Mitchell Pass is a gap through the bluffs near

Scottsbluff Scottsbluff is a city in Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska, United States, in the Great Plains region. The population was 14,436 at the 2020 census. Scottsbluff is the largest city in the Nebraska Panhandle, and the 13th-most-populous city in Ne ...

and Gering,

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

. Beginning in 1851, two of the Westward Expansion Trails passed through the gap, as did the

Pony Express The Pony Express was an American express mail service that used relays of horse-mounted riders between Missouri and California. It was operated by the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express Company. During its 18 months of opera ...

in the early 1860s. Today the area is protected as part of Scotts Bluff National Monument.

History

Although the gap between South Bluff and Scotts Bluff is a natural landform in the northern Wildcat Hills, the area was not easily traversed. Originally, the main branch of the

Great Platte River Road The Great Platte River Road was a major overland travel corridor approximately following the course of the Platte River in present-day Nebraska and Wyoming that was shared by several popular emigrant trails during the 19th century, including th ...

(customarily referred to as the

Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail was a east–west, large-wheeled wagon route and Westward Expansion Trails, emigrant trail in North America that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon Territory. The eastern part of the Oregon Trail crossed what ...

and also later the

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 ...

) passed to the south of the bluffs at Robidoux Pass. Beginning in 1851, after the construction of a road between the bluffs, Mitchell Pass became the preferred route of the Great Platte River Road. It was favored over Robidoux Pass because it was both shorter and emigrants remained closer to 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 I ...

, an important water source. Who built the road through the pass about 1850 is unknown, although one possibility includes soldiers from

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 joi ...

. The northern branch of the Great Platte River Road, commonly called the

Mormon Trail The Mormon Trail is the route from Illinois to Utah on which Mormon pioneers (members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) traveled from 1846 to 1869. Today, the Mormon Trail is a part of the United States National Trails Syst ...

, did not use Mitchell Pass, but rather passed the bluffs at a further distance on the north side of the North Platte River. The

went through Mitchell Pass, as did the wires for the first transcontinental telegraph. The term Mitchell Pass was not used during most of the emigrant period, rather it was called "Devil's Gap" (because of the howling winds), "The Gap" or "Second Scott's Bluffs Pass." It only became known as Mitchell Pass following the establishment of nearby Fort Mitchell in 1864.

Modern highway through the pass

A branch of

Nebraska Highway 92 Nebraska Highway 92 is a highway that enters the state from Nebraska's western border at the Wyoming state line west of Lyman, Nebraska, to the state's eastern border on the South Omaha Veterans Memorial Bridge over the Missouri River in Omaha, ...

now passes through the gap. * Nebraska Route 92 - route going west from Scottsbluff, Nebraska, to the

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

border.

Notes

External links

Scotts Bluff National MonumentOregon-California Trails Association
Landforms of Nebraska Landforms of Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska Mountain passes of Nebraska {{Coord, 41, 49, 47.17, N, 103, 42, 43.17, W, display=title

History

Modern highway through the pass

See also

Notes

External links