Scotts BluffNational Monument Jolene Kaufinan Fort LaramieNational Historic Site Judie Moorehouse Gering Convention and Visitors Bureau Barb Netherland OCTA - Nebraska Loren Pospisil North Platte Valley Museum Board Bill and Nancy Petersen Oregon Trail Museum Association Board Marge and Dyke Waitman Nebraska State Historical Society Scotts BluffCounty Tourism Oregon-California Trails Association ________.,.Iii,,. 2 THE PLATTE RIVER The AmericanFur Trade of the FarWest Rivers andLakes (part 5 chapter 3) / HiramMartin Chittenden, 1903, Page 758-61 The neighborhood of the mouth of the Platte River early acquired and has always held great prominence as a commercial center. Many trading establishments and two or threemilitary posts have been built here and now two flourishing cities with numerous smaller towns have taken their place. The situations of these several establishments were a little above the mouth of the Platte, but it was undoubtedly the junction of that stream with the Missouri which controlled their location. The local trade here was principally with the Omahas, Iowas, Otoes, and Pawnees, in addition to which there was an extensive outfittingtrade forexpeditions to Oregon and the Far West. The mouth of the Platte River was, in these early Despite its uselessness days, the division point between the upper and lower Missouri. So importanta landmarkwas it then considered as a stream the Platte has that the voyageurs came to treat it as the equator of the won a permanent place in Missouri, and it was a regular thing to subject the the historyof the West. If uninitiated to the rude jokes which are familiar to the navigator upon the hig.li seas as an incident of crossing boats could not navigate I the line. its channel, the "prairie Of all the tributaries of the Missouri the Platte is the schooner" could sail most remarkable and interesting, and is surpassed in size, though not in length, by the Yellowstone alone. The along its valley... extreme length of the Platte is about a thousand miles. Its two branches, the North and South, rise respectively in North and South Parks of the state of Colorado. The North Fork flowsnearly north into Central Wyoming, whereit turns to the east by a gradual curve, passing through a sublime and beautiful canon of red sandstone, when, gently turning to the right, it takes a southeasterly course into the state of Nebraska. The South Fork descends abruptly from the mountains