William F. Cody was born Feb 20, 1846, near Le Claire, Iowa. He earned the nickname "Buffalo Bill" because he was a buffalo hunter that supplied meat to feed workers building the Kansas-Pacific Railway.
In 1872 the Grand Duke Alexis of Russia wanted to go on a buffalo hunt, so Cody put together the famous hunting party that included General Custer, General Sheridan, and Chief Spotted Tail. The hunt was a great success.
After touring the world with his Wild West Exhibition, Cody retired to his Scouts Rest Ranch in North Platte. Several years later while visiting his sister in Denver, he died on January 10, 1917, and was buried atop Lookout Mountain the next spring.
Fort Cody in North Platte, Nebraska, was never an Army Fort -- it is just the largest souvenir and western gift store ("tourist trap") in Nebraska. The Fort includes a hand-carved 20,000 piece diorama of Cody's Wild West Exhibition, a "Medicine Man" that tells patrons their fortune, a two-headed calf, a pioneer cabin, and a Muffler Man (without the muffler) advertising statue that was converted into an Indian warrior.
The Golden Spike Observation Tower is located at the North Platte Union-Pacific Railroads Reclassification Yard. This is the largest reclassification yard in the World. If the shape of the tower looks familiar, it is because the tower was designed to look like the golden spike that was the last spike driven at Promontory Summit in Utah Territory. This is where the Central Pacific Railroad from Sacramento was connected to the Union Pacific Railroad from Omaha, making it the first transcontinental railway in the United States.
The North Platte Reclassification Yard covers 2,850 acres of land, has over 315 miles of tracks, and each day the yard can accommodate 150 trains pulling 24,000 rail cars.
When the Federal Government was acquiring rights-of-way for Interstate 80 just east of Sutherland, they also acquired lands for a rest area and lands that contained significant Oregon Trail ruts. This is where the Oregon trail left the Platte River Valley and went to higher lands where the pioneer wagons could get around the narrow O'Fallon Bluffs topographic restrictions.
Pioneers hated this part of the trip because alkali soils around the Bluffs tainted the water and caused the area to be mostly void of vegetation. The alkali soil was also soft, which made it difficult to get the wagons up and over the bluffs. Deep wagon ruts were left in the soft soil. Since the wagons could not move quickly, this was also a prime area for Indian attacks.
I decided to visit the area when I read on the web that "Much of this rugged country has never been farmed and remains of the Oregon-California Trail are still quite visible... At this location are some of the most clearly defined and preserved segments of the Oregon-California trail." Directions to find the site were to exit the eastbound side of Interstate 80 at mile marker 159.
Since I was traveling westbound, I had to first travel to Sutherland, then backtrack eastward on Interstate 80.
This side trip turned out to be one of the biggest disappointments of my trip. When I pulled into the rest stop, all I noticed was a restroom facility and some cars and trucks in the parking lot. There was a custodian working in the restroom facility, so I asked him where the Oregon Trail ruts were located. He said that I must have the wrong location because he did not know of any trail ruts in the area. Once I confirmed that I was at Exit 159, I walked around the building until I saw some iron hoops out in a field. Once in the field I noticed a historic marker, so I walked in that direction and found that I was in the right place. Unfortunately, due to a lack of care and maintenance, weeks and grass were allowed to grow in the ruts and Mother Nature has now almost entirely reclaimed the site. If it were not for the iron hoops marking the trail location, it would be almost impossible to even locate the trial. I was hoping to find better ruts somewhere along this part of the trail, so I walked from the bottom to the top of the the right-of-way area, but the trail was all in the same condition. It is disappointing that the Federal Government did not maintain this site better so that the Oregon Trail ruts would still be visible for tourist passing through the area. I did notice, however, the alkali soil now supports various types of vegetation. I do not know what caused the change. Maybe the Dust Bowl.
Traveling westward on Lincoln Highway, I stopped in Paxton (population 516) at Ole's Big Game Steakhouse to see Ole's collection of over 200 big game animals. In addition to the animals, the interior walls are covered with pictures of Ole and many international, national, and Hollywood celebrities who have visited the establishment. (By the way, Ole's serves the best food in the area at very reasonable prices.)
At Mile Marker 132 on the westbound side of Interstate 80 just west of Roscoe, there is an interesting sculpture that represents the Gateway to the North Platte Valley. There are also other historic markers and sculptures at this location.
The Diamond Springs Stage Station site is on private property, which is significant because private ownership of the site has kept the land relatively undisturbed. (It is difficult to see anything from the road, but an imprint of the facility is visible on Google Earth at GPS coordinates 41.079481 -101.905074.)
It was just west of the Stage Station that the Oregon Trail turned and went in a northerly direction to the North Platte River.
When the Platte River branched at North Platte, it is unclear why the Oregon Trail followed the South Platte River branch because it was taking them in the wrong direction. After leaving North Platte, the Oregon Trail went up and over O'Fallon Bluffs, followed the South branch of the Platte River for about 50 miles in a southwest direction (they needed to go northwest), crossed the South Platte River west of Brule, then had to go up California Hill and travel about 15 miles in a northerly direction to connect with the North Platte River. The Oregon Trail then stayed on the south side of the North Platte River all of the way to Fort Laramie in Wyoming. The Mormon Trail did not have these same obstacles because it stayed on the north side of the Platte River all of the way from Omaha to Fort Laramie.
Although the South Platte River was relatively shallow, it was a difficult and dangerous crossing because the river's sandy bottom created a major obstacle for heavy wagons. Also, quicksand and rushing water were the causes of many wrecks, drownings, and deaths from exposure. Once over the South Platte River, the pioneers had to climb California Hill before reaching the plateau that led to the North Platte River. California Hill was considered to be the first major hill that had to be climbed along the Oregon Trail after leaving O'Fallon Bluffs.
California Hill is now under ownership of the Oregon-California Trails Association and there is no fee for people that want to hike the trail. To the top of the hill it is about one mile from the historic marker adjacent to the Lincoln Highway, but about half the distance can be driven on a dirt road that can be negotiated in most vehicles.
There is a small vehicle parking lot and pedestrian fence entrance at the trailhead, then the trail goes off to the northwest and passes a stock watering tank that sits on a small knoll. Livestock use the trail ruts as cow paths to-and-from the water tank and eat the grass and weeds along the trail. This helps keep Mother Nature from reclaiming the trail ruts.
I had planned to just take a short hike on the trail, but the ruts were so interesting that I just put my shoulder to the wheel and pushed along until I reached the plateau and a farmer's field at the top of the hill.
No comments:
Post a Comment