Chapter III: Part 3

The dominant building at the monument headquarters area, just east of Mitchell Pass, is the Visitor Center, which houses the Oregon Trail Museum and monument administrative offices. The principal features of the museum are: (1) The entrance lobby, adorned with bronze Oregon Trail and Pony Express plaques; (2) the main History Room, featuring exhibits relating to Scotts Bluff and the Oregon Trail from earliest explorations to the open range cattle industry; (3) the William H. Jackson Memorial Room, containing a collection of Jackson's Oregon Trail sketches and watercolor paintings, together with two dioramic scenes of frontier buffalo hunting; and (4) the Prehistory Room, with displays describing the geologic formation of Scotts Bluff, its paleontological (fossil) story, and the prehistoric Indians of the North Platte Valley.

Uniformed personnel are stationed at the Visitor Center throughout the year. Seasonal public services include orientation talks in the museum rooms and at the summit of Scotts Bluff; evening illustrated talks in the museum courtyard; and guided hikes over the Oregon Trail and over the Summit-Museum Trail. Free informational literature and sales publications of special historical interest, and signs, markers, and wayside exhibits are available throughout the year.

_Scotts Bluff Summit Road and Summit Area._

During the 1930's, a paved road 1.7 miles in length, requiring three tunnel excavations, was built from the monument headquarters area to the summit, to enhance visitor appreciation of the bluff's scenic and historic values. The road leads to a 50-car parking area on top. At the Summit Road entrance gate, adjoining the Visitor Center, cars are welcomed by a uniformed ranger. There is a fee collected here for use of the Summit Road, which is open daily except when weather conditions make driving hazardous.

The summit area is several acres in extent. Surfaced trails reach the principal overlooks. The main trail proceeds north from the area to the High Point of the bluff (4,649 feet above sea level), then meanders to the Observation Point above the north face of the bluff. At the foot of the bluff are the scenic badlands and the North Platte River, while the historic North Platte Valley stretches to the horizon east and west. An orientation map and bronze indicators will enable you to trace the route of the Oregon and Mormon Trails through this valley, and to determine the direction of the following points of interest: Courthouse Rock, Chimney Rock, Castle Rock, Rebecca Winters' Grave; Agate Springs Fossil Quarries, Fort Mitchell, Fort Laramie, and Laramie Peak.

A trail south from the parking area will enable you to reach a point overlooking the Visitor Center, Mitchell Pass, and the beginning loop of the Summit Road. Beyond Dome Rock is Gering Valley, through which was the Robidoux Pass route of the Oregon Trail.

_Summit-Museum Trail._

A feature of the monument which affords extra scenic and inspirational benefit is a 1.6-mile-long trail extending from the summit to the headquarters area via a series of zig-zags and ledges, a foot tunnel, and "Scott's Spring." Not only does this trail afford superb scenic views of the bluff, it enables you to examine at close hand the successive rock strata that comprise the bluff, and to walk through varyingly vegetated slopes and fields. Descent of the bluff on foot by this trail is a popular activity. There are those who arrange to have someone in their party drive the car back down to the headquarters area, while others make the round trip by foot.

_Badlands Area._

The section between the steep bluff and the river is characterized by a tortuous labyrinth of steep-sided gullies known as "badlands." The badlands area is of historical interest since it was the impassability of this ground that forced the earliest emigrants on the trail to detour away from the river, first through Robidoux Pass, and later through Mitchell Pass. The badlands are also of exceptional geologic interest as an example of rapid erosion in soft rock beds of comparatively uniform composition. There is a natural bridge in one of the ravines. The area is of special interest paleontologically because of the wealth of Oligocene fossils to be found there. A graveled road within the monument boundaries follows the Gering Canal through the badlands area. This can be reached via the road to Scotts Bluff Country Club, at the east foot of the bluff.

_South Bluff Wild Area._

The area within the monument south of State Route 86, including Dome Rock and the South Bluff, is unimproved and no improvements are planned. This is a relatively unspoiled area of considerable scenic value, abounding in features of geological and botanical interest. You are free to ascend South Bluff or roam on foot through this area on either side of Mitchell Pass; however, no fires or overnight camps are permitted. Rough clothing and stout footgear are recommended. Climbing of Dome Rock is extremely perilous, and is discouraged because of the crumbly nature of the Brule clay formation that makes up its steep walls.

_Related Areas_

Nearby Chimney Rock National Historic Site is preserved by cooperative agreement between the Department of the Interior, the Nebraska State Historical Society, and the City of Bayard, Nebr. Included in the National Park System are these other areas commemorating phases of early western history: Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, Mo.; Homestead National Monument, Nebr.; Fort Laramie National Monument, Wyo.; Grand Teton National Park, Wyo.; and Whitman National Monument, Wash.

_Administration_

Scotts Bluff National Monument was carved out of the public domain by Presidential proclamation on December 12, 1919, and contains more than 5 square miles. A superintendent, whose address is Box 136, Gering, Nebr., is in immediate charge.

_Suggested Readings_

Chittenden, Hiram M., _American Fur Trade of the Far West_. 2 vols.
Rufus Rockwell Wilson, Inc., New York, 1936.

Driggs, Howard R., _Westward America_ (with reproductions of watercolor
paintings by William H. Jackson). Somerset Books, Inc., New York,
1942.

Federal Writers' Project, _The Oregon Trail_. Hastings House, New York,
1939.

Ghent, W. J., _The Road to Oregon_. Longmans, Green and Co., New York,
1929.

Hulbert, Archer B., _Forty-Niners, the Chronicle of the California
Trail_. Blue Ribbon Books, Inc., New York, 1931.

Jackson, Joseph H., ed., _Gold Rush Album_. Charles Scribner's Sons, New
York, 1949.

Mattes, Merrill J., "A History of Old Fort Mitchell." _Nebraska
History_, XXIV, 71-82 (Apr.-June 1943).

-- -- --, "Hiram Scott, Fur Trader." _Nebraska History_, XXVI, 127-162
(July-Sept. 1945).

-- -- --, "Robidoux's Trading Post at 'Scott's Bluffs,' and the
California Gold Rush." _Nebraska History_, XXX, 95-138 (June
1949).

-- -- --, "Fort Mitchell, Scotts Bluff, Nebraska Territory." _Nebraska
History_, XXXIII, 1-34 (Mar. 1952).

-- -- --, "Chimney Rock on the Oregon Trail." _Nebraska History_, XXXVI,
1-26 (Mar. 1955).

Monaghan, Jay, _The Overland Trail_. The Bobbs-Merrill Co.,
Indianapolis, 1947.

Olson, James C., _History of Nebraska_. University of Nebraska Press,
Lincoln, 1955.

Paden, Irene D., _The Wake of the Prairie Schooner_. The MacMillan Co.,
New York, 1943.

Parkman, Francis, _The Oregon Trail_. Langhart and Co., Inc., New York,
1931.

Rollins, Phillip A., ed., _Discovery of the Oregon Trail: Robert
Stuart's Narratives_. Edward Eberstadt and Sons, New York, 1935.

U.S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1961 OF--584508

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
HISTORICAL HANDBOOK SERIES

(Price lists of National Park Service publications may be obtained
from the Superintendent of Documents, Washington 25, D.C.)

Antietam
Bandelier
Chalmette
Chickamauga and Chattanooga Battlefields
Custer Battlefield
Custis-Lee Mansion, the Robert E. Lee Memorial
Fort Laramie
Fort McHenry
Fort Necessity
Fort Pulaski
Fort Raleigh
Fort Sumter
George Washington Birthplace
Gettysburg
Guilford Courthouse
Hopewell Village
Independence
Jamestown, Virginia
Kings Mountain
The Lincoln Museum and the House Where Lincoln Died
Manassas (Bull Run)
Montezuma Castle
Morristown, a Military Capital of the Revolution
Ocmulgee
Petersburg Battlefields
Saratoga
Scotts Bluff
Shiloh
Statue of Liberty
Vanderbilt Mansion
Vicksburg
Yorktown

Transcriber's Notes

--Silently corrected a few typos.

--Retained publication information from the printed edition: this eBook
is public-domain in the country of publication.

--In the text versions only, text in italics is delimited by
_underscores_.