page_title: North Platte River
section_title: History as a trail west
hierarchical_section_title: North Platte River / History as a trail west
caption_attribution_description: Route of Bozeman Trail (1863-1868)
context_page_description: The North Platte River is a major tributary of the Platte River and is approximately 716 miles long, counting its many curves. In a straight line, it travels about 550 miles, along its course through the U.S. states of Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska.
  The head of the river is essentially all of Jackson County, Colorado, whose boundaries are the continental divide on the west and south and the mountain drainage peaks on the east—the north boundary is the state of Wyoming border. The rugged Rocky Mountains surrounding Jackson County have at least twelve peaks over 11,000 feet in height. From Jackson County the river flows north about 200 miles out of the Routt National Forest and North Park near what is now Walden, Colorado, to Casper, Wyoming. Shortly after passing Casper, the river turns to the east-southeast and flows about 350 miles to the city of North Platte, Nebraska.
  The North Platte and South Platte River join to form the Platte River in western Nebraska near the city of North Platte, Nebraska. The Platte River flows to the Missouri River, which joins the Mississippi River to flow to the Gulf of Mexico.
context_section_description: The North Platte River drainage has been an important westward route in the westward expansion of the United States. To get the two essentials, water and grass for the traveler's animals the emigration trails nearly always followed river valleys across the North American continent. These trails extended from the Missouri River, Platte River and North Platte River across Nebraska and parts of Wyoming and on to its confluence with the Sweetwater River (Wyoming). About 50 miles (80 km) beyond what is now Casper, Wyoming the main emigration trails left the North Platte valley and followed the Sweetwater River valley and other river valleys going further west.
  The trail route along the North Platte River was first written about by Wilson Price Hunt of the Astor Expedition who was traveling back to the Missouri River from the newly established Fort Astoria on the Columbia River in 1811. The lack of American trappers and settlers in the contested Oregon Territory resulted in this early discovery being unused and nearly forgotten. Jedediah Smith and several trappers in 1823 rediscovered the route and the trail along the Platte, North Platte and Sweetwater Rivers became a major trail to the fur trader’s summer time Rocky Mountain Rendezvous. Mule trains carrying in trading supplies for the mountain men and fur trappers were some of the first to use the trail in 1824. The fur traders on their return trip carried the traded furs back east at the end of the summer trading season. This fur trade route continued to be used to about 1840. By about 1832 the trail along the Platte, North Platte, and Sweetwater Rivers had been improved by the fur traders to a rough wagon trail from the Missouri River to the Green River in Wyoming where most of the Rocky Mountain Rendezvous occurred. Following the fur traders, the major emigration trails established along the north and south banks of the North Platte River were the Oregon (1843–1869), California (1843–1869), Mormon (1847–1869) and the Bozeman (1863–68) Trails. The trails north of the North Platte River originally crossed the North Platte near Fort Laramie to join the original Oregon and California Trail Route on the south side. In 1850 Child's Route (Child's Cutoff) extended the north side trail to what is now Casper, Wyoming. The rugged territory from Fort Laramie, Wyoming to Casper meant that the trails often deviated from the river to find an easier path and relied on streams draining into the North Platte for water.
caption: California, Mormon, Oregon and Bozeman Trails along North Platte River
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