One of the places we wanted to visit while here in Scottsbluff was the Scotts Bluff National Monument. The monument's north bluff is named after Hiram Scott, who was a clerk for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company and died near the bluff in 1828. The bluff served as an important landmark on the Oregon Trail, California Trail and Pony Express Trail, and was visible at a distance from the Mormon Trail. Over 250,000 westward emigrants passed by Scotts Bluff between 1843 and 1869. It was the second-most referred to landmark on the Emigrant Trails in pioneer journals and diaries.
Although called "Scotts Bluff National Monument," the site includes two separate bluffs, "South Bluff" and the northern bluff called "Scotts Bluff." There are five major outcroppings on the bluffs, known as Dome Rock, Crown Rock, Sentinel Rock, Eagle Rock and Saddle Rock. The area between Scotts Bluff and the North Platte River is known as the "Badlands." Wikipedia has a lot of interesting information on the Monument.
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| The rugged Badlands stretch for 500 acres north of Scotts Bluff |
Bluffs and badlands ~~ natural erosion ceaselessly scours the landscape of western Nebraska creating bluffs and badlands. The rocky landscape of Scotts Bluff was a dramatic change from the grasslands of the Great Plains. Close to the river was a maze of badlands that wagons could not pass through. Travelers had to change course and seek alternate routes. These challenges foreshadowed the western mountain crossings to come.
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| Badlands |
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| Alfred Jacob Miller drew this image in the 1830s. As the bison swim in the river, hunters prepare their rifles |
Bison and other wild animals made the first trails through the North Platte River Valley. American Indians followed their pathways for travel, hunting, and carrying goods and information throughout the west. Like American Indians, fur trappers and traders relied on the North Platte River as a transportation route. The river widened and narrowed depending on the season and weather. This forced people to stay on the north or south side of the watercourse.
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| Bison traveled along the North Platte River for water and grazing |
The North Platte River Valley was home to herds of bison and flocks of birds, all drawn to the river. These were only a fraction of the wildlife supported by this waterway. Grass that grew along the river banks also attracted elk and bighorn sheep. The river brought people from different cultures here to hunt and fish. Usually they had amicable relations. Sometimes they clashed, mostly over land and resources.
The North Platte River winds along the foothills just north of Scotts Bluff. The river's flood plain once spread widely during spring runoff. In the early 1800s, its waters supported many species of plants and attracted droves of wildlife. This made it a perfect place for hunting, gathering, trapping and trading.
The Robidoux family had two trading posts in the area. Both were located near fresh water springs south of South Bluff. All types of people converged at Robidoux trading post to purchase goods and get needed services. Located near a freshwater spring, the post had all the travel necessities. Joseph Robidoux married an American Indian woman and traded with Indians in the west for more than 14 years. Members of American Indian tribes frequented his post, as well as mountain men and emigrants traveling across the country. Furs, firearms, and food were popular trade items at the post.
Overland trails changed the landscape. In the early 1800s, travelers began to carve trails through the country. Wagon trains of people moved through the Platte Valley following the river. Each year the number of travelers increased, and the land started to feel the strain. The trail developed deep ruts and grooves from the wheels of the wagons and handcarts. Hungry draft animals mowed down the grassland that was once abundant on the prairie. Campfire remains and discarded supplies littered the landscape.
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| Hunters removing the hump rib from a downed bison |
American Indians had numerous uses for bison besides food. Hides produced tipi covers, clothing, drums, and horse riding accessories. Bison horns became utensils and toys. Bison bones were also used to make scrapers, knives and paintbrushes. American Indian hunters used strong, fast horses to follow and surround bison herds. Bows, arrows, and spears -- most effective at close range -- were used to down the animals.
Decline of the bison had a major effect on Plains Indians who felt a sense of spiritual kinship with the animal. Before the arrival of Euro-Americans, 30 to 70 million bison roamed North America. By the end of the 1800s, fewer than 1,500 bison remained.
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| A Lakota man adding an image to the tribe's winters count. These became a pictorial history of the tribe or family |
Winter counts tell a tribe's history ~~ Most Plains tribes kept a record of each year's history and events. The Lakota called these records winter counts. They were hand-drawn pictures on hide or cloth recounting the history of each year -- a time period measured from first snowfall to first snowfall. Some of these drawings date back to the 1700s, but were more common in the 1800s. Winter counts are still created by some Plains tribes today.
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| After a successful hunt, people processed meat and hides in this Arapaho Camp |
Tribal Members had Distinct Roles ~~ Multiple American Indian tribes moved through the region surrounding the North Platte River. All of these tribes had a specific division of labor to make sure all tasks were completed. Women were responsible for gathering food, cooking and providing shelter. Men hunted for their families and defended the tribe when necessary. Children on the plains learned to do their chores and help their families. Older children helped by watching after the younger siblings.
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| American Indians used dog or horse-drawn travois to carry their belongings across the plains |
American Indians traveled through the bluff's region hunting animals. Bison were abundant across the grasslands of North America. Early Plains Indians moved their camps to follow the path of migrating herds. Household goods and tipis were placed on travois that were pulled by dogs for transport. Travois were made from two poles and a platform or net strung across the middle to carry the load. After the arrival of horses, tribes could haul larger travois and move farther and faster. Moccasins made from tanned hides protected the feet of tribal members.
American Indians who lived on the Great Plains developed an active and robust culture long before the arrival of Euro-Americans. There were many different tribes throughout the Great Plains. They engaged with each other as trade partners and in warfare. Most tribes moved locations to follow the rich natural resources or escape hostilities. The Arapahoe and Cheyenne relied on hunting and gathering. In contrast, the Pawnee hunted seasonally and preferred settled village life and agriculture.
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| CWA workers built roads and tunnels at Scotts Bluff Monument using hand picks, shovels and wheelbarrows |
During the Great Depression, the government created job placement programs to get the country back to work. The first group to improve Scotts Bluff were members of the Civil Works Administration (CWA) in 1933. Major upgrades to the monument site continued when the Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) started work in 1935. CCC workers stayed in Scotts Bluff for nearly three years. They built a new wing on the museum and a residence for the superintendent of the monument. They also created new electrical lines, sewer systems, restrooms, and a picnic area.
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| The original visitor center at Scotts Bluff, c. 1936 |
On December 12, 1919, Woodrow Wilson signed a Presidential Proclamation officially establishing Scotts Bluff National Monument. The first attempt at protecting Scotts Bluff occurred March 1914. Two years later in 1916, a group of local citizens submitted a petition urging the National Park Service to create a monument commemorating the Oregon Trail passing through Scotts Bluff. Local residents submitted a third petition in March 1918.
How high is the bluff? Sitting 800 feet above the river, Scotts Bluff became a signal emigrants were nearing the Rocky Mountains -- and more difficult terrain. Wagons traveled in single file through the bluff's narrow passes, kicking up dust all around them.
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| The Badlands |
Sedimentary rocks make up Scotts Bluff and the nearby badlands. The exposed rocks give clues about their age and origin. Often, they contain fossils. The story of the rock layers of Scotts Bluff began 33 million years ago. Wind and flowing water brought sediments and volcanic ash to this area from the Rocky Mountains. Layers of these sediments became the rock layers of today. Limestone caps the top of the area's bluffs. This hard rock covers slow erosion, but the forces of nature are relentless. Scotts Bluff will continue to change over time. Wind and rock have carved the nearby badlands. As rock layers erode, we find fossils of animals that became extinct long ago.
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| Oreodont fossil replica |
The fossils found in the badlands come from the Oligocene Epoch (25-40 million years ago). An oreodont is an extinct four-toed mammal about the size of a sheep. They lived on a diet of leaves and young shoots. Oreodonts have no close relatives living today.
Emigrants saw this land as a chance for new opportunities. They used overland trails to travel back and forth across the country. Religious freedom, free land, and commerce brought these travelers through the plains. Here, they followed the North Platte River, using Scotts Bluff as a landmark for navigation.
William Henry Jackson was an American artist and photographer. He traveled west in 1866 and began capturing the country's changing landscape in his photography and art work. In the 1930s, he painted this scene of wagons traveling through Mitchell Pass.
"The road was very uneven and difficult, winding from amongst innumerable mounds six to eight feet in height, the space between them frequently so narrow as sarcely to admit our horses." ~~ John Kirk Townsend, 1834
Parties of settlers and travelers kept watch for natural landmarks to guide their journey. The distinct rock formations at Scotts Bluff fascinated people and many recorded their wonder in journal entries as they passed through. From families to fur traders, Mormon pioneers to government explorers, the people who arrived at Scotts Bluff had unique motivations for traveling west. But all of them faced a challenging road ahead.
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| Ten companies of pioneers pulled their belongings in handcarts across the Mormon Trail between 1856-1860 |
Gold Seekers on the California Trail ~~ The 1848 discovery of gold in California greatly increased traffic on the trail through Scotts Bluff. Gold seekers -- nicknamed '49ers -- rushed to northern California in hopes of striking it rich. The '49ers were most often men traveling on the south side of the Platte River. By the end of 1849, 25,000 more people traveled the California Trail. Over 100,000 more people would arrive in California over the next two years.
Land seekers on the Oregon trail ~~ New territory in the Northwest drew families dreaming of rich farmlands, economic stability, and a desire for a new life. Travelers on the Oregon trail followed a route forged by trappers and missionary parties through Scotts Bluff. Each day had a predicable schedule -- rise at dawn, eat, pack the wagons, rest at noon, travel til afternoon, set up camp, and make dinner.
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| Stone Marker |
Some emigrants carved their names on stones along the trail. This stone reads: Wm. Webber, Niles, Michigan, May 23, 1852. It was found near the Summit Road in 1934.
National events changed the trails ~~ During the Civil War, mounting tensions with American Indians on the trail caused a decline in traffic. The trail through Scotts Bluff saw further decreases when construction began on the Union Pacific Railroad. The transcontinental railroad began operating in 1869, and few people continued using land trails. Segments of the Oregon, Mormon, and California trails became highways between the new towns that spread west. Today, these are designated National Historic Trails.
Prior to 1851, travelers on the Oregon and California trails trekked nine miles south of the bluff to Robidoux Pass. Fresh water springs and a trading post offered relief and services. When Mitchell Pass opened in 1851, the new trail through the bluffs became the primary route for travelers. Nicknamed "Devil's Gap," Mitchell Pass was a more difficult journey for wagon trains, but kept them closer to the river. The narrow trail forced wagons into a single file line, creating a dusty "pinch-point."
"Most every bleached bone and buffalo skull we pass we receive some information anew[.] ... One bone we passed contained this solicitation of information 'Come on boy Jordan is a hard road to travel." ~~ Amos Musser, 1857
The development of telegraph lines made the Pony Express unnecessary. Trails for both forms of delivering messages passed through Scotts Bluff.
To the American Indian, the telegraph poles symbolized an invasion of their lands. In the 1860s, they raided and sabotaged the telegraph lines and poles.
The U.S. government negotiated several treaties at Fort Laramie in 1868 with different tribes. These agreements established reservation boundaries, but the agreements were broken as those lands were invaded by gold-seekers and others.
In 1868, members of the Lakota tribe met with the U.S. government and signed the Fort Laramie Treaty. The treaty defined geographic areas of territory for the Lakota, which included the sacred Black Hills. With the discovery of gold in the Black Hills, miners flooded the area, impacting the Lakota claim on the land.
American Indians disrupted telegraph lines and mail service along the trail and occasionally raided wagon trains. This prompted the U.S. government to establish Fort Mitchell in 1864. The U.S. government stationed military at forts along the overland trails. The patrolled the trails to keep travelers, mail and telegraph lines safe. Soldiers worked to improve the roads, making it easier for them to travel. The military presence was also a way for the government to force the national expansion on the American Indian population. American Indian leaders signed treaties, never intending to give up their homelands. Few realized that life as they knew it would be altered forever.
Lands of all the nations that signed the Horse Creek Treaty, 1851. Following the 1851 Horse Creek Treaty, there was more traffic on the overland trails. The constant flow of emigrants and livestock changed the bison migration patterns. This made it difficult for American Indians to find and hunt the herds.
Cultural and language misunderstandings furthered tensions between the US Military and American Indians and contributed to two conflicts near Scotts Bluff. In the 1854 Grattan Fight, a Lakota man found and killed an abandoned cow. The military entered his village to address the situation and Lt. John Grattan and his entire command were killed in a skirmish. In retaliation for Grattan's death, Col. William S. Harney attacked an Oglala and Lakota village killing men, women and children in the 1855 Battle of Blue Water Creek.
The Horse Creek Treaty allowed overlanders to travel through American Indian homelands. Representatives from the Oceti Sakowin, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Crow, Assiniboine, Gros Ventre, Blackfoot, and Arikara tribes signed the document.
That was the last of the exhibits inside of the museum. There was a path next to the museum that Lucy and I walked. I wanted to see the ruts that were left by the wagon trains, but it was too hot to keep walking, so I just took a few pictures.
From here we drove up to the top of the bluff where Lucy and I walked the north and south sections to take pictures and see the sights. Jim decided to just sit in the truck and look around. Our first walk was the north section.
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| City of Scottsbluff from up high |
Survey marker shows the highest elevation of Scotts Bluff to be 4649 feet above sea level, but natural and human erosion are working to reduce that figure.
Cap layers of hard, erosion resistant rock help to protect softer layers below. This cap rock is gradually breaking away, exposing the pale, easily-crumbled sandstone to the elements. Erosion may happen slowly over time or suddenly with a rock slide. Weather elements often combine to make larger erosion events occur. Human footsteps greatly accelerate the erosion of the soft sandstone formations.
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| Scott Memorial |
Hiram Scott, employee of the American Fur Company died in the vicinity of this bluff in 1828, after being deserted by his companions near the junction of the Laramie and North Platte Rivers.
Scotts Bluff was named after Hiram Scott, a young man employed by western fur companies in the late 1820s. Scott worked for the Rocky Mountain Fur Company in 1822. He went west and became a trusted lieutenant in the company. He was also listed as a clerk for the American Fur Company in 1827. Scott was present at 1828 Bear Lake fur rendezvous and then traveled towards St. Louis. Information about him after this point is hard to find. Journal details reveal he died in 1828 near the bluff that would later bear his name.
From here, Lucy and I walked to the South end of the bluff to take more pictures and look around.
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| Badlands |
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| Scotts Bluff |
These bluffs are isolated remnants of the ancient high plains. The bluffs together were known collectively by the pioneers as Scotts Bluff. Like the famous Chimney Rock, Scotts Bluff is an outlier formation of the Wildcat Hills. Twenty-two million years ago, the surface of the plains was as high as Scotts Bluff -- a gently sloping landscape composed of sediments from mountains to the west. About 3 million years ago, the Platte River and its tributaries began to erode the high plains. Bit by bit, water carried away massive volumes of soil and rock, creating canyons that grew wider and wider.
Today only the Wildcat Hills, Scotts Bluff and and other erosion-resistant remnants of the high plains remain. On the multi-layered cliff face you can see many of the rock layers that once covered this region.
The many faces on the trail ~~ The bluffs have witnessed a wide variety of travelers. The River is life. Animals made their paths along it and leading to and from it. Humans followed next; the first traveled lightly, leaving little trace of their passing. Occasionally they would climb the tall bluffs where the height allowed them to see far across the plains.
It was not too long ago that new men started to use the river as a guide. These men looked for wealth. Fur traders traveled to and from the fur rich mountains to the west. Beaver and other furs were in demand for the fashionable people in the east. Soon bison robes were also popular. The traders tended to be loners who left little mark on the land since they rarely had more than a couple of horses or mules to carry their furs.
Once South Pass was discovered and wagons could travel through the Rocky Mountains, the impacts on the land increased. Farmers coveted the fertile land in the Willamette Valley in Oregon. They brought families and friends to settle with them. When word of gold reached the eastern states in 1848, thousands traveled west. Few families crossed the plains as men flooded the trail expecting to become rich quickly in California, then return home.
Many emigrants moved west for religious reasons. The earliest wagons belonged to missionaries; the Marcus Whitman party was the first. Later, Mormons fled persecution in the east using the lesser traveled trail on the north side of the North Platte River.
The bluffs now watch over people who have chosen to live here as well as those who travel by. Modes of travel have changed, but the bluffs still serve as a landmark to those following the river.
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| Scotts Bluff, c. 1837 |
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| Scotts Bluff today |
Before the wagons ~~ The bluffs served as a landmark and lookout. It was a treeless expanse. Floods and lightening caused grass fires killing seedlings that tried to grow on the plains. Mixed tall and short grasses grew on the prairie around the bluffs, perfect grazing for the bison and elk that lived there. Only on top of the bluffs were trees able to grow.
To the people of this area, it was not barren. There was life everywhere. Along with game to hunt, there were fish in the river. Many of the plants had multiple uses including the yucca, prickly pear, chokecherry, sunflower, wild onion and wild licorice. The land was bountiful and appreciated.
Wildlife, including bear, antelope, prairie wolves, coyotes and the all-important bison, roamed the area. What better spot to scout the location of herds than from the top of the bluffs?
The first recorded sighting of the bluffs was by a party of men from John Jacob Astor's Pacific Fur Company headed east from Oregon in 1812. On Christmas Day, Robert Stuart wrote: "The hills on the south have lately approached the river, are remarkably rugged and Bluffy, and possess a few Cedars." The first white men did not leave much of a mark on the prairie. There were few fur traders and they traveled across the plains quickly.
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| Scars from wagon wheels still mark the landscape |
Unlike the Native Americans, many 19th century European-Americans did not see the abundance and beauty of the prairie. At first it was just another barrier between them and their goals further west. Oregon had the fertile Willamette Valley, California had gold and Utah was the Promised Land.
As thousands of emigrants passed, their animals devoured the grasses, the wagons ground deep paths and the people brought diseases to the Native Americans who had no resistance. The presence of so many people crossing the plains disrupted the migration routes of several of the animal herds that the Native Americans depended on for food, tools, clothing and housing.
Some of the animals disappeared completely, others moved to ever shrinking habitats. The Prairie wolf and Audubon bighorn sheep are now extinct. Lone bears, elk, moose and antelope show up once every few years. The only bison in the area no longer roam free, they live on ranches instead.
Once Nebraska opened to homesteading, settlers gradually made their way to the Scotts Bluff area. Using modern irrigation techniques, the North Platte River watered their crops and cattle, trees were planted as wind breaks and the face of the prairie became what you see today. Soon "The Great American Desert" became a vital part of the nation's food production.
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