The
stories of the old overland trails plays a great
part in the history of Nebraska. They are
not only a saga of travel,
but are more interesting as the record of the lives
of many people, young and old, strong and weak,
brave
and cowardly, who made their way westward in search
of a new horizon.
In
many places across the state can be found the deep
furrows made by thousands of wheels as they rolled
ever onward.
Her and there a lonely grave marks the place
where some poor soul faltered and gave up the journey.
So
many pioneers traveled along these trails it caused
the ground to become as hard as rock.
The
Oregon Trail was probably the most famous of all
trails. It started from Independence, Missouri
and went across
the place where Gage and Jefferson counties met
on the Kansas-Nebraska line. It followed the
Little Blue
River to the Platte near Grand Island. From
there it went west along the south bank of the Platte
River.
Near
where Big Springs now stands, it crossed the South
Platte and followed the south side of the North
Platte until
it entered Wyoming.
Many
side trails in the state fed into this large one.
By 1860, a trail from Nebraska City went directly
north-east to
the Platte and then followed the Oregon Trail on
west. This was called the Nebraska City Cut-Off
or Stream Wagon
Road..
Some
very interesting land marks used by the pioneers
can still be seen along the Oregon Trail. The
most famous
of these were Court House Rock and Chimney Rock
in the far western section of the state.
The
Denver Trail, which was really only an extension
of the Oregon Tail, began at Big Springs. Here
the new
trail followed southwestward with the South Platte
as a guide. This trail became very popular after
gold
was discovered near Denver in 1858.
The
third great highway was the Morman Trail, named
after the people who originally made it. It
started from the
Missouri River near Bellevue. It followed
the north side of the Platte River until it reached
Laramie where it
joined the Oregon Trail. The Morman Trail
was not as much used as the Oregon Trail along the
Platte because it
ran through so much sand in the sand hill region,
which made it hard to get the wagons through. After
the two
trials
joined, the route followed the South Pass, then
turned north to Great Salt Lake.
These
many tails running westward became the main highways
of trade as well as travel. Following the
covered wagon
caravans, the overland stage, and the pony express,
came the Union Pacific Railroad. It, too followed
the
Platte Valley. When cross-country airplane
mail lines were originated, they made use of the
cities and towns in
that valley. Today , building toward the west
for the use of future generations, as the great
superhighway, the Interstate.
For many of its miles it will follow much
the same path as the old Oregon Trail.