The large hill to the north, which became known as “California Hill,” was climbed by thousands of covered wagon emigrants heading west between 1841 and 1860. Many were bound for Oregon. California became the destination of the majority . . . — — Map (db m51229) HM
Although some wagon trains continued to follow the South Platte, most crossed at one of several fords in this area and took a northwesterly route toward the North Platte River. The trail then followed the North Platte Valley through the remainder of . . . — — Map (db m61967) HM
Boot Hill was the final resting place for many early westerners who helped make Ogallala a booming cowtown in the 1870’s and 1880’s. These people, the cowboys, settlers, and drifters, came to Ogallala when the railroad and the Texas Trail opened a . . . — — Map (db m51223) HM
[The Boot Hill Kiosk contains 5 panels each dealing with an aspect of the history of Boot Hill.]
[Panel 1]
Boot Hill Chronicles
1803 – The United States buys land from France known as the Louisiana Purchase including the . . . — — Map (db m51394) HM
Many emigrants to Oregon or California had to ford the South Platte River to continue their trek up the North Platte River to South Pass. The most important ford, known as the Old California Crossing, was a few miles west of present-day Ogallala. . . . — — Map (db m50790) HM
For the 215 miles from the Nebraska-Colorado Line to Grand Island. Interstate 80 parallels the Platte River. This broad flat valley is underlain by deposits of sand and gravel washing in from the Rock Mountains. These deposits contain large . . . — — Map (db m51255) HM
Traveling northwest from Ash Hollow, the emigrants encountered three natural features of the North Platte Valley which became well-known milestones. First was Court House Rock, rising abruptly from the plains as the vanguard of the bluffs farther . . . — — Map (db m61968) HM
Named for the Oglala band of Dakota Sioux and located on the Union Pacific Railroad, Ogallala was a lusty cowtown of the Old West. From 1875 to 1886 it was a wild and woolly cowboy capital where gold flowed across the gaming tables, liquor across . . . — — Map (db m51222) HM
An etching of Ogallala appeared in an 1878 issue of American Agriculturalist magazine, depicting the town as the terminus of Texas cattle drives. It shows cattle being driven up the trail, across the South Platte River, and into Union Pacific cattle . . . — — Map (db m50784) HM
By 1878 more than 300 Northern Cheyennes were desperate to escape their hated reservation in Indian Territory (Oklahoma). Led by Dull Knife and Little Wolf, they headed for their homeland in the north, fighting their way across Kansas. At about . . . — — Map (db m178707) HM
U.S. Highway 26 and Nebraska Highway 92 were designated as Nebraska’s first scenic and historic byway in 1998. The byway begins in Ogallala and goes north and west past Lake McConaughy to Scottsbluff-Gering and the Wyoming border.
Through the . . . — — Map (db m50802) HM
Mayors from ten towns, along with Governor Norbert Tiemann and the Ogallala High School band, participated in a ribbon-cutting ceremony in Ogallala in December 11, 1968, to open the Sutherland to Big Springs segment of Interstate 80. The completion . . . — — Map (db m50800) HM
[Torch and medallions of the five service branches]
Dedicated to all Keith County Veterans
Inscribed are the names of those veterans from Keith County who made the supreme sacrifice in the defense of the freedom we hold so dear.
World War I . . . — — Map (db m51256) WM
A small office in the basement of this building was the birthplace of digital audio in the broadcasting industry.
Kevin Lockhart was Operations Manager for KOGA AM & FM; radio stations owned and operated by his father, Ray Lockhart. On December . . . — — Map (db m70369) HM
This region holds much that is significant to the history of the West. At this point, I-80 follows the route of the Overland Trail, along the South Platte River. Leaving the South Platte near here, the trail continued up the North Platte Valley, . . . — — Map (db m61966) HM
The Purple Heart medal was originated by General George Washington on August 7, 1782 for distinguished valor and now awarded only to members of the armed forces of the United States who have been wounded in combat against an armed enemy.
Recipients . . . — — Map (db m51253) HM
One of the earliest cowboys of the many who rode the long trail north from Texas to Ogallala behind a herd of longhorns. Sanders first arrived here about 1869. He rode for William Paxton during the turbulent open range period of Western Nebraska. He . . . — — Map (db m51225) HM
A relay station on the Pony Express Route, 1860-61, often referred to as Gill’s Station located near here at the crossing of the Oregon and Texas Trails. Pony Express stations in Keith County were Alkali, Sand Hill and Diamond Springs.
. . . — — Map (db m122909) HM
This friendly hometown mechanic embodies the spirit of the Lincoln Highway in Keith County. He commemorates a simpler, gentler time, when the attendant would pump your gas, check your oil, and wave you on your way with a smile.
Built in 1922, . . . — — Map (db m70370) HM
For generations Nebraska’s Platte Valley provided a natural east-west travel route for native peoples, fur traders, explorers, emigrants, and the military. The first known passage by white men along the Great Platte River Road in the Keith County . . . — — Map (db m50782) HM
When gold was discovered in 1848, California became the main destination. After 1849 many emigrants and gold seekers began traveling the trail on the north side of the Platte. Throughout the peak migration years, the trail to Oregon or California . . . — — Map (db m50783) HM
The Lincoln Highway was proclaimed the nation’s first coast-to-coast highway in 1913. It connected New York City with San Francisco, crossing twelve states and spanning 2,300 miles. The Lincoln Highway was created by an association of automobile . . . — — Map (db m50799) HM
Mormons traveled the Great Platte River Road to fulfill a religious mission. In the 1840s members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.(Mormons) moved westward to escape religious persecution. Beginning in 1847 they crossed the Plains . . . — — Map (db m50787) HM
The Pony Express operated for only eighteen months, from April 1860 until October, 1861, delivering mail between St. Joseph, Missouri and Sacramento, California. It ceased operating when the transcontinental telegraph line was completed. During its . . . — — Map (db m50785) HM
This statue pays tribute to those courageous men who came up the Texas Trail and recognizes the role of the trail drives played in establishing the beef industry in the northern plains.
Boot Hill, Ogallala’s Pioneer Cemetery, established in the . . . — — Map (db m51224) HM
When the Union Pacific laid track west from Omaha in 1865 the rails also followed the Great Platte River Road. The Union Pacific linked up with the Central Pacific at Promontory, Utah in 1869 to complete the nation’s first transcontinental railroad. . . . — — Map (db m50788) HM
