The Great Platte River Road - Ogallala, Nebraska
Posted by: 
gparkes
N 41° 07.557 W 101° 43.074
14T E 271844 N 4556299
This series of markers called the "Historic Walk of Fame," are located throughout the city. A brochure that can be obtained at the visitors center on Spruce Street will give the visitor a nice tour of the markers and the town.
Waymark Code: WM856J
Location: Nebraska, United States
Date Posted: 01/30/2010
Views: 5
Marker text states:
The Great Platte River Road
1841 – 1866
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 yeas, the trail to Oregon or California was not a single, clearly-defined pathway, but varied depending on weather and destination. Historian Merrill Mattes has estimated that as many as 500,000 people went west on various branches of the Great Platte River Road between 1841 and 1866.
Beginning in the early 1840s, thousands of people began crossing the continent to settle in the Oregon country. Their wagons followed the south bank of the Platte and North Platte Rivers en route to South Pass in the Rockies. Emigrants often described the Platte as a mile wide, inches deep, treacherous to ford, and too muddy to drink.