National Parks Traveler

A view of Ash Hollow from the crest of Windlass Hill/David and Kay Scott

A Touch Of Delight On The Oregon Trail

By David and Kay Scott

            Of 19 national historic trails administered by the National Park Service in conjunction with several other federal agencies, four – California, Oregon, Mormon Pioneer, and Pony Express - follow the Platte River Valley across Nebraska.  Both the California and the Oregon National Historic Trails pass through Ash Hollow, a favorite stop for many pioneers as noted in their journals.

Five-hundred miles from their jumping-off point in Independence, Missouri, early pioneers on the Oregon and California trails arrived at Ash Hollow, a splendid locale named for its ash trees. The greenery in and around the hollow must have seemed a mirage to the emigrants following several hundred miles of travel along the mostly featureless Platte River Valley, a long, flat, and often dusty stretch void of trees and landmarks. They would soon pass equally memorable sights including Courthouse Rock, Chimney Rock, and Scotts Bluff, but those were further down the trail.

Relatively modest in size at 4 miles in length with white limestone cliffs averaging 250 feet high, Ash Hollow was an oasis that offered grass, flowers, trees, fruit, game for hunting, and, most-importantly, clear spring water. The latter was especially prized because the wide but shallow Platte River with a bottom of shifting sand sometimes described by the pioneers as quicksand had provided mostly gritty water that proved unpleasant for consumption. 

Ash Hollow proved a welcome refuge for early pioneers who could gather wood, make repairs, and enjoy some relaxation before resuming their journey west. Some emigrants decided to remain several days. The hollow continues today as one of Nebraska’s most unusual natural areas. Merrill Mattes, former Superintendent of Scotts Bluff National Monument commented in his excellent book, “The Great Platte River Road,” that while the landmark can’t compete with Arizona’s Grand Canyon, “as geography goes in Nebraska, Ash Hollow is in a class by itself.”

Many early wagon trains forded the South Platte at the Lower California Crossing, approximately 15 miles west of present-day Ogallala, Nebraska, to head north toward the North Platte. Along the route they encountered two major obstacles prior to reaching Ash Hollow, which is located a few miles south of the river. The first was California Hill, a relatively steep incline to elevated ground offering an 18-mile trek along a ridge that terminates in a steep downhill grade into the North Platte Valley.  The slope was later given its current name “Windlass Hill” although there is no record of pioneers using a windless to maneuver down what some described as a “perpendicular hill.”  Here pioneers would often lock the back wheels and/or lower the wagons by rope. 

The bottom of Windlass Hill empties out into the head of Ash Hollow with travelers approaching from the south. Pioneers departing from Council Bluffs on what was called the Mormon Trail or Council Bluffs Road followed the north side of the Platte, and while being able to view the hollow, seldom ventured across the river to visit.

When and where to ford rivers was influenced by a variety of factors including water level, strength of the current, and the steepness of river banks. Along this section of the trail wagon trains sometimes crossed the South Platte further east near the confluence of the South and North Platte rivers (just east of present-day North Platte, Nebraska). Pioneers utilizing these crossings approached Ash Hollow from the east along the south bank of the North Platte and entered the hollow from the south.

A view of Ash Hollow from the visitor center. Windlass Hill comes in from the left/David and Kay Scott

The refuge that proved such a pleasure to most pioneers had been utilized by humans for thousands of years, first in prehistoric times and later by Plains Indians. Archaeologists have confirmed a cave on the property served as a base camp for hunters for nearly 2,000 years.  The first White men to traverse Ash Hollow arrived in the early 1800s. Robert Stuart and a half-dozen companions returning east to St. Louis from Fort Astoria at the mouth of the Columbia River journeyed through the valley in 1816. Trappers and traders followed. The Bidwell-Bartleson party, along with a group of Jesuit priests, in 1841 became the first emigrant wagon train to pass through the hollow.

Early pioneers often expressed considerable trepidation of encountering hostile Native Americans. The concern generally proved unwarranted with most difficulties consisting of livestock theft or Native Americans requesting an offering for allowing emigrants to continue across land Indians considered theirs. Considering the newcomers often brought disease and nearly decimated the bison herds, a lack of conflict, at least in the early years, was quite remarkable. Clashes did occur, however, and one of the most serious took place a few miles north of Ash Hollow along Blue Creek, a tributary of the North Platte.

Grave of Rachael Warren Pattison in the Ash Hollow cemetery/David and Kay Scott

The 1855 Battle of Ash Hollow followed multiple conflicts of the previous year, the most important of which was a clash in which 29 soldiers from Fort Laramie were killed by Lakota Sioux warriors not far from the fort in a battle precipitated by the soldiers. This and additional skirmishes resulted in public pressure for a response by the U.S. military. 

In the early fall of 1855, U.S. troops commanded by General William Harney attacked a Sioux encampment several miles northwest of Ash Hollow where they killed nearly 90 Sioux, including women and children. This conflict, Harney's response to the loss of the 29 soliders, proved the beginning of years of war between Native Americans and the U.S. military.

Ash Hollow wagon traffic waned in the latter 1850s following discovery of gold in what is now Colorado. The new destination resulted in most trail traffic following the South Platte that curved toward Denver and the promise of mineral riches near Pikes Peak.   

Windlass Hill and Ash Hollow are now components of Nebraska’s Ash Hollow State Historical Park. The state’s Game and Parks Commission began acquiring land in 1962, and in 1978 constructed a visitor center on a bluff overlooking the pioneer trail and fresh water spring noted in so many emigrant diaries.  The park is home to a stone schoolhouse from 1903.  On the northwest corner of the park, an active cemetery contains the grave of Rachael Warren Pattison, an 18-year-old bride headed to Oregon Territory who died of cholera in 1849.  Her burial was the first in what became a trailside cemetery.

Author Kay Scott beside an Oregon Trail marker on a trail near the top of Windlass Hill/David Scott

Ash Hollow State Historical Park is open year-round with the visitor center and cave open from Memorial Day to Labor Day. 

Visitors can view the swale of the Oregon-California Trail created by thousands of wagons heading west. A Nebraska state park pass or day pass is required. 

The annual Ash Hollow Rendezvous takes place the second weekend in September.  The historical park is located in western Nebraska, on Highway 26, three miles southeast of Lewellen.

The separate Windlass Hill section is 2½ miles south of the visitor center.  A paved but steep walking path from a parking area leads to outstanding vistas at the top of Windlass Hill.

David and Kay Scott are authors of “Complete Guide to the National Park Lodges” (Globe Pequot).  They live in Valdosta, Georgia.