Ash Hollow State Historical Park is located south of Lewellen in Garden County,

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

. The park comprises two attractions located from each other: Ash Hollow Cave and Windlass Hill.

Ash Hollow Cave

A spring in the vicinity of Ash Hollow Cave made it an attractive site for periodic human habitation. Archaeological explorations of the cave have revealed that at least four distinct indigenous cultures occupied this area, during a period of more than 1,500 years. These include the

Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...

from A.D. 1675-1725; the

Central Plains tradition The Plains Village period or the Plains Village tradition is an archaeological period on the Great Plains from North Dakota down to Texas, spanning approximately 900/950 to 1780/1850 CE. On the west and east, Plains villagers were bounded by the g ...

from A.D. 900-1450; the

Woodland tradition In the classification of :category:Archaeological cultures of North America, archaeological cultures of North America, the Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures spanned a period from roughly 1000 Common Era, BCE to European con ...

from A.D. 0-1100; and the Late Archaic tradition from 1000 B.C.-A.D. 500. The cave was used as a base camp for hunting and food collecting. From the early 18th century, this became an area predominantly of Lakota Sioux occupation. The September 1855 Battle of Ash Hollow took place near here. The United States Army, with 600 troops, made a punitive attack on a Brule Sioux encampment, killing a total of 86 people, including women and children, and taking another 70 women and children as captives. The attack on the Lakota Sioux was launched as a result of The Grattan Massacre of 1854 near Ft Laramie, Wyoming. In 1962, the site was protected as part of a 312-acre Nebraska state park. Ash Hollow Cave was named as a National Historic Landmark in 1964, and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966. The surrounding area was named the Ash Hollow Historic District in 1975. In 1978, a visitor center was built overlooking the canyon.

Windlass Hill

Windlass Hill is located along the Oregon-

California Trail The California Trail was an emigrant trail of about across the western half of the North American continent from Missouri River towns to what is now the state of California. After it was established, the first half of the California Trail f ...

. The hill marked the entrance from the high table lands to the south into the Ash Hollow area and the North Platte River valley. Wagon ruts are visible on the hill. The name "Windlass Hill" was not used by the emigrants, and the source of the name is unknown. Emigrants had a hard time going down the hill at a 25-degree angle, going down for about 300 feet.

Bibliography

* Champe, J.L. ''Ash Hollow Cave, A Study of Stratigraphic Sequence in the Central Great Plains.'' University of Nebraska Studies, 1946.

References

External links

Ash Hollow State Historical Park
Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
Ash Hollow State Historical Park Map
Nebraska Game and Parks Commission {{authority control Archaic period in North America Archaeological sites on the National Register of Historic Places in Nebraska California Trail Protected areas of Garden County, Nebraska National Historic Landmarks in Nebraska Native American history of Nebraska State parks of Nebraska Oregon Trail Protected areas established in 1962 1962 establishments in Nebraska National Register of Historic Places in Garden County, Nebraska

Ash Hollow Cave

Windlass Hill

See also

Bibliography

References

External links