The Camp Clarke Bridge Site in

Morrill County, Nebraska Morrill County is a county in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2010 United States Census, the population was 5,042. Its county seat is Bridgeport. In the Nebraska license plate system, Morrill County is represented by the prefix 64 (it h ...

near

Bridgeport Bridgeport is the most populous city and a major port in the U.S. state of Connecticut. With a population of 148,654 in 2020, it is also the fifth-most populous in New England. Located in eastern Fairfield County at the mouth of the Pequonnoc ...

dates from 1875. Also known as 25 MO 68, it was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1974. It is the location of a toll bridge built in 1875 by entrepreneur Henry T. Clarke, who provided a crossing over the

North Platte River The North Platte River is a major tributary of the Platte River and is approximately long, counting its many curves.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 21, 2011 In a ...

for what became the

Sidney-Black Hills Trail The Sidney Black Hills Stage Road or Route was a trail connecting Sidney, Nebraska, Sidney Barracks, and the Union Pacific Railroad with Fort Robinson, Red Cloud Agency, Spotted Tail Agency, Custer City, Dakota Territory, and Deadwood, Dakota ...

. The trail provided access for freight wagons, stagecoaches and other vehicles headed to and from the Dakota gold fields, from the

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

railway trailhead at

Fort Sidney Fort Sidney is a historic fort located in Sidney, Nebraska, United States. The 37th Infantry Regiment established "Sidney Station" at a point midway between the Platte Rivers, where the modern community of Sidney, Nebraska, now stands. Initially ...

, Nebraska. It is about 9 miles east from Chimney Rock and three miles west of

Bridgeport, Nebraska Bridgeport is a city in Morrill County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 1,454 at the 2020 census. It is the county seat of Morrill County. History Bridgeport got its start in the year 1899, following construction of the Chicago, Burl ...

. Historic photos show a wooden truss bridge built on pilings in the soft ground of the river. It was "a massive structure... Two thousand feet in length with a solid six to one truss span." It was the only reliable crossing between

Fort Laramie Fort Laramie (founded as Fort William and known for a while as Fort John) was a significant 19th-century trading-post, diplomatic site, and military installation located at the confluence of the Laramie and the North Platte rivers. They joined ...

and

North Platte, Nebraska North Platte is a city in and the county seat of Lincoln County, Nebraska, United States. It is located in the west-central part of the state, along Interstate 80, at the confluence of the North and South Platte Rivers forming the Platte River. T ...

. At the time of the NRHP listing in 1974, the North Platte no longer flowed through the bridge location, but was rather slightly to the north. and

References

Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Nebraska Bridges completed in 1875 Buildings and structures in Morrill County, Nebraska Road bridges in Nebraska Former toll bridges in Nebraska National Register of Historic Places in Morrill County, Nebraska Truss bridges in the United States Wooden bridges in the United States {{Nebraska-bridge-struct-stub

See also

References