O'Fallons Bluff is a section of bluffs about long that run along the south side of the

Platte River The Platte River () is a major river in the State of Nebraska. It is about long; measured to its farthest source via its tributary, the North Platte River, it flows for over . The Platte River is a tributary of the Missouri River, which itsel ...

near

Sutherland Sutherland ( gd, Cataibh) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in the Highlands of Scotland. Its county town is Dornoch. Sutherland borders Caithness and Moray Firth to the east, Ross-shire and Cromartyshire ( ...

in Lincoln 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 so ...

. The

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

and

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

trails ran up and over these bluffs. They were characterized by

American pioneer American pioneers were European American and African American settlers who migrated westward from the Thirteen Colonies and later United States to settle in and develop areas of North America that had previously been inhabited or used by Nat ...

s heading west to Oregon and California as sparse in vegetation with a number of violent incidents involving Native Americans. In the early 1860s, a

Pony Express The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders. It operated from April 3, 1860, to October 26, 1861, between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pik ...

station was located about west of where the wagon trails went up the bluff. During construction of

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one ...

, the steep part of the bluffs were cut away but wagon ruts remained, which are marked by iron hoops signifying wagon wheels. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1974.

History

There is relatively little recorded on O'Fallons Bluff other than diary entries by American pioneers heading west to Oregon and California. The bluffs were close to the Platte River and, due to the terrain, the Oregon and California trails ran up and over the bluffs. Most sources indicate that the bluffs were named after

Indian agent In United States history, an Indian agent was an individual authorized to interact with American Indian tribes on behalf of the government. Background The federal regulation of Indian affairs in the United States first included development of ...

Benjamin O'Fallon Benjamin O'Fallon (1793–1842) was an Indian agent along the upper areas of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. He interacted with Native Americans as a trader and Indian agent. He was against British trappers and traders operating in the Uni ...

, but the origin of the name may be unclear. The area around the bluffs were described as an "

alkali In chemistry, an alkali (; from ar, القلوي, al-qaly, lit=ashes of the saltwort) is a basic, ionic salt of an alkali metal or an alkaline earth metal. An alkali can also be defined as a base that dissolves in water. A solution of ...

belt" and alkali was found in both the water near O'Fallons Bluff as well as the soil rendering much of the area near the bluffs devoid of vegetation. On June 13, 1881, Emily Towell wrote in her diary that "There were few flowers to be seen, only withered

poppies Poppies can refer to: * Poppy, a flowering plant * The Poppies (disambiguation) - multiple uses *'' Poppies (film)'' - Children's BBC remembrance animation *"Poppies", a song by Patti Smith Group from their 1976 album '' Radio Ethiopia'' *"Poppies" ...

, prickly pears and

sunflowers ''Helianthus'' () is a genus comprising about 70 species of annual and perennial flowering plants in the daisy family Asteraceae commonly known as sunflowers. Except for three South American species, the species of ''Helianthus'' are native to ...

. Now and then we glimpsed a few spears of green grass." Although there are few detailed accounts, O'Fallons Bluff was known for incidents between Native Americans and non-Native Americans who traveled there. For example, Thomas Twiss (an agent for the Upper Platte Indian Agency) reported that

Almon W. Babbitt Almon Whiting Babbitt (9 October 1812 – c. 7 September 1856) was an early leader in the Latter Day Saint movement, a Mormon pioneer, and the first secretary and treasurer of the Territory of Utah. He was killed in a raid by Cheyenne Native Ameri ...

and two companions were killed by 13

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian languages, Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized tribe, federally recognize ...

Native Americans at O'Fallons Bluff in 1856. Eugene Ware, a junior officer in the 7th Iowa Cavalry in 1863, wrote about several incidents involving Native American attacks in the area. On June 18, 1846 the

Donner Party The Donner Party, sometimes called the Donner–Reed Party, was a group of American pioneers who migrated to California in a wagon train from the Midwest. Delayed by a multitude of mishaps, they spent the winter of 1846–1847 snowbound in th ...

passed by O'Fallons Bluff on their journey along the Oregon Trail to California. In 1859, the

Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company The Central Overland California and Pike's Peak Express Company was a stagecoach line that operated in the American West in the early 1860s, but it is most well known as the parent company of the Pony Express. It was formed as a subsidiary of the ...

used O'Fallons Bluff station as a

station. The station was located around south and west of Sutherland, Nebraska and west of where the Oregon and California Trails climbed up the bluffs.

After construction of Interstate 80

Much of O'Fallons Bluff was removed when

was constructed, though remnants of wagon-wheel ruts from the Oregon and California trails still remain. These trail ruts parallel to Interstate 80 ranging from only a few feet (or meters) to about a mile (a little over a kilometer) from it. The remaining ruts that run up and over O'Fallon's Bluff are marked by iron hoops representing wagon wheels and can be seen close to Interstate 80. In 1864, Eugene Ware reported that General

Robert Byington Mitchell Robert Byington Mitchell (April 4, 1823January 26, 1882) was a brigadier general in the Union Army during the American Civil War and the Governor of the New Mexico Territory from 1866 to 1869. Early life and career Mitchell was born on April ...

stopped on O'Fallons Bluff, had it fortified, and ordered a company of cavalry to guard it. In 1966, archaeologists excavated a rectangular portion of a ditch at the base of O'Fallons Bluff that was thought to be the remnants of the fortifications erected in 1864. However, after excavating over of trenches, only scattered animal bones were found.

References

External links

Village of Sutherland
{{National Register of Historic Places Geography of Lincoln County, Nebraska Natural features on the National Register of Historic Places in Nebraska National Register of Historic Places in Lincoln County, Nebraska

History

After construction of Interstate 80

References

Further reading

External links