Most travelers mentioned the several natural rock outcroppings and features that they passed on their way west. My first stop was mentioned more than once due to the challenges faced as they approached the river.
Ash Hollow State Historical Park
After leaving I-80 at Ogallala to follow the North Platte River on U.S. Hwy 26, I stopped at Ash Hollow. This little valley on the river is notable for several reasons, not the least of which was the method used to move the wagons safely from the bluffs above into the valley on what became known as Windlass Hill, though it is not known if a windlass was actually ever used there. Each wagon was attached to a rope, and carefully lowered from the high bluff to the valley floor. The process is described by many of those who recorded their descent.
You can learn more about the Windlass Hill experience, read accounts of the travelers, on their way to the North Platte River, and see pictures of the wagon wheel ruts which are still visible here.
My guess is that Jerome's Army followed a slightly different route in 1857 - on the north side of the rivers. They would have avoided this crossing in the process.
The Rachel Pattison Grave Marker
It is estimated that 6% of the travelers who began the trek died before they reached their destination. For the California Trail, a conservative estimate suggests that, on average, there was a grave every 500 feet or so. Fresh graves were mentioned daily by many of those who wrote diaries and journals.
Most who died were hastily buried with only a wooden marker. These soon deteriorated and today, little remains to indicate the location of the many lost souls.
At Ash Hollow however, a bereaved husband took the time to chisel a stone to mark the grave of his young wife. The stone has been enshrined in a memorial at the cemetery here.
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Rachel E Pattison Headstone |
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The Rachel Pattison Story |
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Pioneer Trails Museum - Bridgeport, NE |
I almost always stop to visit such collections - not because they are free (they ask for donations and I always contribute,) but because I've learned that I can find fascinating stories of how the locals lived, and how they live today.
A pleasant woman volunteer about my age was on duty, and eager to share stories. I asked my standard question for such places, "Where is your barbed wire board?" (Small museums in the west always have a display of the fence wire that was used to tame the open range.)
She proudly led me to the back of the room, where not one, but two boards were on display, with each wire type carefully identified with a tag.
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Barbed wire, a sewing machine, and a book of art |
Jail, Courthouse, and Chimney Rocks
Features on the limestone bluffs over the river west of Ash Hollow were described by the early settlers with such labels as Froghead's Bluff, from which it was reported, one could see Chimney Rock in the distance.The first natural monuments usually mentioned along the North Platte river route were Courthouse Rock and Jail Rock near Bridgeport. I had to leave Highway 26 and take a back road out of town to get this shot.
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Jail and Courthouse Rocks near Bridgeport, NE |
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Chimney Rock, NE - 1901 vs 2012 |
The last landmark usually mentioned by the early travelers before they reached Ft. Laramie was Scott's Bluff, NE. I drove around on some back roads south of the city with the same name, peeking between lines of railroad cars and warehouses, to get this shot.
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Scott's Bluff, NE |
From the history of the 10th Infantry Regiment - 1857.
- The regiment took up the march July 18 and reached Fort Kearney August 7 where it remained until the 11th, and on August 31 encamped eight miles below Fort Laramie, on the scene of Lieutenant Grattan's massacre.
