Emigrants reached Scotts Bluff after nearly two months on the plains
To your left, vast flatlands extend eastward - for hundreds of miles. In the mid-1800's this expansive, semi-arid grassland was known as "The Great American Desert." For early travelers it was an unfamiliar, often inhospitable landscape.In their diaries, emigrants described the challenges of the journey, and their mixed emotions. Enthusiasm for a new life in Oregon or California was tempered by the hardships of the trail; the dust and fatigue; the scarcity of drinking water and firewood; outbreaks of cholera and smallpox; violent thunderstorms; accidents with wagons and animals; and separation from loved ones.Emigrants gazed at Scotts Bluff with a sense of accomplishment. They had crossed the plains, and the first third of their journey was over.May 29, 1852 "We have a great deal of sickness on the road at this time. We pass companies every hour of the day waiting for someone to get better or to die. Passenger trains hardly ever wait."| HM Number | HM1MYT |
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| Tags | |
| Placed By | National Park Service |
| Marker Condition | No reports yet |
| Date Added | Monday, August 17th, 2015 at 1:01am PDT -07:00 |
| UTM (WGS84 Datum) | 13T E 608070 N 4632606 |
|---|---|
| Decimal Degrees | 41.83798333, -103.69838333 |
| Degrees and Decimal Minutes | N 41° 50.279', W 103° 41.903' |
| Degrees, Minutes and Seconds | 41° 50' 16.74" N, 103° 41' 54.18" W |
| Driving Directions | Google Maps |
| Area Code(s) | 308 |
| Which side of the road? | Marker is on the right when traveling West |
| Closest Postal Address | At or near Unnamed Road, Gering NE 69341, US |
| Alternative Maps | Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap |
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