Arrow Rock River Landing: Developing a Town and a Country

Arrow Rock River Landing: Developing a Town and a Country. . , Developing a Town: , The Missouri River, a conduit of commerce and transportation, drove the development of Arrow Rock. So important was the river that Burton Lawless, one of the founders of the town that would become Arrow Rock, guaranteed access to the River on the 20-foot easement where this trail is built. To ensure river access, several town ordinances in the 1840s and 1850s called for bridging the hollow and grading this road to the river landing. , From March through October, when the river was free of ice and the steamboats were running, commercial traffic from the landing to Main Street never ceased. The town even attempted to extend Main Street through the bluff directly to the river. This excavation, known as "Godsey's Diggins" is two blocks to the north. , Developing a Country: , The Lewis and Clark Expedition passed this spot on June 9, 1804, noting the Missouri River was about 200 yards wide. Long before the Expedition, this site was a landmark to American Indians. Here the "Osage trace" crossed the river, extending on to the western prairies. Later, in 1821, William Becknell and a small group of men crossed the river near here on what would be the first successful trade expedition to Santa Fe, New Mexico. Because the river flowed directly along the Arrow Rock bluff line, this gap in the bluff was the site of the Arrow Rock steamboat landing from circa 1830 to 1900. , This trail became part of the great immigrant road to the American West. Judge Napton reported that "[t]here was a great throng of emigrants through Saline County to California on the river road in 1849 and 1850. In the early spring of that year, the covered wagons of these emigrants were hardly ever out of sight at Arrow Rock." Traces of wagon ruts are still visible at the lower end of the trail.