National Trails System

National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior

National Historic Trails

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska and Northeastern Colorado

“Approaching Chimney 

Rock”

By William Henry Jackson
Chimney Rock, in western Nebraska, was one of the most notable 

landmarks recorded in emigrant diaries and journals. Photograph is 

courtesy of The Wagner Perspective.
NATIONAL HISTORIC TRAILS

AUTO TOUR ROUTE INTERPRETIVE 

GUIDE

Nebraska and Northeastern Colorado

Prepared by

National Park Service

National Trails System—Intermountain Region

324 South State Street, Suite 200

Box 30

Salt Lake City, Utah 84111

Telephone: 801-741-1012

www.nps.gov/cali

www.nps.gov/oreg

www.nps.gov/mopi

www.nps.gov/poex

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

August 2006
Contents

Introduction • • • • • • • 1

The Great Platte River Road • • • • • • • 2

From Path to Highway • • • • • • • 4

“A Whiz and a Hail” — The Pony Express • • • • • 8

A “Frayed Rope” • • • • • • • 11

The Platte Experience • • • • • • • 15

Natives and Newcomers: A Gathering Storm • • • • • • • 18

War on the Oregon & California Trails • • • • • • • 21

Corridor to Destiny • • • • • • • 24

SITES AND POINTS OF INTEREST • • • • • • • 25

Auto Tour Segment A:

Odell to Kearney • • • • • • • 26

Auto Tour Segment B:

Omaha-Central City-Kearney • • • • • • 35

Auto Tour Segment C:

Nebraska City-Central City-Kearney • • • • • • • 41

Auto Tour Segment D:

Kearney to Wyoming Border • • • • • • • 43

For More Information • • • • • • • 61

Regional Map • • • • • • • inside the back cover
Auto Tour

Route

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

Introduction

Many of the pioneer trails and other historic routes that are important in 

our nation’s past have been designated by 

Congress as National Historic Trails. While 

most of those old roads and routes are 

not open to motorized traffic, people can 

drive along modern highways that lie close 

to the original trails. Those modern roads 

are designated as Auto Tour Routes, and they are marked with highway 

signs and trail logos to help today’s travelers follow the trails used by the 

pioneers who helped to open a new nation.

This interpretive publication guides visitors along the Auto Tour Routes 

for the Oregon, California, Mormon Pioneer, and Pony Express National 

Historic Trails as they approach and parallel the Platte River across 

Nebraska and cut across the northeastern corner of Colorado. Siteby-site driving directions are included, and an overview map is located 

inside the back cover. To make the tour more meaningful, this guide also 

provides an historical overview of the four trails, shares the thoughts and 

experiences of emigrants who followed those routes, and describes how 

the westward expansion impacted native peoples of the Great Plains.

Individual Auto Tour Route interpretive guides such as this one are in 

preparation for each state through which the trails pass. In addition, 

individual National Park Service interpretive brochures for the Oregon, 

California, Mormon Pioneer, and Pony Express National Historic Trails 

are available at many trail-related venues, and can be requested from 

the National Trails System Office at 324 South State, Suite 200, Box 

30, Salt Lake City, Utah 84111. These brochures provide more detailed 

information about each of the trails. Additional information on each trail 

also can be found on individual trail web sites. Links are listed on the title 

page of this guide.

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Nebraska

The Great Platte River Road

“Too thick to drink, too thin to plow, too pale to paint.” “A mile wide and 

an inch deep.” “A stream flowing upside down.” 

Covered wagon pioneers of the 19th century liked to joke about Nebraska’s Platte River, a stream unlike any they had known back 

East. But the Platte, strange as it looked, was no joke. A summer shower 

could send it raging over-bank and through camp; its soft quicksand 

bottom could swallow up an ox team. River crossings were ordeals to 

dread.

The river’s setting, too, seemed strange. Surrounding prairie, frequently 

cleansed by wildfire, was burned bare of trees right up to the water’s 

edge, and a line of low sand hills, looking like a storm-wracked beach, 

rimmed much of the river valley.

Yet the yellow Platte, that treeless “Coast of Nebraska,” was an emigrant’s 

lifeline—a water source that snaked 800 dusty miles between the 

Missouri River and the uplands of central Wyoming. 

Though a choked and sandy disappointment of a stream, the Platte 

always was and still is a natural east-west corridor across the central 

plains. Migrating game and moccasin-clad feet wore paths through the 

2

“Fort Kearny & the South Platte River” 

by William Henry Jackson.
“Buffalo Stampede” along the South 

Platte River by William Henry Jackson.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

valley thousands of years before any white man ventured there. Like 

those first travelers, covered wagon emigrants and their slow, plodding 

oxen found water, grass, and fuel along the river. They also found the 

valley floor to be fairly level and smooth, a fine setting for roads in the 

21st century as well as the 19th. When you drive the riverside routes of 

today’s Highways 26, 30, and I-80 across Nebraska, you are following 

the footsteps of native explorers, hunters, traders, and fighters, and of 

mountain men, soldiers, and countless pioneers.

This broad highway along the Platte River was known in the 19th century 

by a variety of names, depending on a traveler’s purpose and destination. 

Some native peoples called it the Great Medicine Road; other travelers 

called it the Oregon Trail, the Mormon Trail, the Pony Express Route or 

the California Road.

But taken all together, the footpaths and wagon ruts that flanked the 

roiling, yellow Platte into Wyoming now have one name in common: The 

Great Platte River Road.

[The Platte River] was fearful to look at, - rushing and boiling and 

yellow with mud, a mile wide, and in many places of unknown 

depth. The bed was of quicksand – this was the worst difficulty.

— Margaret A. Frink, emigration of 1850

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From Path to Highway

Supply caravans hauling supplies to the annual fur trappers’ Rendezvous began following Indian paths along the Platte River and 

into the Rocky Mountains in the 1820s. Their pack trains and wagons 

wore rough tracks, or “traces,” along both sides of the river across 

Nebraska and up the North Platte into Wyoming. In May 1840, as the 

profitable fur trade in beaver pelts drew to an end, emigrants Joel and 

Mary Walker took four children and two wagons to join up with the last 

supply caravan leaving Independence, Missouri, for the final “Trappers’ 

Rendezvous.” From the Rendezvous site in western Wyoming, the 

Walker family continued westward with, a group of missionaries and 

trappers, reaching Oregon’s Willamette Valley in mid-September. They 

were the first emigrant family to cross the continent on what would 

become the Oregon Trail, and their trek marks the beginning of the 

overland emigration era. 

In 1841, the first full wagon train of west bound settlers, known to history 

as the Bidwell-Bartleson Party, headed up the Platte. More wagons set 

out the following spring, and the next, and the next, gradually beating 

a well-defined wagon road along the south side of the river and into 

the Rockies. Maps of the emerging emigrant trails were published 

in 1843 and 1845 government reports prepared by explorer John C. 

Fremont, who was delighted to encounter pioneers using his work to 

guide them west. Fremont’s mapping expeditions for the U.S. Corps of 

Topographical Engineers made him a national hero, and the dashing 

young officer inspired many Americans to start across the Nebraska 

prairie.

The neglected old teamsters’ trace along the Platte’s north bank was 

revived in 1847, when a purposeful party of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) 

began developing its own road, apart from the main Oregon and 

California migrations. Thus began a distinct and separate current of the 

westward overland movement along Nebraska’s Platte River.

After years of conflict with anti-Mormons across several states, church 

leaders decided to move their people West to live and govern themselves 

according to their beliefs. Church President Brigham Young led the 

first phase of the Mormon emigration from Nauvoo, Illinois, to Winter 

Quarters (Omaha), Nebraska, in 1846. (The Nauvoo-to-Omaha trek is 

described in the Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide for the Mormon 

Pioneer National Historic Trail Across Iowa.)

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Mud and hardship dogged the Latter-day Saints across Iowa in 1846, 

leaving them exhausted, sick, and hungry by the time they reached the 

Missouri River. Unable to go on, the Mormon pioneers built temporary 

shelters and settled in for the coming winter. At Winter Quarters and 

scattered settlements in Nebraska and across Iowa, more than 700 

Mormon emigrants perished from exposure, malnutrition, and disease 

over the winter of 1846-47. 

During those brutal months, Brigham Young and his advisers prepared 

carefully for the final push over the Rocky Mountains, studying maps 

and reports and gathering equipment and supplies. Young left Winter 

Quarters in mid-April 1847 with a handpicked company of 143 young 

men, three women, and two children. For safety and efficiency, the group 

formed two large divisions, which were later divided into companies 

of fifty and ten. This well-disciplined lead party would trek across the 

prairie and through the mountains to the Valley of the Great Salt Lake to 

begin preparing a place for the thousands of faithful to follow during the 

coming summer.

...we found that the River we had seen in the distance was none 

other than the celebrated “Platte,” the highway of our future 

journey, which caused joy & rejoicing in my Soul... —Thomas 

Bullock, 1847 Mormon emigration

Keeping to the north side of the Platte River was key to Young’s 

emigration plan. The trail along the south bank would be easier and 

grass for the cattle seemed to grow thicker there, but the Mormon leader 

wanted to avoid further clashes with anti-Mormons who might be 

emigrating along the Oregon and California road. Young’s north-bank 

trail remained the primary route taken during the ongoing “Gathering of 

Zion” that spanned the next two decades, although many later Mormon 

parties did follow the Oregon-California Trail on the south side of the 

valley, instead.

Despite a tense encounter with Omaha Indians, the loss of two horses 

to Pawnees, and a prairie fire that forced the travelers to seek safety 

on a Platte River island, the Nebraska leg of the 1847 Mormon journey 

went smoothly. Along the way, Young’s party improved the road, set up 

trail markers every 10 miles, built ferries, and measured and made notes 

of the route to aid those who would follow. When the first Mormon 

wagons arrived in the Valley of the Great Salt Lake on July 23, 1847, the 

tired travelers immediately began breaking ground to plant potatoes 

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and turnips. Over 2,000 Latter-day Saints were expected to arrive in the 

valley that summer. They would need food to survive the winter.

In the spring of 1848, a third company of nearly 2,500 Mormon emigrants 

set out along the Mormon Trail across Nebraska and Wyoming to the 

settlement that would become Salt Lake City. Although the Mormons 

abandoned Winter Quarters at that time, later Mormon emigrants would 

continue to “jump off” at Missouri River crossings near today’s Council 

Bluffs/Omaha through early the 1870s.

Brigham Young’s hope of keeping Mormon emigrants safely segregated 

from other travelers was soon disappointed, though. Discovery of gold 

in California in 1848 opened the floodgates of emigration the following 

spring, when tens of thousands of men and women, the “49ers,” rushed 

westward along both sides of the Platte River. 

...When we left the Missouri River we followed the Platte. And we 

killed rattle snakes by the cord in some places; and made roads and 

built bridges til our backs ached. —Church President Brigham 

Young, 1868

For an indefinite number of miles there seemed to be an unending 

stream of emigrant trains....It was a sight which, once seen, can 

never be forgotten; it seemed as if the whole family of man had set 

its face westward. — William G. Johnston, emigration of 1849

It was alarming to see the long strings of wagons that were on the 

road....It would appear from the sight befor us that the Nation was 

disgorgeing its self and sending off its whole inhabitance.— James 

Pritchard, emigration of 1849

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Nebraska

Gold-seekers swarmed the trailheads, or “jumping-off places,” in the spring of 1849. They competed in frenzy for oxen, gear, 

and supplies, and those without wagons or draft animals set out on 

horseback or on foot —some even pushing wheelbarrows—to find 

their fortunes in California. The 49ers stampeded up the trails, mobbed 

the established river fords and ferries, and crowded into trailside 

campgrounds. Their livestock stripped the corridor of grass, and starving 

oxen dropped dying in their yokes. Travelers abandoned dead animals, 

extra food, all sorts of belongings, and sometimes even their wagons, 

turning the Platte River Valley into a long, stinking junkyard. The trail 

also became a cemetery: cholera, a deadly intestinal disease spread by 

contaminated water, raced the 49ers up the Platte, taking hundreds, 

maybe thousands, of victims to their graves.

Oh! The sacrifice of wagons, clothing, fire arms, beds, bedding, 

Buffalo skins, trunks, chests, harnesses, and in the loss of life. The 

road to gold is strewed with destruction, wretchedness and woe; and 

yet, thousands and tens of thousands follow on in the way with the 

hope of securing the wealth of this world. —Orson Hyde, Mormon 

emigration of 1850

Despite these troubles, some 25,000 Americans went West in 1849—more 

than the previous nine years combined! The next year, nearly 50,000 

souls set feet and face toward the Pacific, lured by the hope of riches in 

California and the promise of prime farmland in Oregon. The flow of 

emigration peaked in 1852 when some 60,000 people hit the trails, and 

then continued in fits and starts—surging during economic hard times 

and during later Western gold and silver rushes, and dwindling when 

wars loomed.

The one-time Indian footpath had become a permanent highway, with 

the Platte River for a centerline. 

The trail was nearly a quarter of a mile wide- that is, a row of 

wagons fifteen-hundred feet across, and extending in front and 

to the rear, as far as we could see...a vast sea of white flapping 

wagon covers, and a seething mass of plodding animals.—John K. 

Stockton, emigration of 1852

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Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

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“A Whiz and a Hail” — The Pony Express 

Adding another strand to the twisted braid of trail along the Platte was a crack team of young saddle-toughs who carried mail across the 

continent for the Pony Express.

The Pony Express was a cross-country relay of horses and riders 

carrying letters and dispatches in both directions between St. Joseph, 

Missouri, and San Francisco, California. In those pre-telephone, pretelegraph days, news going to California via regular mail could take up 

to six months to arrive. For a premium fee (about $85 per half-ounce 

in today’s money), “the Pony” could deliver that letter in ten to sixteen 

days, depending on weather conditions.

This was a private business venture launched in 1860 by partners William 

Russell, William Waddell, and Alexander Majors, who together also ran a 

freighting operation out of Nebraska City. Hoping for a profitable federal 

mail-delivery contract, the partners established a string of stations across 

the West, stocked them with fast, hardy horses, and hired around eighty 

skilled riders to relay the mail between stations. Each rider would carry 

the mail pouch (called a mochilla) along his leg of the route, thrilling 

emigrants and stagecoach passengers with a “whiz and a hail” as he 

galloped past them.

Driving slow oxen seemed pretty tame compared with jumping 

on spirited ponies and going full tilt along the old trail, past the 

emigrant trains and freight outfits, or even bands of Indians.

—William Campbell, Pony rider in Nebraska

The Pony Express riders would head out with the post as soon as they 

received the mochilla, any time of the day or night and in all weather. 

Pony Expressman Richard Cleve rode seventy-five miles across eastern 

Nebraska through a raging blizzard, only to find that his relief rider 

at the next station was too sick to sit his horse. Cleve remounted and 

floundered on through whiteout conditions, snowdrifts, and sub-zero 

temperatures for another seventy-five miles. Man and horse stumbled 

into their final station after thirty-six hours on the trail. Other riders 

completed similar death-defying runs, and stories of their bravery and 

endurance were repeated across the nation.

8
“Pony Express Rider Chased by 

Indians”

by William Henry Jackson

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

I...found it impossible to find the road. I would get off the horse and 

look for the road, find it and mount the horse, but in five yards I 

would lose it again.—Pony Express Rider Richard Cleve

Despite their one-time celebrity, those riders are known to few today. 

Only two names still loom above the unsettled dust of Pony history: 

James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok and William “Buffalo Bill” Cody. Hickok 

was a Pony Express stock-tender at Rock Creek Station, Nebraska, 

where he launched his career as a gunslinger in a brutal shootout over a 

Pony Express business debt. Cody, on the other hand, was a showman 

who told exciting tales about his adventures as a teenage Pony Express 

rider, and even re-enacted those events in his touring Wild West show. 

His stories seem unlikely, though, and it is doubtful that Cody ever 

worked for the Pony at all. Accurate or not, Buffalo Bill’s Wild West 

performances captured the spirit of the Pony and branded its legend 

deep into the nation’s identity.

These days it is hard to separate truth from the myth of the Pony 

Express. The enterprise was so short-lived that it left little in the way of 

business records, and most of those – letters, receipts, payroll logs, etc. – 

have disappeared. History is further muddled by romanticized accounts, 

faulty memories, and outright hoaxes. Researchers today disagree on 

who was the first rider to leave St. Joseph with the first mochilla full of 

mail, and where exactly he left from, and whether he ended his trip in 

Sacramento or San Francisco. Students of the Pony debate trail routes, 

argue the authenticity of “original Pony Express stations,” and even 

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Nebraska

wonder if some Pony riders were women disguised as boys. Serious 

researchers are still sifting through the lore, sorting sweet fables from 

sweaty reality and discovering long-lost nuggets of factual Pony history.

But this much is sure: The Pony Express ran its owners into scandalous 

financial ruin within 18 short months. The operation quickly racked up 

expenses while the hoped-for government contract shyly stayed beyond 

reach. Completion of the transcontinental telegraph system on October 

26, 1861, made the debt-ridden Pony obsolete. Riders finished their last 

run on November 20, 1861.

Ere long, the “Pony Express” must give place to the telegraph, and 

not many years can elapse before the Pacific Railroad will supersede 

the overland express to California. —George Ellis Baker, 1860

Completion of the transcontinental telegraph system on October 26, 1861, made the Pony 

Express obsolete. Illustration is courtesy of the Library of Congress from Harpers Weekly.

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Nebraska

A “Frayed Rope”

The Great Platte River Road was no neatly engineered lane where prairie schooners rolled prettily in single file, but an evolving, rowdy 

free-for-all of multiple ruts scoring the river valley. Traffic went both 

ways as emigrants, commercial freight caravans, stagecoaches, and postal 

relay riders moved back and forth between East and West. New tracks 

were created as ox-drawn wagons and mule trains passed each other and 

spread out three, six, or more abreast to escape the choking dust kicked 

up by those ahead. New cutoffs were developed as travelers sought out 

the shortest, safest, and fastest ways into and through the Platte River 

Valley.

On maps, the road’s eastern end took on the appearance of a frayed 

rope, with strands funneling traffic into the Platte Valley from numerous 

“jumping off places” along the Missouri River. Several strands of the 

rope brought overland traffic from the southern departure points at 

Independence, Westport, Kansas City, Leavenworth, Atchison, St. 

Joseph, and Amazonia. These feeder routes, heavily used in the early 

years of the migration, led across northeastern Kansas and into the 

valley of the Little Blue River. The main trail followed that stream 

northwestward into Nebraska, crested a 20-mile-wide divide, and then 

dropped to the Platte.

“Crossing the Missouri” by William 

Henry Jackson

11
“Sand Hills of the Platte River” by

William Henry Jackson.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

More strands of trail led directly into the Platte Valley from Omaha/

Council Bluffs, Bellevue, Plattsmouth, Old Wyoming, Minersville, 

Nebraska City, and other northern “jumping off places.” By the early 

1850s, most emigrant traffic set out from the northern Missouri River 

ports, cutting off nearly 200 miles of overland travel across Kansas. 

Commercial and military traffic, much of it from St. Joseph and Fort 

Leavenworth, continued to use the Kansas feeder routes into the Platte 

Valley.

Parties setting out from Council Bluffs and Omaha on the Mormon Trail 

(also called the Council Bluffs Road) north of the Platte had to ford the 

Elkhorn and Loup Rivers and cross some broken country, but overall 

found easy traveling. Where the river forks near today’s city of North 

Platte, those travelers kept to the north, following the Mormon route 

along the North Platte River into today’s Wyoming.

. . . You would be surprised to see the ways of travel. Large trains 

of carts with one ox on a cart, some wagons with 8 yoke, wile go 

hundred horse teams, mule teams, sail wagons goes by wind and 

steam wagons and hand carts and whele barrows. So wags the tide 

of life. —Squire Lamb, Nebraska stage station operator, 1862

Trail strands coming into the south side of the Platte Valley braided 

together into a single main road just east of Fort Kearny, a military 

12
“Through Mitchell Pass” at Scott’s 

Bluff by William Henry Jackson

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

outpost established in 1848 to aid the Oregon emigration. South-side 

travelers continued from Fort Kearny along mostly smooth and level 

terrain to the confluence of the North and South Platte Rivers. Some 

parties crossed to the north bank of the South Platte somewhere near 

the confluence, but most continued on the south side to O’Fallon’s Bluff. 

That three-mile-long obstacle at the river’s edge forced wagons up and 

over the bluff, where they wore ruts that are still visible today.

[The sand hills are] broken into separate and rugged peaks and 

elevations, like some gigantic ocean breaker dashing its immense 

volume into a hundred different waves. —James Meline, 

emigration of 1866

From O’Fallon’s Bluff, travelers continued along the South Platte a short 

distance to one of several river fords. There, wagons could cross over 

to the North Platte and follow its south bank—paralleling the Mormon 

Trail on the opposite side—to Fort Laramie. Two of these South Platte 

crossings forced wagons on a steep, difficult climb up California Hill and 

then a steep, dangerous drop down Windlass Hill—and all three routes 

dipped into pleasant Ash Hollow, where the unwary sometimes were 

confronted by Indians. By 1860, most travelers, including Pony Express 

riders, avoided those hazards by following the South Platte all the way 

to Julesburg, Colorado, and then cutting northwest to rejoin the Great 

Platte River Road near Courthouse Rock. 

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“Old Fort Mitchell” near Scotts Bluff by 

William Henry Jackson.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

From Courthouse Rock, the south-bank road continued northwest 

toward the spectacular spire of Chimney Rock, the most famous 

landmark on the combined emigrant trails. The route then went around 

(later, through) Scotts Bluff before continuing into Wyoming. Many 

travelers paused to explore, sketch, and carve their names into these 

features. Those following the Mormon Trail on the north side of the river 

also could see Courthouse Rock, Chimney Rock, and Scotts Bluff, and 

often described them in their journals.

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Nebraska

The Platte Experience

Otoe Indians called this region “Nebrathka,” meaning “flat water,” and the French word “Platte” means the same. The defining flatness 

of the broad Platte River Valley, which averages five to seven miles wide, 

made it ideal for animal-powered travel on both sides of the stream. 

Besides being “good wheeling,” the long Platte River stretch of trail 

also provided plenty of water and native grasses for game and livestock. 

Many emigrants later recalled it as the easiest, most pleasant part of their 

westering journey.

...As prity a rode as I ever saw....it is level and smooth as a plank 

floor. —Dr. A. H. Thomasson, emigration of 1850

We traveled through the most level plains I ever saw in my life. 

Here is such a scenery of beauty as is seldom witnessed. — Joseph 

Williams, circa 1842

The sight of a tree is out of the question. It is seldom we see so mutch 

as a bush.—Levi Jackman, Mormon emigration of 1847

North or south of the Platte, travelers shared similar experiences. Some 

were delighted by the open, treeless expanse while others were dismayed 

by it. Many wrote of the flowers, animals, sand hills, and rock formations 

they encountered along the trail. Nearly everyone complained about the 

dirty water, the quicksand, and the swarming, biting insects. Most were 

thrilled by their first sighting of bison and their first taste of buffalo steak, 

but not so happy about having to collect and cook over “buffalo chips” 

due to the scarcity of firewood.

Bison, or American buffalo, had been hunted out of their range in the 

eastern United States by the early 1800s. In the first decades of the 

emigration, Easterners saw their first buffalo along the Platte in vast 

numbers, herds of thousands and tens of thousands that covered the 

plains like a brown, woolly blanket. The massive herds sometimes 

blocked wagon trains for miles, and occasionally charged through 

a wagon train or trail side camp, frightening livestock and wrecking 

wagons. Professional buffalo hunters slaughtered bison to sell their 

hides for industrial uses, soldiers killed them to provision their forts, and 

emigrants shot them for food as well as sport. By the early 1860s, travelers 

saw few buffalo in the Platte River Valley.

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Plains wildlife, natural beauty, and minor complaints aside, trudging in 

the choking dust with ox-team and wagon under the hot Nebraska sun 

was no picnic. Many noted in their journals the furious storms that raged 

over the plains, stampeding livestock and terrifying travelers—even 

killing some. People died from accidental gunshot, slipping under 

wagon wheels, injuries caused by unruly oxen, drowning during a stream 

crossing, and from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. Cholera 

took many lives, leaving single parents to carry on alone, hundreds of 

miles from home, with a wagonload of youngsters—or worse, leaving 

frightened orphans to depend on the kindness of strangers. Many of the 

dead were buried in unmarked graves on the wagon trail itself, in hopes 

that neither wolves or Indians would rob their final resting place.

The [buffalo] dung was thick in most places, and like chips and 

score blocks – for this and the sake of softening a hard word they go 

by the name of Buffalo chips. —Oliver Boardman Huntington, 

Mormon emigration of 1847

There came up a storm in the afternoon. The wind blew very hard 

and on the opposite side of the river a tremendous hurricane. We 

saw trees flying on the air and water blown out of the River as high 

apparently as the clouds. —James John, emigration of 1841

. . . instead of a single fork or chain [of lightning] a dozen would 

burst from the dark mass & rush in every direction like serpents 

from a rocket....at times the whole heavens would appear to be as 

a blaze for several seconds during which time the minutest object 

could be discovered. —William Henry Tappan, civilian draftsman 

at Fort Childs (Fort Kearny), June 1848 

The team behind us stop[ped] in mid-stream...and the treacherous 

sand gave way under their feet. They sank slowly, gradually, but 

surely. They went out of sight inch by inch, as the water rose over 

the moaning beasts. Without a struggle they disappeared beneath 

the surface. In a little while the broad South Platte swept on its 

way, sunny, sparkling, placid, without a ripple to mark where a 

lonely man parted with all his fortune. —Luzena Stanley Wilson, 

emigration of 1849

Indians were a huge worry for many travelers, though for the most 

part emigrant encounters with Native Americans on the trails across 

16
“Teepees on the Plains” Lantern Slide by Walter McClintock. Image 

is courtesy of the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale 

University.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

Nebraska were peaceful, even enjoyable. In the early years of the 

emigration, in particular, native people viewed the “Great Medicine 

Road” as a kind of grand market where they could trade for goods and 

visit with travelers. Emigrants and Indians, including the much feared 

Pawnees, exchanged many acts of personal kindness; and the Sioux, who 

controlled most of the Platte River Valley, allowed the wagons to pass in 

peace.

Still, most emigrants entered Indian Country expecting the worst. Their 

fears of Indian attack were fueled by rumors, hoaxes, and lurid halftruths in newspapers and popular books—but also by a long history of 

very real, very violent Indian and settler conflicts in the East. Rumor, 

history, and experience likewise gave native Plains people reason to be 

wary of white Americans. When the first great flood of humanity and 

beasts rushed up the Platte Valley in 1849, stripping the countryside of 

grass and driving off the buffalo and other wild game, that wariness 

began to turn to resentment. 

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Natives and Newcomers: A Gathering Storm

As American settlers surged westward across the eastern woodlands and prairies in the early 19th century, they pushed Native 

Americans out of their ancestral homes. The U.S. government resettled 

many of those displaced Eastern tribes—the Kickapoos, Delawares, 

Pottawatomies, and others—in congressionally designated Indian 

Territory west of the Missouri River and south of the Platte. The 

resettled Eastern tribes were among the first Indians encountered by 

emigrants passing through northeastern Kansas.

Settlements for the Eastern tribes were carved out of territories already 

occupied by the Kanza, Otoe, Missouria, Osage, Pawnee, and other 

Missouri River tribes. Those groups, in turn, were forced to move, giving 

over their traditional hunting grounds and village sites to the Eastern 

groups. Their relocation often put them closer to enemies such as the 

Cheyenne and Sioux, powerful Indian nations that had moved out onto 

the Nebraska plains from their eastern woodland and prairie homelands.

The Pawnees of northern Kansas and east-central Nebraska were one of 

many tribes displaced by white settlement. Pawnees were settled village 

dwellers who lived in earth-lodges, raised garden crops, and ranged 

onto the plains to hunt buffalo. In 1833, they agreed in a treaty with the 

Frederick Remington’s “Indians Attack 

Wagon Train.” Courtesy of the Beinecke 

Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Yale 

University

18
“Hunting Buffalo on the Plains” by 

William Henry Jackson.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

U.S. to surrender their weapons, give up their lands south of the Platte, 

and relocate their villages to make room for displaced Eastern tribes. In 

return, the United States promised them protection.

The move put the Pawnees closer to territory controlled by the Lakota 

Sioux, their traditional enemies. In lightning attacks, Lakota fighters 

began systematically striking Pawnee settlements along the Loup River. 

The promised Army protection, if it came, was too little and too late. 

The Pawnees moved their villages back to the south side of the Platte to 

buffer them from their Plains enemies, but hostilities continued. As the 

Western emigrant trails opened in 1841, the Pawnees and Lakota—both 

fierce and eager fighters—were engaged in total warfare. At the same 

time, the Pawnees also battled other Missouri River tribes, such as 

the Kanza and Osage. In the early years of the emigration, war parties 

crisscrossed the wagon trails, clashed in bloody conflicts, and carried 

war trophies home past unnerved pioneers. While those war parties did 

not attack white settlers, they seemed an uneasy omen of troubles to 

come.

The river of white-topped wagons flowing across their lands certainly 

brought troubles to the tribes. Cholera, influenza, smallpox, and measles 

carried by sick travelers spread to Native Americans along the trail. 

Pioneers slaughtered bison and turned out their livestock to graze on 

19
Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

the buffalo feeding grounds, causing the great herds on which the tribes 

depended to retreat from the Platte Valley. As years passed, more and 

more emigrants left the Platte River Road to settle in Nebraska, where 

many hungrily eyed “empty” Indian lands. Some settlers trespassed on 

tribal property to steal timber and game, and others boldly built illegal 

homesteads on Pawnee lands north of the Platte.

These Indians have long held undisputed possession of this extensive 

region, and...they consider themselves entitled to compensation, 

not only for the right of way through their territory, but for the great 

and injurious destruction of the game, grass, and timber, committed 

by our troops and emigrants.— Luke Lea, Indian agent, 1859

Practical and shrewd, the Pawnees demanded that emigrants pay to cross 

their ancestral lands and use their resources. Refused fair payment, they 

were known to take travelers’ belongings or raid their livestock— their 

skill and daring in stalking emigrant herds was legendary. Pawnees could 

be threatening, even dangerous, when confronting white travelers, and 

they were blamed for a number of killings along the Nebraska trails. 

Many a pioneer approached Pawnee country with fear and a ready rifle.

 All of the Pawnee nation are noted for their love of plundering 

travelers of their horses and mules, but not often anything else.—

William Clayton, Mormon emigration of 1847

By the late 1850s, the friction between whites and Indians led settlers to 

demand that the Pawnees be removed from Nebraska Territory. Instead, 

in 1859 the tribe reluctantly signed away the rest of its land and moved 

its villages to a reservation north of the Loup River—once again on the 

outskirts of enemy territory. The Lakota and their allies, the Cheyenne 

and Arapahos, stepped up their attacks on the Pawnees’ reservation 

villages, striking at least eight times that year.

Pawnees, Sioux, Arapaho, Cheyenne, and emigrants all would soon 

collide in warfare on the Nebraska frontier.

A smothered passion for revenge agitates these Indians, perpetually 

fomented by the failure of food, the encircling encroachment of 

the white population, and the exasperating sense of decay and 

impending extinction with which they are surrounded.—William 

Bent, trader and Indian agent, 1859

20
Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

War on the Oregon & California Trails

[The white man] takes our property without paying for it! He kills 

our game, he eats our meat, he burns our wood, he drinks our 

water, and he travels our country, and what does he give the red 

man in exchange for all this?—Marto-cogershne, Sioux chief, as 

reported by fur trader Rufus B. Sage, 1841 emigration

Once-friendly Western tribes watched with mounting anger as emigrants helped themselves, often wastefully, to their game, grass, 

water, and wood. Indian agents warned of bloody conflicts ahead if the 

issues between native peoples and emigrants were not soon resolved. In 

response, the U.S. government called for a treaty conference to be held 

near Fort Laramie, Wyoming, in September 1851. Some 12,000 members 

of eleven different Northern Plains tribes answered the call, gathering 

at Horse Creek in western Nebraska for the “Big Talk.” Over a period 

of about three weeks, native leaders and government representatives 

pounded out an agreement, the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1851, to guarantee 

a long-term peace along the trails. 

The agreement was undone three years later by a stray cow. In midAugust 1854 just a few miles east of Fort Laramie, a cow from a Mormon 

“Indians on the Wagon Trail” by Charles M. Russell. Courtesy of the Beinecke Rare 

Book & Manuscript Library, Yale University

21
Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

emigrant train bolted into a trailside camp of Brule Lakota, who 

slaughtered it for food. In response to complaints by the cow’s owner, 

Lt. John Grattan led a detachment of soldiers out of Fort Laramie to 

confront the Indians in their camp. Grattan provoked a firefight that 

ended with his entire thirty-one man command—and the respected 

Brule leader, Conquering Bear—dead. 

As punishment for the Grattan defeat, U.S. Army troops under General 

William Harney surrounded and destroyed a Brule Lakota village at 

Blue Water Creek, Nebraska, in September 1855. Many fleeing women 

and children as well as defending warriors died in the attack. This and 

similar military actions against the Plains Indians over the next several 

years fanned smoldering resentment into burning outrage. Small bands 

of young warriors struck back in 1862-63 by opportunistically attacking 

isolated homesteads, work parties, and freight teamsters in Colorado 

and Nebraska. Then, for twelve sweltering August days in 1864, Indian 

military strikes forced travel on the Great Platte River Road to a halt.

The Platte valley is ours, and we do not intend to give it away. We 

have let the white man have it so that he could pass, but he has gone 

over it so often now that he claims it and thinks he owns it. But it is 

still ours, and always has been ours. —Brule Sioux Chief SinteGaleska (Spotted Tail), 1864

Along the Little Blue and up the Platte River to Julesburg, war parties of 

Cheyenne, Lakota, and Arapaho fighters made coordinated attacks on 

emigrant wagons, freight teams, and stagecoaches on the emigrant trails. 

They particularly targeted lonely homesteads, stage stations, and road 

ranches—simple hostels that served travelers on the wagon trails—along 

the Little Blue River. There, warriors killed fifty-one white adults and 

children and took seven hostages, several of whom died during captivity 

or shortly after their release months later. The number of Indian fighters 

killed is unrecorded.

The U.S. Army could ill afford to divert soldiers from its Civil War fronts 

to the Nebraska frontier. The company sent from Fort Kearny to secure 

the emigrant trails was outnumbered, out-horsed, and out-distanced by 

the Indians. Pawnee men, though, were glad to help the Army fight their 

old enemies, and more than 100 of them volunteered for duty as frontier 

scouts. 

22
Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

The Indians have committed terrible depredations along three 

hundred miles of the route, burned and pillaged everything, 

destroyed six thousand bushels of corn at Julesburg, burned 

hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of wagons, merchandise, 

&c... — Demas Barnes, passenger on Overland Stage on the 

Oregon-California Trail, 1865

Fighting continued across Nebraska, Colorado, and Wyoming the 

next year, with native leaders now targeting telegraph lines, stage lines, 

railroads, forts, and settlements in their effort to halt the emigration 

and regain control of their native territory. In response, entire Army 

regiments were assigned to protect the trail, with soldiers stationed 

at small outposts, road ranches, and telegraph stations along the road 

west of Fort Kearny. Attacks and counter-attacks by both sides flared 

over the Plains through the 1860s, causing many established settlers to 

flee Nebraska. Despite the danger, emigrants still poured into the West. 

The fighting did not truly end until the Lakota and Cheyenne people 

were finally forced onto reservations in the 1870s. The Pawnees, though 

they fought for the U.S., fared no better: white settlement pressures, 

starvation, and a final, disastrous battle with the Lakota forced them out 

of their Nebraska homeland. The tribe moved to Oklahoma in 1873-75 

and sold its Loup River reservation.

Most of the overland trail traffic ended in 1869 with completion of the 

transcontinental railroad, which provided a faster, safer way West. The 

era of the overland wagon was drawing to a close, and the era of the fuelpowered steam engine and the automobile was dawning. Some of those 

who traveled the Great Platte River Road with ox and wagon would live 

to see their dusty, rutted trail become a modern paved highway. Those 

pioneers took about six weeks to cover the nearly 500 miles along the 

Platte from the Missouri River to Scotts Bluff. 

Today’s travelers can make the drive on 

Interstate 80 in less than eight hours.

23
“Westward America” by William Henry Jackson, along the Great Platte 

River Road of Nebraska.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

24

Corridor to Destiny

Nebraska’s Great Platte River Road was a vital, throbbing artery that 

carried freight, communications, and hundreds of thousands of 

people—both west and east. At the same time, the road was a trespass 

that led to the taking of Native American homelands, resources, and selfgovernance. Physical traces of this mixed legacy still abound along the 

four historic trails that followed the Platte River west across Nebraska.

There are trail ruts, worn into the earth by the passage of hundreds of 

thousands of hooves, feet, iron-clad wagon wheels, and stepping-stone 

walkways to long-gone cabins. There are the hollows where teepees 

once nestled and black-haired children played, wooded creek-banks 

that concealed painted warriors, and still-grassless, hard-packed earth 

where pawing ponies long ago awaited their mochilla and rider. There 

are gravestones and lonely windblown fields where men and women, 

emigrant and Indian, died defending home and family. There are the 

iconic landmarks, open skies, and expansive landscapes of the Western 

frontier. Through and among them still winds that corridor to destiny, 

the Platte River.
Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

SITES AND POINTS OF INTEREST

Auto Tour Routes for the Oregon, California, Mormon Pioneer, 

and Pony Express National Historic trails enter Nebraska in three 

locations and come together near the city of Kearney. From there, the 

routes follow the Platte River and North Platte River west into Wyoming. 

Watch for Auto Tour Route markers with trail logos along each of the 

routes. 

If you are mostly interested in Pony Express, the earliest routes of the 

Oregon and California Trails, and the Indian uprisings of the 1860s, 

follow Auto Tour Segment A to Kearney as described below. If you wish 

to trace the steps of the 1847 Mormon pioneers from Winter Quarters 

or follow California and Oregon emigrants who started out from the 

vicinity of Omaha and Council Bluffs, see Segment B (starting on pg. 34). 

Many later Oregon, California, & Mormon emigrants “jumped off” 

from other places along the Missouri River. The “cutoff” trails from 

those places are not included in this driving guide because they are not 

congressionally authorized segments of any current national historic 

trail. If you are interested in freighters, early Western military history, 

or emigrants who started their trek from Nebraska City along the 

Oxbow Trail, follow Segment C (starting on pg. 40). Auto Tour Segment D 

(beginning on pg. 42) follows the combined trail corridor from Kearney to 

the Wyoming border.

Many of the historic stops described below are on private property, but are 

interpreted and can be viewed from the roadside. Please respect private 

property rights: do not cross fences or enter sites without the landowner’s 

permission.

Caution! Many Nebraska county roads have well maintained dirt or 

gravel surfaces. Although the roads are suitable for two-wheel-drive 

passenger sedans, vehicles can get stuck when the roads are muddy.

25
Rock Creek Station State Historic Park.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

Auto Tour Segment A: Odell to Kearney

(Oregon, California, and Pony Express Trails)

Begin this segment of your Nebraska auto tour of the Oregon, California, and Pony Express National Historic Trails near the 

Nebraska/Kansas border at the junction of Kansas Highway 148 and 

Nebraska Highway 8 west of Odell. This is where Pony Express riders 

and the first Oregon and California emigrants out of Independence, 

Missouri, entered Nebraska. (Their routes through Kansas are explored 

in the Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide: Western Missouri Through 

Northeastern Kansas.) Much of Auto Tour Segment A entails travel on 

maintained dirt roads.

A-1. Rock Creek Station 

State Historical Park (57426 

County Road 710, 5 miles east 

of Fairbury) is best known as 

the place where Pony Express 

stock-tender “Wild Bill” Hickok 

gunned down three men. The 

station also was a road ranch that 

served California and Oregon 

emigrants. The 350-acre park 

offers Pony Express exhibits, 

reconstructed buildings, pioneer 

graves, and trail ruts. Grounds are 

open summer, 8 a.m.-8 p.m.; other seasons, 8 a.m.-sunset. Visitor Center 

is open from mid-April through late September, daily, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; and 

on weekend afternoons in Ocxtober. To arrange off-season and after 

hours tours call (402) 729-5777. Admission is $3/vehicle; annual Nebraska 

state park passes are also available for $17. For more information, contact 

the park at rock.creek.station@ngpc.ne.gov. 

Directions: Take state road 8 west toward Endicott and follow signs 

to Rock Creek Station State Historical Park on county road 710. 

Also of Interest: Homestead National Monument (8523 West state road 

4, four miles west of Beatrice) is off the auto tour route, but is worth a 

detour. The monument commemorates the Homestead Act of 1862 and 

the life of the prairie pioneers. Attractions include historic buildings, 

restored tall grass prairie, antique farming equipment, museum exhibits 

26
Homestead National Monument at Beatrice, 

NE.

George Winslow Grave site near Fairbury.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

and videos, and hiking trails. A 

new Heritage Center is scheduled 

for completion in May 2007. 

Open year-round, Mon.-Fri., 

8:30 a.m.-5 p.m.; Sat.-Sun., 9 

a.m.-5 p.m. Closed Thanksgiving, 

December 25, and January 1 . Free 

admission.

Directions: From Rock Creek, 

go east on county road 710 for 

1⁄2 mile, then north on 575th 

Avenue for 5 miles. Drive east on U.S. 136 toward Beatrice and the 

junction of state road 4. From there, follow signs northwest to 

Homestead National Monument.

A-2. George Winslow Grave

(4 miles north of Fairbury). 

49er George Winslow’s trek to 

California ended here, where 

he died of cholera. His original 

gravestone is part of a larger 

monument that marks his burial 

place; a nearby interpretive 

sign tells the story. Multiple 

wagon ruts and swales of the 

Oregon and California Trails run 

southeast-to-northwest across the 

property, which never has been 

plowed. The ruts are best viewed in the autumn and winter months, after 

haying. The site is privately owned, but visitors are welcome and may 

enter by vehicle when the gate is open, or on foot when it is closed. Be 

sure to close the gate after entering on foot as livestock may be using the 

pasture. Open at owner’s discretion.

Directions: From intersection of U.S. 136 and state road 15 in 

Fairbury, drive north on 15 for four miles. Turn west on county road 

716 for approximately 1.25 miles. (If you cross the creek, you’ve gone 

too far.) The monument is visible about 200 yards from the road, in 

a hayfield on the north side of the road. Park and walk in if gate is 

open. Return to Fairbury to continue auto tour. 

27
Site of 1864 Stagecoach ambush.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

A-3. Warpath on the Little Blue, Deshler-to-Oak Section. Several 

attacks took place on this stretch of the trail along the Little Blue River 

during the Indian war of August 1864. Roadside historical signs tell 

of the events that occurred in the vicinity, but exact sites are mostly 

unmarked and inaccessible on private farmlands. Even so, the route and 

countryside are steeped in history and are well worth the drive.

Directions: From Fairbury, take U.S. 136 west to Deshler. Proceed 

as directed in individual site entries below. Oregon Trail and Pony 

Express highway markers will help you find your way along these 

country roads.

A-4. Kiowa Station (7 miles northwest of Deshler). A granite marker 

commemorates the site of a one-time Pony Express station and later 

location of a stagecoach swing station. Several settlers were killed in 

this vicinity during the 1864 Cheyenne and Lakota attacks along the 

Little Blue. Site is now an agricultural field. Please do not enter private 

property.

Directions: At Deschler, turn north on NE-5 and continue five 

miles to the first intersection north of the Little Blue River. Turn 

west onto an unpaved county road, heading toward Oak. (Watch for 

historical markers along this route, which follows part of the old trail 

here.) Drive 1 mile west, then 1⁄2 mile north, and then 1⁄2 mile west. Site 

marker is on the north side of the road, 1/2 mile west of the site.

A-5. Emery Stagecoach 

Ambush Site (3.5 miles east of 

Oak). A roadside monument 

recounts the life-or-death 

race of a passenger-filled 

stagecoach chased through this 

area by a war party on Aug. 

9, 1864. Please do not enter 

private property.

Directions: From 

Kiowa Station, continue 

west approximately 4 miles, following trail markers. A marker 

commemorating the Emery ambush site is on the south side of the 

road. 

28
Comstock Ranch Site at Oak Grove.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

A-6. Bowie Ranch Site (2.5 miles east of Oak). A roadside sign marks 

the site of the William Bowie ranch, where a pioneer couple was slain in 

their home during the 1864 uprising. No remains of the ranch are visible. 

Please do not enter private property.

Directions: From the Emery site, continue west for 1⁄2 mile, turn 

south toward the Little Blue for 1⁄2 mile, and then turn west again to 

parallel the river for another 1⁄2 mile. Watch for the sign on the north 

side of the road. 

A-7. Oak Grove Station/

Comstock Ranch Site (1.5 miles 

east of Oak). On Aug. 7, 1864, a 

suspiciously friendly party of 

twenty Cheyenne dropped in for 

a visit at Oak Grove Station, a 

busy road ranch operated by the 

Comstock family. While chatting 

casually with nervous ranch 

workers who had gathered for 

dinner, the Cheyenne suddenly 

struck, killing two men and 

wounding two more. Eleven 

ranch workers fled into the ranch house and another escaped into a 

nearby oak grove. The Indian fighters abruptly rode off as an ox train 

approached. The next day, the survivors fled and the raiders returned 

and set fire to the ranch buildings. No original structures remain, but the 

site retains its ranching character. The Oak Grove Pony Express Station 

is also commemorated here. Only the monument area is open to the 

public; please do not cross the fence.

Directions: From the Bowie site, continue west for about a halfmile, then jog right to follow the curve of the river. Take the next left, 

which angles northwestward, and continue for about 3⁄4 mile. The 

large granite marker is on the north side of the road.

A-8. Warpath on the Little Blue, Oak-to-Deweese Section. Along this 

stretch of trail, Indian fighters killed several homesteaders and took four 

captives on Aug. 7, 1864. Specific locations where the events occurred 

are on private lands distant from the county road. Even so, it is easy to 

picture the events of that day while driving through this rural area.

29
View looking toward Eubank Ranch from 

roadway.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

Directions: Begin by taking Railroad Street north through Oak 

and follow the road as it jogs west across the railroad tracks. Then 

proceed as directed in individual site entries below. Again, watch for 

Oregon Trail and Pony Express markers along the route.

A-9. Eubank Homestead

(1.5 miles northwest of Oak). 

Indian fighters destroyed the 

Eubank homestead and killed 

two children who were home 

alone. A short distance north 

of the ranch, three Eubank 

men and a teenage boy were 

slain while cutting hay and a 

younger boy was taken captive. 

An interpretive sign at the 

fence line tells the story. Please do 

not enter private property.

Directions: A half mile after turning west out of Oak, the road turns 

north again. Stop at the corner and look toward the northwest. 

About a mile distant stood the Eubanks homestead. 

A-10. The Narrows (2 miles northwest of Oak). The Eubank parents, 

their two babies, and a visiting teenage girl were taking a Sunday stroll 

along The Narrows section of the trail when they heard screaming 

from the homestead behind them. The father was slain as he ran to the 

aid of his children. The women and babies hid in the brush, but were 

discovered when the toddler screamed. All four were captured, to be 

released months later.

Directions: From the Eubank homestead stop, drive north for 1 1⁄2 

miles to the next intersection. Drive west 1 mile and stop again. The 

Narrows is about 1 mile southwest of the road. Please do not enter 

private property.

Next, turn north, then follow the county roads as they stair-step north and 

west one mile at a time, following the curve of the Little Blue and the Oregon 

Trail toward Angus. You will make a series of five turns (including the north 

turn at The Narrows stop) before emerging onto state road 4 and continuing 

west (the sixth turn). The Oregon Trail runs in a straight line southwest of 

the stair-steps and intercepts the county road in several locations.

30
Nebraska SHS interpretive marker for 1864 

uprising.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

A-11. The 1864 Uprising: 

Interpretive Marker (2.5 miles 

north of NE-4 and NE-14

intersection). A Nebraska State 

Historical Society interpretive 

marker provides more 

information about the 1864 

uprising. There is also a granite 

marker 1/2 mile north across the 

Little Blue River. From the state 

marker, look east toward the 

hillside to see a series of parallel 

wagon ruts heading toward your 

location. Note, this is private property.

Directions: Drive west on state road 4 to state road 14; turn north 

and continue for about 2 1⁄2 miles. Interpretive marker is on the west 

side of the road, just south of the Little Blue River. 

From here, continue north on state road 14 to Spur 18C.

A-12. Warpath on the Little Blue, Deweese to Kenesaw Section. 

Several road ranches, stage stations, and former Pony Express stations 

(remember, the Pony went out of business several years before the 1864 

uprising) were located along this stretch of trail as it followed the Little 

Blue River northwestward. Watch for markers and monuments along the 

roadside. 

To follow this section of trail, turn west on Spur 18C toward Deweese. 

Where the blacktop road curves south, straight ahead is the approximate 

location of Liberty Farm Station, a combination homestead, Pony Express 

Station, and road ranch that was destroyed in the Indian raids. From 

here, the Oregon/Pony Express Trail angles northwestward. After crossing 

the Little Blue, turn west into Deweese, then north on Deweese Street. 

Follow the road as it heads out of town and jogs west, north, and then west 

again. Continue by following site directions below.

A-13. Pawnee Ranch (4 miles west and 3 miles north of Deweese). Some 

60 settlers, freighters, and emigrants on the Oregon-California Trail took 

refuge here at sturdy Pawnee Ranch, holding off attackers for several 

days. A monument commemorates this event; no ranch remains are 

visible. Please do not enter private property.

31
Interpretive marker at the Smith-Simonton 

site.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

Directions: Continue west for three miles on county road 3045, then 

turn north and cross the Little Blue. Continue a mile beyond the 

river and turn west. Take a right at the next intersection and watch 

for a monument near the corner on the east side of the road.

A-14. Spring Ranch (4.2 miles west and 3 miles north of Deweese). 

Spring Ranch, a prosperous road ranch, was left undefended by its 

owners when they rushed to safety in a nearby town. Indians burned 

the buildings and attacked two other homesteads in this vicinity, as well. 

Please do not enter private property.

Directions: Drive north a short distance from the Huff grave 

marker, then turn west at the next road, county road 3048, and cross 

Pawnee Creek at the old Oregon Trail crossing. From the bridge, 

look southeast of the confluence of the Pawnee Creek and the Little 

Blue to see the location of Spring Ranch. 

From here, continue west through the Spring Ranch Historical Area, the 

site of a town that sprang up after the uprising. Follow Road C north for 2

miles to state road 74 and turn west.

A-15. Smith-Simonton Site

(6 miles south of Hastings). In 

this vicinity on Aug. 7, 1864, a 

war party ambushed a small 

train of Denver-bound freight 

wagons on the Oregon Trail, 

killing five teamsters and 

mortally wounded a sixth. 

Look for an interpretive sign 

at the fence line; do not enter 

private property.

Directions: Drive west on state 

road 74 to U.S. 281; turn north 

and drive 3 miles to Saddle Horn Road. Turn east and continue for 

0.4 mile to the marker on the south side of the road.

Also of Interest: Hastings Museum of Natural and Cultural History

(1330 North Burlington Avenue, Hastings) offers exhibits on the Pawnee 

and Sioux people, a display of trail-related artifacts, and dioramas 

featuring wildlife of the Plains. A modest admission fee is charged.

32
Pawnee exhibit in the Hastings Museum

Susan Hail gravesite.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

Directions: From the SmithSimonton wagon train site, 

drive north on U.S. 281 into 

Hastings. Turn east on U.S. 

34/6, then north on U.S. 281/

Burlington Avenue. Continue 

northward through town. 

The museum is on the east 

side of Burlington as you 

approach 14th Street.

To continue your auto tour 

from the Smith-Simonton site, 

turn north on U.S 281 toward Hastings. The Oregon, California, and 

Pony Express Trail corridor continues northwestward from the SmithSimonton site and crosses U.S. 34/6 exactly 8 miles west of this turn. Upon 

approaching Hastings, turn west on U.S. 34/6. Watch for the Oregon and 

Pony Express Trails monument erected Nebraska State Historical Society 9 

miles west of Hastings, on the north side of the highway.

A-16. Susan Hail Grave (2 

miles north and 3.5 miles west of 

Kenesaw). Susan Hail (or Haile) 

was 35 years old and the mother 

of six children when she died en 

route to California in 1852. An 

interpretive sign tells her story. 

Gravesite is open to the public.

Directions: From U.S. 34/6, 

turn north on the Spur 1A spur 

road to Kenesaw. At the south 

edge of town, turn west on Pine 

Street and drive 1 1⁄2 miles. Turn north in Winchester Avenue. Drive 

3 miles and turn west on 70th Street. Continue about 1 1⁄2 miles to 

pullout on north side of the road. Return to U.S. 34/6 to resume tour.

A-17. Harold Warp Pioneer Village (U.S. 34/6 and state road 10, 

Minden). This large museum exhibits more than 50,000 historical 

objects and buildings, as well as a sizeable collection of original William 

Henry Jackson paintings depicting trail days. Its “Pumpkinseed Station,” 

an 1860s-era log cabin, is thought by some to be an original Pony Express 

station, but other researchers have determined that it actually served the 

33
Fort Kearny State Historic Park 

Outdoor exhibits area at the Harold Warp 

Musuem.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

Black Hills Stage route, instead. 

Open daily (including holidays 

except Christmas); for seasonal 

hours and current admission 

rates, call 1-800-445-4447.

Directions: Take U.S. 34/6 

west into Minden. The Pioneer 

Village is on the corner of 

U.S. 34/6 and state road 10. 

Parking is available on the east 

side of the museum between 

the Pioneer Motel, Pioneer 

Restaurant, and Pioneer 

Museum. 

A-18. Fort Kearny State 

Historical Park (1020 V Road, 

south of Kearney). Fort Kearny 

was the first Western military 

post built to protect emigrants 

on the Oregon Trail, and it later 

served as the headquarters for 

a number of small outposts 

along the trail. Fort Kearny was 

also a Pony Express station and 

a place where travelers could 

re-supply. The park offers an 

interpretive center with trail-era 

artifacts, reconstructed buildings, and grounds. Open Memorial DayLabor Day, daily, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. A Nebraska state parks pass for admission 

to the park can be purchased at the interpretive center.

Directions: From Rowe Sanctuary, continue west to state road 

10; from Minden, go north on to spur road L50A. The roads from 

Rowe and Minden become one at the intersection of 10 and L50A. 

Continue west to Fort Kearny State Historical Park.

To continue your site-by-site auto tour toward Wyoming, skip ahead in 

this guide to Auto Tour Segment D: Kearney to Wyoming Border.

34
Pioneer Courage sculptures.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

Auto Tour Segment B: Omaha-Central CityKearney

(Mormon Pioneer, California, and alternate Oregon Trails)

I

nstead of driving across Kansas, many California, Oregon, and Utah 

bound emigrants set out from the Omaha and Council Bluffs area and 

followed the Mormon route into the Platte River Valley. An excellent 

place to begin your auto tour of the combined Mormon/California Trails 

is at the remarkable public outdoor sculpture exhibit in downtown 

Omaha.

B-1. Outdoor Sculptures: 

Pioneer Courage and Spirit 

of Nebraska Wilderness

(Between Dodge St. and 

Capitol Ave., vicinity of 15th 

St., Omaha). These stunning 

installations of heroic-scale 

covered wagons, livestock, 

men, women, children, buffalo, 

and geese span several blocks 

in the heart of downtown 

Omaha. Bring change for a 

parking meter so you can get 

out and explore.

Directions: If following 

the Mormon Trail west from 

Council Bluffs, take I-29 to I-480 W and cross into Omaha. Take the 

U.S. 6/Dodge Street exit toward Eppley Airfield and go straight to 

enter Dodge Street. At 13th Street, turn north and park on Capitol 

Avenue between 15th and 17th Streets. If arriving from the west, take 

U.S 6 eastbound into downtown Omaha. Turn north on 13th Street 

and park on Capitol Avenue between 15th and 17th Streets.

B-2. The Mormon Trail Center (3215 State Street, Omaha) is located 

in historic Winter Quarters (now, Omaha’s District of Florence), where 

many of the first Mormon emigrants spent the hungry winter of 1846-47. 

The visitor center, operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day 

Saints, offers guided tours of trail exhibits (including handcarts and 

a cabin) and films recounting the Mormon emigration. Free. Open to 

35
Grieving parents sculpture at cemetery.

Mormon Pioneer Interpretive Center.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

all visitors daily, including 

Sundays, 9 a.m.-9 p.m.

Directions: From downtown 

Omaha, go west on Dodge 

Street and turn north on 

N 17th Street. At 0.2 mile, 

bear left onto I-480 west and 

continue for just over 1⁄2 mile. 

Take Exit 2C and merge onto 

U.S. 75 north. Drive 2.7 mile, 

bear right at North 30th Street 

and continue for about 2 miles. Turn west at State Street and drive 

three blocks to the center.

B-3. Mormon Pioneer 

Cemetery (opposite the 

Mormon Trail Center). 

Hundreds of Mormon 

emigrant men, women, and 

children who died here 

between 1846 and 1848 were 

laid to rest on this hillside. The 

exact locations of most of their 

graves are unmarked. They are 

commemorated by an Avard 

Fairbanks statue of grieving 

parents, located in the north 

end of the cemetery. Open to 

all visitors, dawn to dusk.

Directions: From the 

Mormon Trail Center, walk 

across the street and enter 

the cemetery through the 

memorial stairway and gate.

B-4. Historic Winter Quarters occupied much of the same ground 

where the Omaha Waterworks is located today, east of North 30th Street. 

The settlement stretched south about a mile from the Florence?Winter 

Quarters Mill, the only remaining Mormon Pioneer building in the 

36
Old Florence Mill at Winter Quarters.

Elkhorn River crossing.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

district - see entry B-5. Although, the historic settlement is gone, but 

interpretive signs at two locations tell its story.

Directions: From the Mormon Trail Center, head east on State Street 

three blocks to U.S. 75/N-30th, the approximatee location of historic 

Main Street. A Nebraska State Historical Society informational 

sign is located here. Turn north on U.S. 75 and drive 1⁄2 mile to N. 

30th Street & Dick Collins Road, and park in the little parking area 

beyond the firehouse. A wayside exhibit tells more of the story. 

B-5. The Old Florence Mill

(9102 N. 30th Street, Omaha) 

was built by Mormons in 

1846-47 to grind meal for the 

people of Winter Quarters. 

A grain elevator was added 

to the mill in 1915, but the 

original framework still stands. 

An historical museum and 

art gallery now occupy the 

mill and elevator. Open MaySeptember, Tues.-Sun, 1-5 p.m., or by appointment – call (402) 551-1233. A 

modest donation is requested.

Directions: From Site B-4, turn east onto Dick Collins Road/

Historic Davenport Street and drive down the hill a short distance.

B-6. Elkhorn Ferry Crossing

(Elkhorn Crossing State 

Recreation Area, 252nd Street 

& Bennington Road). The 

1847 Mormon pioneers led by 

Brigham Young faced their first 

major river crossing here and 

built a ferry to assist those who 

followed. Site is interpreted by 

a wayside exhibit. Closed Nov. 

1- April 1.

Directions: From Florence Mill, turn west on Dick Collins Road/

Historic Davenport Street and proceed across the interesection with 

North 30th and North 31st Streets. The road becomes U.S. 75. In 

37
Near The Liberty Pole Camp site at Fremont 

Lakes State Recreation Area.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

less than 1⁄2 mile, at the second traffic light, continue straight onto 

state road 36 & McKinley Street westbound. McKinley becomes 

Bennington Road. Where Bennington and state road 36 split, stay 

right on 36 and drive about 11 miles. You will cross the Elkhorn River 

and turn south on the first road to the left (252nd Street). Drive 1 mile 

and turn east on Bennington (gravel), into Elkhorn Crossing State 

Recreation Area. Continue approximately 1 mile to the interpretive 

exhibit overlooking the Elkhorn River.

B-7. Liberty Pole Camp

(Fremont Lakes State 

Recreation Area). After 

crossing the Elkhorn River, 

the 1847 Mormon pioneers 

gathered their wagons 

around a cottonwood pole to 

reorganize for the trip west. 

Nothing remains of the camp; 

a wayside exhibit located offsite tells the story.

Directions: From Elkhorn Crossing return to state road 36 and 

drive west 6 miles to U.S. 275. Turn north and drive approximately 

4 miles, crossing Old Highway 8. The next road is Morningside; 

turn west there and drive 1 mile, then turn north on Luther Road. In 

approximately 1⁄2 mile turn west on Military Avenue. Drive through 

the town of Fremont to Ridge Road. Turn south and cross the 

railroad tracks, then immediately turn northwest onto State Lakes 

Road into Fremont Lake State Park. Park at the pay station. The 

wayside exhibit is ahead on a grassy slope.

At Columbus, Nebraska, forty miles ahead, the trails split. The route of the 

1847 Mormons (and some California emigrants) followed the Loup River 

northwestward, while another route of the California Trail kept to the 

north side of the Platte River.

The sites listed below are on the Mormon loop. To follow the Platte River 

route, take NE 30 west from Columbus. The two routes converge in 

Central City, Nebraska.

Also of Interest: Genoa, Nebraska, was settled by Mormon settlers 

in 1857 as a way station for the Utah emigration. Two years later, it 

became agency headquarters for the newly established Pawnee Indian 

38
Genoa Historical Museum.

Wagon Ruts exhibit near Genoa.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

Reservation. Pawnee and 

settler artifacts are exhibited 

at the Genoa Historical 

Museum (402 Willard Avenue/

NE 22), open Memorial DayLabor Day, Fri-Sun., 1-5 p.m. 

Nebraska State Historical 

Society interpretive signs are 

located on the south end of 

Genoa City Park, west of NE 

22.

Directions: From Fremont 

Lakes State Park, return to Military Avenue, turn west, and follow it 

as it curves northward to intersect with U.S. 30. Drive west on U.S. 

30 for 40 miles to Columbus. Turn north on U.S. 81 and continue for 

about 4 1/2 miles and bear west on state road 22. Continue 16 miles to 

Genoa and follow the highway as it turns west through down town. 

The museum is on the north side in mid-town. Stay on 22 as it jogs 

south again. The park is on the west side, and the signs are near a 

parking area on the south end of the park.

B-8. Genoa Ruts (1.5 miles 

southeast of Genoa). Original 

Mormon trail ruts can be 

seen here. Please do not enter 

private property.

Directions: Route is well 

signed. Continue south 

through Genoa on state 

road 22 to a split where 22 

turns west and state road 

39 heads south. Just beyond 

the split is an intersection with 

an unsigned dirt road. Turn 

east there and drive 1 mile, then turn south on the next dirt road and 

drive 1⁄2 mile to the wayside and site, located on the east side of the 

road.

B-9. Pawnee Mission and Village Wayside (6 miles west of Genoa). 

Repeated attacks by Lakota Sioux and their allies on the Pawnee village 

39
Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer.

Looking toward site of former Presbyterian 

Pawnee Mission.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

near this pullout forced the 

Pawnees to abandon the site. A 

wayside exhibit tells the story. 

Please do not enter private 

property.

Directions: From Genoa, 

take state road 22 west 

toward Fullerton. The 

exhibit is at a pullout on the 

north side of the highway 

about 6 miles west of Genoa. 

Watch for more Nebraska 

Historical Society informational 

signs along the highway as you continue toward Fullerton.

B-10. Stuhr Museum of 

the Prairie Pioneer (3133

West Highway 34, Grand 

Island) offers pioneer, Native 

American, and Old West 

exhibits, a settlement-style 

exhibit of original 1860s

log cabins, a living 1890s 

railroad town community, a 

reconstructed Pawnee earth 

lodge, a prairie restoration exhibit, 

and a Nebraska State Historical 

Society informational sign about the Mormon Trail. Open year-round, 

Mon.-Sat., 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Sundays noon-5 p.m. Railroad Town and 

outdoor exhibits open May-Sept. Admission varies by age and season; 

contact (308) 385-5316 or www.stuhrmuseum.org for rates.

Directions: From Fullerton, turn south on state road 14, then west 

on U.S. 30 into Grand Island. Follow highway signs onto U.S. 281 S 

& state road 2 E (Tom Osborne Expressway.) In less than 2 miles, 

turn east onto U.S. 34 E &Husker Highway/Henry Fonda Memorial 

Highway and continue about 1⁄4 mile to Stuhr Museum.

B-11. Murdock/Mormon Trail Ruts (1.5 miles south of Alda). A wayside 

exhibit interprets these Mormon Trail wagon ruts.

40
Mormon Trail wagon ruts along the Wood 

River.

Old Freightors Museum of Russell, Majors, 

& Waddell.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

Directions: Enter Alda on 

U.S. 30 E. Turn south on 

Link 40C for about 1 1⁄2 miles, 

then west (watch for sign 

to site) on Guenther Road. 

Wayside is on the right. 

From here, take U.S. 30 toward 

Kearney. To continue your 

site-by-site auto tour toward 

Wyoming, skip ahead in this 

guide to Auto Tour Segment D: 

Kearney to Wyoming Border.

Auto Tour Segment C: Nebraska City-Central 

City-Kearney 

(California Trail)

The “Oxbow Cutoff” of the California Trail was heavily used by 

freighters hauling supplies and equipment to the western military forts 

in the late 1850s and 1860s. Gold-seekers and emigrants, including some 

Mormons participating in the ongoing “Gathering of Zion,” also used 

the route. The cutoff angled northwestward from Nebraska City and 

entered the Platte River Valley south of today’s city of Columbus. From 

there, wagons followed the river’s south bank to Fort Kearny. Begin your 

auto from the old company headquarters of Russell, Majors and Waddell 

in Nebraska City.

C-1. Russell, Majors, and 

Waddell Building: The Old 

Freighters Museum (407 N 

14th Street, Nebraska City). 

This 1858 building was the 

corporate headquarters of 

Russell, Majors and Waddell, 

a freighting company that 

supplied the western forts 

with military equipment. This 

41
Salt Creek Crossing at Ashland.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

is also the company that operated the Pony Express out of St. Joseph, 

Missouri. The museum is open by appointment as well as on Arbor Day 

in April and on weekends during the Applejack Festival in September. 

Call the Nebraska City Tourism and Commerce office at (402) 873-3000 

or check www.nebraskacity.com for information. Admission is $2 adults, 

$1 children.

Directions: Approaching Nebraska City eastbound on state road 2, 

take the U.S. 75N & state road2 business route into town. Turn left on 

11th St/Business 75 and another left onto 3rd Avenue. Continue three 

blocks to the museum on 14th Street. Approaching Nebraska City 

westbound on state road 2, turn right (northwest) onto 11th Street/

U.S. 75 business route, then left onto 3rd Avenue. Drive 3 blocks to 

the museum on 14th Street.

From here, drive east on 3rd Avenue, then turn north on 11th Street/U.S 

75 business route and follow it for about 3 1⁄2 miles. Turn right onto U.S. 75 

and continue for 15 miles. Turn west on state road 1, then north on state 

road 63 to Ashland.

C-2. Saline Ford/Oxbow 

Cutoff (Silver Street, Ashland). 

Freighters and emigrants took 

advantage of Salt Creek’s rock 

ledges to ford the stream as 

they continued toward the 

Platte River. A wayside exhibit 

at the town park tells the story. 

Also planned for the park is a 

sculpture, “Towers of History,” 

which will commemorate 

local Indian tribes, the Oxbow 

Cutoff, and other aspects of area 

history.

Directions: State road 63 intersects with U.S. 6 south of Ashland. 

Turn right (east) on U.S. 6 and continue for about 3/4 mile. Turn left 

(northwest) again onto state road 66 and cross the bridge into town. 

At the four-way stop, turn east onto Silver Street and drive about 1 1⁄2 

blocks toward Salt Creek; park at the pullout on the south side of the 

street before you cross the silver bridge. Almost directly below the 

bridge are the stone ledges where the wagons crossed. To see them, 

42
Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

cross the berm near the edge of the parking area, walk east toward 

the bridge, and look along the stream bank below the bridge.

C-3 Saunders County Museum (240 N. Walnut, Wahoo) offers Oxbow 

Trail map and artifact exhibits (including a journal that describes travel 

on the Oxbow Trail), and trail research materials. Open summers AprilSept., Tues.-Sat., 10 a.m.-4 p.m., and Sun., 1:30-4:30 p.m.; and winters 

Oct-March, Tues.-Fri. 10 a.m.-4 p.m.

Directions: From Ashland, continue north on state road 63, which 

becomes state road 66 going west. Proceed west to intersection with 

a flashing light. Turn north on U.S. 77 (also called County Road 17) 

and continue north into Wahoo. After the first stop sign in town, 

go north 1 block and turn west onto 3rd St. The museum is on the 

southwest corner.

From Wahoo, follow state road 92 west to U.S. 30. Turn west on U.S. 30 to 

Grand Island. There you can visit the Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer 

(see entry B-10 for description and directions) and the Murdock/Mormon 

Trail ruts (see entry B 11). 

From Grand Island, take U.S.-30 west toward Kearney. To continue your 

auto tour, see Auto Tour Segment D: Kearney to Wyoming Border, 

below.

Auto Tour Segment D: Kearney to Wyoming 

Border

(Oregon, California, Mormon Pioneer, and Pony Express Trails)

For all four trails, your tour of this segment of the Great Platte River 

Road begins at the Archway Monument in Kearney, Nebraska. From 

there, your auto tour mostly follows U.S. 30, NE 92, and U.S. 26, with 

detours to sites on either side of the Platte River.

D-1. The Great Platte River Road Archway Monument (Archway 

spans I-80; entrance at 3060 E. 1st Street, Kearney). The Archway is a 

trail-themed visitor center with exhibits, family activities, and lots more 

to see and do. Open daily; hours vary seasonally. Check www.archway.

org or call (877) 511-2724 for more information. Admission $10/adult, $3 

to $6/youth, free five years and younger.

43
Mormon Trail Interpretive exhibit about 

mail exchange.

Archway Monument at Kearney.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

Directions: From U.S. 30 

and Grand Island, turn 

south at the intersection of 

U.S. 30 and 2nd Avenue in 

Kearney and continue to 

the south through town. At 

the traffic light one block 

before I-80, turn east onto 

Talmadge Road and watch 

for signs to the Archway. At 

the end of the block turn 

south onto Central Avenue, 

go one block, and turn east 

onto 1st Street/Archway Parkway. Continue 2 miles to the Archway 

Monument. 

From Ft. Kearny State Park, take state road 44 north across the Platte 

River, cross I-80, and turn east onto Talmadge Road. Watch for signs to 

the Archway. At the end of the block turn south at Central Avenue, then 

east on 1st Street/Archway Parkway. Continue 2 miles to the Archway 

Monument.

D-2. Historical Wayside (I80 rest area about five miles 

west of Kearney). Because 

this rest area is accessible only 

from the freeway’s eastbound 

lanes, it requires backtracking. 

Here you will find historical 

information about Fort 

Kearny, forts of the Plains, and 

Mormon mail exchange on the 

trail.

Directions: From the Archway, 

return to state road 44 and turn 

north. Turn west on U.S. 30 and continue to Odessa. Turn south on 

state road 10b and enter I-80 eastbound to the “Kearney Eastbound 

Rest Area” east of mile marker 268. From here, return to I-80 

east toward Kearney and take Exit 272 to state road 44 north into 

Kearney. Turn west on U.S. 30 toward Overton.

D-3. Plum Creek Massacre Site and Cemetery (5 miles south of 

44
Dawson County Historical Museum.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

Overton). Here, Indian fighters attacked a Denver-bound wagon train, 

killing 13 men and capturing a woman and a boy. A historical sign, 

located at the nearby Plum Creek Massacre Cemetery, tells the story. 

Although the cemetery commemorates the victims, they were buried 

elsewhere.

Directions: At Overton, turn south on state road 24B; cross I-80 and 

the Platte River. Where the highway ends about 1⁄2 mile south of the 

river, turn west on county road 748 and continue approximately 1 

1⁄2 miles. The site is on the north side of the road. Continue west for 

another 2 miles to the Plum Creek Cemetery, also on the north side 

of the road. From there, you can return to Overton and continue 

west on U.S. 30, or follow local roads as they jog west and north, 

following the Platte River, to county road 433. There, turn north to 

U.S. 283 and following the highway north to Lexington.

D-4. Dawson County 

Historical Museum (805 N. 

Taft Street, Lexington). This 

area was hard-hit in the 1864 

Indian raids, and two captives 

were taken in an attack on a 

Denver-bound wagon train 

near Plum Creek. Museum 

archives about these events 

include the original manuscript 

written by Nancy Morton 

about her six months’ captivity 

with the Sioux. The museum also 

offers a Great Platte River Road exhibit about the Oregon, Mormon, 

and Pony Express Trails, exhibits of trail-related artifacts, and a locally 

produced driving guide to local historical locales (including the Plum 

Creek vicinity). Open year-round (except holidays) Mon.-Sat., 9 a.m. to 5 

p.m. A free-will donation is requested in lieu of an admission fee.

Directions: From U.S. 30, turn north onto Jackson Street. Turn east 

onto 6th Street, then north on Taft. Museum is on west side of Taft. 

From here, return to U.S. 30 west.

D-5. Willow Creek Pony Express Station (8th Street, Cozad). The 

original Willow Island Station has been relocated to Cozad’s Veterans 

Memorial Park, at 104 East 9th Street. Open Memorial Day through 

45
Fort McPherson National Cemetery.

Gothenburg Pony Express Station.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

Labor Day weekends, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Free. No guides available to assist 

visitors.

Directions: From U.S. 30, turn north on F Street, then east on 9th 

Street.

D-6. Gothenburg Pony 

Express (Ehman Park, NE-47 

and 15th Street, Gothenburg). 

A trail-era cabin thought by 

some to be an original Pony 

Express Station is located 

in a Gothenburg city park. 

Other researchers believe this 

historic cabin—now used as 

a Pony museum— was part 

of a trailside road ranch on a 

route once used by the Pony 

Express, but was not an actual 

Pony Express station. Open daily beginning April 15; June-Aug., 8 a.m. - 8 

p.m.; May and September, 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.; April and Oct., 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. 

Free. Guide on-site during open hours.

Directions: Route is well signed. From U.S. 30, turn north into 

Gothenburg on state road 47. Continue on 47 north through town, 

following signs to Ehman Park. From here, continue to North Platte 

on U.S. 30.

Also of Interest: Fort 

McPherson National 

Cemetery (12004 S. Spur 

56A, 4 1⁄2 miles south of 

Maxwell). Fort McPherson 

was established in 1863 to 

protect the emigrant trails and 

the railroad; today nothing 

remains of the original fort. 

The national cemetery, where 

soldiers from many of the 

western posts are buried, 

was established in 1873 and is 

still in operation. Just south of the center of the cemetery in Section 

46
Mormon Trail Interpretive exhibit about 

Roadometer.

Mormon Trail Interpretive exhibit at Sand 

Hill ruts.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

B is a monument commemorating Fort Laramie soldiers killed in the 

Grattan Fight, which triggered the Plains Wars that occurred after 1854. 

Pawnee Scout Spotted Horse also is buried here, at C285. Brochures and 

information are available in the public information building near the 

cemetery entrance. Visitors can use the intercom phone there to contact 

staff and request a printed guide to the cemetery. (Staff is unavailable 

when funerals are in progress.) For more information, go to www.cem.

va.gov/nchp/ftmcpherson.htm.

Directions: From U.S. 30 in Maxwell, turn south on Spur 56A/Fort 

McPherson Road. Cross I-80 and continue for another 1 1⁄2 miles. 

D-7. Roadometer Starting 

Point (North Platte Regional 

Airport, east of North Platte). 

Several Mormon pioneers 

collaborated in creating a 

“roadometer” to measure the 

miles the Brigham Young party 

traveled each day. A wayside 

exhibit, in the vicinity of the 

camp where the device was 

first used, tells the story. The 

camp itself lies beneath the 

airport runway.

Directions: North Platte Regional Airport is a short distance 

east of the city of North Platte. From U.S. 30, turn south into the 

airport entrance. The wayside is in a parking lot median. From here, 

continue west on U.S. 30.

D-8. The Sand Hill Ruts (4 

miles north of Sutherland). 

Deep ruts and swales are still 

visible where the Mormon 

Trail crests the sand hills and 

descends toward the valley. A 

wayside exhibit tells the story.

Directions: As you approach 

Sutherland, watch for 

Pioneer Trace/Prairie Trace 

47
O’Fallon’s Bluff Rest Area on I-80.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

Road near the east edge of town. Drive north for 3.8 miles on Pioneer 

Trace/Prairie Trace Road. Watch for roadside pullout on the east side 

of the road. 

From here, continue to Sutherland and turn south on state road 25 to I-80. 

Enter I-80 eastbound to access the O’Fallon’s Bluff interpretive area. 

D-9. O’Fallon’s Bluff Trail 

Ruts & Interpretive Area 

(I-80 eastbound rest area near 

Sutherland). Because this site 

is accessible only via I-80’s 

eastbound lanes, it requires 

backtracking. This freeway rest 

area is also an interpretive park 

for the emigrant trails. Wagon 

traces are still visible here—

you can walk in them— and 

Nebraska State Historical Society 

signs tell the story of the Great 

Platte River Road.

Directions: From I-80 eastbound, take the rest area exit between 

mileposts 159 and 160. To continue auto tour, re-enter the freeway 

and continue east for about 5 miles. Exit at the Hershey interchange 

and take spur road 56C through town. Turn west on U.S. 30.

D-10. California Hill (4 1⁄2 miles west of Brule). Deep ruts are carved 

into California Hill, where wagons pulled up out of the Lower California 

Crossing of the Platte River. The site, owned by the Nebraska State 

Historical Society, is open to public visitation. Free.

Directions: Drive west through Brule on U.S. 30 for about 4 miles. 

Watch for a granite 1912 Nebraska State Historical monument for 

the Oregon Trail on the north side of the road. About 1⁄2 mile beyond 

that, turn north on a gravel road, Road West MN. One-half mile 

from that turn, stop and park. There is a pedestrian pass-through in 

the fence line. Enter the pasture and walk to the ruts. Return to U.S. 

30 and continue west.

D-11. Colorado Welcome Center (Julesburg, Col.). This visitor center 

has outdoor and inside exhibits on Pony Express, California, and Oregon 

48
Colorado Welcome Center at Julesburg,

Historical monument at Old Julesburg site.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

Trail history. Here you can also 

pick up a South Platte River 

Trail brochure, which will 

guide you on a loop tour of 

trail and other historical sites 

between Julesburg and Ovid – 

an area that was hard hit by the 

ongoing Plains Wars in 1865. 

See also www.rivertrailonline.

org. Most roads on this tour 

are unpaved.

Directions: From U.S. 30, turn 

south on state road 27 (7 miles east of Chappell). Cross I-80. Almost 

2 miles later, the road will split: follow it east 1 mile and south 2 mile 

to the Colorado border, where the road becomes CO-11. Follow CO-11 

south into Julesburg. In Julesburg, turn east on U.S. 138; then turn 

south on U.S. 385. Cross the Platte River. Welcome Center is at the 

intersection of U.S. 385 and County Road 28, immediately north of 

I-76.

D-12. Trail Ruts (Julesburg). As you follow the Julesburg-Ovid loop tour, 

look past the fence lines for white posts that mark the locations of trail 

ruts and swales, and also watch 

for Pony Express monuments and 

interpretive signs about a variety 

of local historical events and 

locales. Devil’s Dive, where the trail 

descends a steep slope, is one of 

the first stops on the tour.

Directions: Turn left from the 

Welcome Center Driveway onto 

county road 28 and drive 0.9 

mile. Devil’s Dive is on the right. 

D-13. Julesburg No. 1 (Julesburg). 

The original town of Julesburg was 

burned by Indian fighters in 1865, 

following a 4-mile running battle 

with the U.S. Cavalry. No original 

buildings remain.

49
Fort Sedgwick Depot Museum.

Across this field is site of Old Fort Sedgwick.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

Directions: Continue west on county road 28 for about 5 more miles. 

Pullout, interpretive signs, and Pony Express monuments are the 

right.

D-14. Fort Sedgwick (south 

of Ovid, Col.) was featured 

as a forlorn Plains outpost 

in the movie “Dances with 

Wolves.” Built in 1865 to 

protect the travelers and the 

transcontinental telegraph 

during the ongoing Plains 

Wars, the fort was abandoned 

in 1871. No original buildings 

remain, but the site is marked 

with a flagpole.

Directions: Continue west on county road 28 for about a mile. 

Pullout is on the right. The flagpole indicating the original fort site 

can be seen in the privately owned fields beyond the pullout.

D-15. Upper California Crossing (east of Ovid, Colorado.). Just east 

of here was the Upper California Crossing, where the Pony Express, 

California, and Oregon Trails crossed the South Platte River and started 

northwestward to Wyoming. White trail markers in the field indicate 

where wagons entered the river.

Directions: Turn north on county road 27.8 (paved) and cross the 

South Platte River into Ovid. Turn east on U.S. 138. Pullout is outside 

of town on the right side of the road. (Watch for interpretive sign on 

“Sugar Town.”)

D-16. Fort Sedgwick Depot 

Museum (201 W. 1st Street, 

Julesburg).The old Union 

Pacific Depot exhibits Indian 

and pioneer relics. Open 

Memorial Day to Labor 

Day, Mon.-Sat. 1 a.m.-4 p.m., 

Sundays 1 -4 p.m. During the 

off-season, call (970) 474-3504 

to arrange admission.

50
Platte River Valley from above Ash Hollow.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

Directions: As you enter Julesburg on U.S. 138, the Depot Museum is 

on the right near the railroad tracks.

To resume the auto tour for the Mormon Pioneer, Oregon, and California 

Trails, continue east on U.S. 138 to Big Springs. There, turn north on 

County Road 207, continue to U.S. 26, and turn west. Proceed to Ash 

Hollow (entry D-17, below).

To follow the Pony Express Trail, take U.S. 138 west out of Julesburg for 

about 2 miles. Turn north on U.S. 385 to Chappell, and there turn west on 

U.S.-30 to Sidney. Turn north on U.S. 384 to rejoin the auto tour on NE 92. 

Continue west on NE 92 toward Bridgeport. Skip ahead in this guide to 

entry D-23 below.

D-17. Ash Hollow Complex

(about 2 miles southeast of 

Lewellen). The Ash Hollow 

Complex includes two separate 

areas administered as Ash 

Hollow State Historical Park. 

Altogether, the park protects 

over 1,000 acres of historic trail 

and surrounding landscape. 

Attractions include a park 

visitor center, a pioneer grave, 

and an impressive series of trail 

ruts and swales. A ferocious battle 

between the Pawnees and Lakota Sioux also took place in this valley.

Directions to park complex: From the junction of county road 

207 and U.S. 26, drive west approximately 1 1⁄2 miles. Watch for the 

entrance to Windlass Hill on the west side of the road.

D-17.a: Windlass Hill is scarred by deeply eroded ruts cut by thousands 

of wagons sliding downhill with their wheels locked. A paved (but steep) 

walking trail with outdoor exhibits leads visitors along the ruts to the top 

of the hill, where hikers are rewarded with a vista of Ash Hollow and the 

Platte River. Open daily year round, 8 a.m. to sunset.

Now continue on U.S. 26 west for two more miles to the main park 

entrance, which is on the east side of the road.

51
Historical monument at Ash Hollow 

Cemetery.

Windlass Hill ruts at Ash Hollow.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

D-17.b: Ash Hollow State 

Historical Park, Headquarters 

Area. Purchase a $3/vehicle 

park entrance permit or a $17 

annual Nebraska state parks 

pass at the visitor center here. 

This portion of the park 

offers an interpretive center 

with exhibits, a cave with 

archeological exhibits, and a 

public picnic area. Grounds are 

open daily year-round, 8 a.m. to 

sunset; interpretive facilities and 

cave are open Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day, Tues.-Sun., 10 

a.m. - 4 p.m.

From here, continue on U.S. 26 west for less than 1 mile to Ash Hollow 

Cemetery. Cemetery entrance is on the west side of the road.

D-17.c: Pioneer Grave at Ash 

Hollow Cemetery. Rachel 

Pattison was an 18-year-old 

bride of two months and 

on her way to Oregon when 

cholera took her life here in 

1849. Her trailside grave was 

the beginning of this pioneer 

cemetery. To find her burial 

place, turn right toward the 

north end of the cemetery. A 

monument, which preserves 

her original gravestone, is near the 

flagpole.

D-18. Blue Water Battlefield/Harney Massacre/Battle of Ash Hollow 

Historic Wayside (1.8 miles west of Lewellen). In retaliation for the 

1854 killing of 29 U.S. soldiers in Wyoming (the “Grattan Fight”), troops 

under General William Harney from Fort Kearny destroyed a Lakota 

Sioux village near here at Blue Creek the following year. Indian strikes 

against travelers and settlers along the Great Platte River Road in the 

1860s were, in part, retribution for the killings at Blue Creek. A Nebraska 

State Historical Society sign tells the story; the actual battlefield, not 

52
Historical monument at the Battle of Blue 

Water site.

Indian Lookout Point along U.S. 26.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

visible from the pullout, is 

on private land several miles 

distant from the road. Please 

do not enter private property.

Directions: Continue 

through Lewellen on U.S. 26 

& state road 92 for 1.8 miles. 

Wayside is on the north side 

of the highway.

D-19. John Hollman Grave

(2.5 miles south of Oshkosh). 

Emigrant John Hollman died 

in 1852, possibly of cholera. His 

original gravestone still marks 

his resting place; a Nebraska 

State Historical Society sign tells 

of death on the trail.

Directions: Continue into Oshkosh on U.S. 26 and turn south on 

state road 27. Grave is two miles south of Oshkosh. 

D-20. Frog’s Head Bluff 

(Indian Lookout Point) 

Interpretive Wayside (2 miles 

west of Lisco). More widely 

known as Indian Lookout 

Point, this stone projection 

looked like the profile of 

a frog’s head to the 1847 

Mormon pioneers. A wayside 

exhibit tells the story. The 

landmark is privately owned; 

please do not enter.

Directions: Take U.S. 26 &state road 92 west toward Lisco. Wayside 

pullout is about 2 miles west of Lisco, on the north side of the 

highway.

D-21. Ancient Bluff Ruins and Narcissa Whitman Interpretive 

Waysides (6 miles west of Lisco, 8 miles east of Broadwater). Narcissa 

53
Nebraska Historical marker for Amanda 

Lamme grave.

Distant view of Ancient Bluff Ruins from the 

east.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

Whitman, a missionary and 

one of the first white female 

overland travelers, passed by 

here in 1836. Brigham Young 

and his advance group of 

Latter-day Saints camped near 

here 11 years later. Interpretive 

signs and waysides tell the 

stories.

Directions: Continue west 

on U.S. 26 & state road 92 from 

Lisco. Pullout is on the north 

side of the road east of Broadwater.

Continue on U.S. 26 toward Broadwater. At the east edge of town, turn 

south onto state road 92 west toward Bridgeport.

D-22. Amanda Lamme 

(or Lamin) Grave (5 miles 

southeast of Bridgeport). 

Twenty-eight-year-old Amanda 

Lamme died near here in 1850 

while on her way to California. 

Her grave, located on private 

property, cannot be viewed 

from the road, but a Nebraska 

State Historical sign interprets 

the site and discusses death on 

the trail. Please do not enter 

private property.

Directions: Pullout is on state road 92 north of the intersection of 

that highway and U.S. 385. 

D-23. Mud Springs State Historical Site & Pony Express Station (5.5 

miles north of Dalton) Caution! This site is accessed by a dirt road that 

may be unsuitable for low-clearance vehicles. Site is in rural area open 

to livestock. Mud Springs was a Pony Express home station—a place 

where riders ate and slept—and an Overland Stage and transcontinental 

telegraph station. It also is the site of an 1865 skirmish between stage 

54
Mud Springs Pony Express station.

View Of Courthouse and Jail Rocks.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

station employees, the U.S. 

cavalry, and Kakota Sioux and 

Cheyenne fighters. Free public 

access to monument area; do 

not enter nearby private land.

Directions: From the 

junction of state road 92 and 

U.S. 385, drive south for 8.1 

miles on U.S. 385. Turn west 

onto a dirt road (intersection 

is near a feature mapped as 

“Lookout Mound”) and watch 

for signs to Mud Springs. Turn left on Mud Springs Road. Pass the 

Pony Express Trail marker and watch for a small, white sign reading 

“Monument.” From here, return to U.S. 385 and drive north.

D-24. Courthouse & Jail 

Rocks (5 miles south of 

Bridgeport). Travelers on 

the south side of the river 

had a close-up view of these 

celebrated landmarks.

Directions: From U.S. 385 

where you exit Mud Springs, 

turn north for about 2 1⁄2 

miles. Turn west on county 

road 78 (paved). The road jogs 

north and becomes county road 

105, then jogs west and becomes county road 82. Turn right (north) 

on state road 88 toward Bridgeport and cross Pumpkin Creek. A 

Nebraska Historical Society sign and pullout are on the west side of 

the road, and a gravel road will take you closer to the features.

D-25. Courthouse & Jail Rocks: View from the Mormon Trail (2 miles 

northeast of Bridgeport). Although they were on the opposite side of 

the river, Mormon emigrants could see Courthouse and Jail Rocks, and 

often noted them in their journals.

Directions: From state road 88, continue north through Bridgeport 

and cross the Platte River. Turn west on U.S. 26. A pullout with a 

55
Rebecca Winters grave site.

Chimney Rock from U.S. 26.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

view of the landmarks and an interpretive wayside is located on the 

north side of the highway about two miles east of Bridgeport. Return 

to Bridgeport and continue west on U.S. 26 & state road 92.

D-26. Chimney Rock 

National Historic Site (1 

mile south of Bayard). Again, 

travelers on the Mormon 

Pioneer Trail viewed this 

famous landmark from a 

distance, while those on the 

Oregon, California, and Pony 

Express Trails passed much 

closer. Watch for a roadside 

pullout with a wayside exhibit 

(west of U.S. 26 where it turns 

north from state road 92, near 

milepost 47) telling of the first Mormons to view the feature. Chimney 

Rock grounds and visitor center are open daily year-round, and closed 

on state and federal holidays. Admission is $3 for adults; children with 

adults are free.

Directions: Continue west from Bridgeport on U.S. 26 & state road 

92 for about 12 1⁄2 miles. Turn south on county road 75 and follow 

signs to the visitor center. Return to 92 west.

D-27. Rebecca Winters Grave

(1 mile east of Scottsbluff). 

Fifty-year-old Rebecca 

Winters, a Mormon emigrant, 

died of cholera near here while 

on her way to Utah in 1852. Her 

resting place is marked with 

an iron wagon wheel rim that 

was inscribed with her name 

when she died. A monument, 

Nebraska Historical Society 

Sign, and a wayside exhibit 

commemorate the site and 

interpret the Mormon emigration.

56
Entrance way to North Platte Valley 

Museum.

Site of Robidoux’s First Trading Post.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

Directions: Return to state road 92 and drive west toward Gering. 

Approaching town, turn north on state road 23 & ScottsbluffGering Bypass to the South Beltline Highway. Turn east; the road 

turns northward and crosses the railroad tracks. Immediately after 

crossing the tracks, turn right on Rebecca Winters Drive. The grave 

is in the small triangle between the railroad tracks, South Beltline 

Highway, and U.S. 26.

D-28. North Platte Valley 

Museum (11th and J Streets, 

Gering).This museum 

offers exhibits about Native 

Americans, Robidoux Trading 

Post, emigrant trails and 

cabins, and Rebecca Winters. 

It also houses the archival 

collection of renowned 

emigrant trail scholars Paul 

and Helen Henderson. The 

museum gallery is open Mon.-

Fri. 9 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sat.-Sun. noon 

to 4 p.m.; closed weekends Labor Day through Memorial Day. The 

Western History Archive is open to researchers Mondays, Wednesdays, 

and Fridays, noon to 4 p.m., or by appointment (call (308) 436-5411). $3 

adults, $1 ages 6-12, free for ages five and under.

Directions: From the Winters monument, take the South Beltline 

Highway west into Scottsbluff. Turn south on Broadway/10th Street/

state road 71 Business Route and cross the North Platte River into 

Gering. Continue south through town; turn west onto J Street one 

block to end at the museum.

D-29. Robidoux’s First 

Trading Post (8 miles west of 

Gering). Before the overland 

trails cut through Scotts Bluff, 

they swung south around it. 

Joseph Robidoux built the first 

of two trading posts in this 

vicinity in 1849 to serve the 

Oregon and California traffic. 

It later burned; no buildings 

57
Robidoux Pass beyond the interpretive 

marker.

Pioneer Graves east of the summit from 

Robidoux Pass.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

remain. Some researchers question whether the marked location is the 

actual site of the fort.

Directions: Return to state road 92 (Old Oregon Trail Road), then 

turn south on state road 71. South of Gering, turn west on Robidoux 

Road (watch for sign to Robidoux Pass and blacksmith shop), a 

maintained gravel road suitable for cars. In 4 miles, the road jogs 

north and then west. Continue another 4 miles. As the road curves 

northwestward, watch for the Robidoux Post site on a low rise on the 

south side of the road. Park along the road and walk up to the site. (If 

you see a sign for pioneer graves, you have passed the trading post 

site by about .2 miles.)

D-30. Pioneer Graves (8 

miles west of Gering). Wagon 

swales and four anonymous 

pioneer graves are located near 

Robidoux’s Post. Watch for 

white trail markers and ruts 

along the road.

Directions: From the 

trading post, continue 

northwestward on the gravel 

road a short distance, about 

0.2 mile. Turn north onto a 

rough two-track or park along 

the road and walk in. The graves are 0.1 mile from the road.

D-31. Robidoux Pass (9 

miles west of Gering). This 

pass was used by Oregon and 

California-bound traffic until 

Mitchell Pass was opened 

through Scott’s Bluff in 1851. 

Watch for ruts on the south 

side of the road.

Directions: From the 

gravesite, return to the 

main gravel road and continue 

northwestward to the crest of 

58
Robidoux’s Second Trading post.

Mitchell Pass at Scotts Bluff National 

Monument.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

the hill. At the hilltop, turn right down a two-track a short distance 

to an interpretive panel about the pass. Return to the gravel road and 

continue west over the hill; watch for a road sign for Robidoux Pass.

D-32. Robidoux’s Second 

Post (about 9 miles southeast 

of Gering). The log buildings at 

this site are a reconstruction of 

Robidoux’s second post, built 

in 1851. Interpretive signs tell 

the story.

Directions: At Robidoux 

Pass, the road makes a 

hairpin turn and then splits. 

Continue straight (south) 

onto Summit Ranch Road. 

Follow it for about 3 miles and turn east onto to Carter Canyon Road, 

watching for directional signs to the post. Continue about 1 1⁄2 miles 

to the reconstructed post on the south side of the road. 

D-33. Scotts Bluff National 

Monument (2 miles west of 

Gering). The first wagon trails 

skirted around this majestic 

geological formation, but 

a later route cut through at 

Mitchell Pass. Attractions 

include a visitor center with 

a trail museum and artwork 

by pioneer photographer and 

artist William Henry Jackson; 

a short hiking trail; and a paved 

driving route (with free shuttle 

in the summer). Wagon swales are still visible. Grounds are open yearround, dawn to dusk. Visitor center is open daily, 8 a.m. - 7 p.m. in the 

summer and 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. in other seasons. Admission is $5/car, $3/

motorcycle.

Directions: From Robidoux’s Second Post, continue on Carter 

Canyon Road as it swings north once more to Robidoux Road. Turn 

east and onto Robidoux and continue to state road 71. Turn north on 

59
Roadside pullout and interpretive markers 

for Horse Creek Treaty site.

Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

60

71 toward Gering. Turn west again on state road 92 (Old Oregon Trail 

Road) and continue into Scotts Bluff National Monument. 

D-34. Horse Creek Treaty 

Grounds and Battle Site (2 

miles southwest of Morrill). 

This spot in September 1851 

was the campground of some 

12,000 tribal representatives—

the largest gathering of Indians 

ever recorded. They came to 

work out the terms of a treaty 

to protect the emigrant trails 

and compensate the tribes 

for that use of their lands and 

resources. At the same site in 1864 

a band of Lakota Sioux resisted 

efforts of the U.S. Army to move them to Ft. Kearny, resulting in a fight 

known as the Battle of Horse Creek. Nebraska State Historical Society 

interpretive panels tell about the treaty; privately owned treaty grounds 

can be viewed from the pullout.

Directions: From Scotts Bluff National Monument, continue west 

on state road 92 (Old Oregon Trail Road) to state road 29. Turn north 

on 29 and drive to U.S. 26. Turn west on U.S. 26. Interpretive pullout 

is 4 miles west of Morrill.

This ends the auto tour route of the Oregon, California, Mormon Pioneer, 

and Pony Express National Historic Trails through Nebraska. To continue 

west along the auto tour route, follow U.S. 26 toward the Wyoming border 

and Fort Laramie National Historic Site.
Auto Tour Route Interpretive Guide

Nebraska

National Park Service:

National Trails System Office

324 South State Street, suite 200

Box 30

Salt Lake City, UT 84111

www.nps.gov/Cali (California)

www.nps.gov/mopi (Mormon 

Pioneer)

www.nps.gov/oreg (Oregon)

www.nps.gov/poex (Pony 

Express)

Email: ntsl_interpretation@

nps.gov

Credits:

Research & Writing: Lee Kreutzer, Cultural Resources Specialist, 

IMR-National Trails System Office

Layout/Design & Graphics: Chuck Milliken, Interpretive Planner, 

IMR-National Trails System Office

Graphic Images: cover image “Approaching Chimney Rock” and all 

other paintings not labeled are by William Henry Jackson from the 

NPS collection at Scotts Bluff National Monument. Photographic 

images not labeled are from the National Park Service. Images on page 

17: Walter McClintock “Teepees on the Plains,” page 18: Frederick 

Remington “Indians Attack Wagon Train,” and page 21: Charles M. 

Russel “Indians on the Wagon Trail” are from the Beinecke Rare Book 

& Manuscript Library, Yale University.

For More Information:

61

Nebraska Tourism:

www.visitnebraska.org

Colorado Tourism:

www.Colorado.com

Oregon & California Trails 

Association - OCTA:

www.octa-trails.org/index.htm

Mormon Trails Association:

www.mormontrails.org

National Pony Express 

Association:

www.xhomestation.com
National Trails System

National Park Service

U.S. Department of the Interior