Markers highlighting the trading and immigrant routes that followed the Platte River, a main portion of the Oregon, California, and Mormon trails going west across the central Great Plains between 1841 and 1866.
Long before early French explorers named it the Platte River, or "flat waters," this heartland oasis was a crossroads. Migratory birds, abundant wildlife and Native Americans had been in residence for centuries when the confluence of the Oregon and . . . — — Map (db m58888) HM
The trail which followed the south side of the Platte River was the main route to Oregon and California. Fur traders going to the Rocky Mountains took the first wagons over the trail in 1830. Oregon-bound missionaries followed in the mid-1830s, and . . . — — Map (db m53268) HM
Since 1841, Nebraska's Platte River Valley has been the historic highway of westward migration. In this area, the Overland Trail divided into two branches, one which followed the north and the other the south forks of the river. Emigrants . . . — — Map (db m68070) 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
This is the Platte River Valley, America's great road west. It provided a natural pathway for westward expansion across the continent during the nineteenth century. Here passed the Oregon Trail, following the South Platte River along much the same . . . — — Map (db m89341) HM
This is the Platte River Valley, America’s great road west. It provided a natural pathway for westward expansion across the continent during the nineteenth century. Here passed the Oregon Trail, following the South Platte River along much . . . — — Map (db m88674) HM