Exploring the Niobrara

Exploring the Niobrara. . "Shade this all dark with a light sky," Lieutenant Gouverneur K. Warren wrote about the sketch below, "and you have its appearance at sunset." Warren drew this sketch of the ridge in the distance on August 16, 1857, while exploring the upper Niobrara (L'eau qui Court) River valley to "determine the best route for continuing the military road westward to Fort Laramie and the South Pass" from military posts farther east., He was accompanied by Ferdinand V. Hayden, the geologist and naturalist best known for later exploring the Yellowstone region, and J. Hudson Snowden, a meteorologist. Warren's party surveyed and mapped the Niobrara valley for the first time, as well as collected plants and minerals.. After camping in the vicinity, Warren's party crossed the river near the current Agate Springs Ranch and continued along old trails to Fort Laramie. There they divided, with Warren conducting an early reconnaissance of the Black Hills, while Snowden returned for more Niobrara River exploration before joining up and heading east., Caption , Upper Right: In 1857, Warren led his last" expedition to map and document the West. He went on to fight in the Civil War and became well known for his fast action in helping to repel the storming of Little Round Top during the decisive Battle of Gettysburg.