The Platte River () is a major river in the U.S. 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 itself is a tributary of the Mississippi River, which flows to the Gulf of Mexico. The Platte over most of its length is a broad, shallow, meandering stream with a sandy bottom and many islands—a braided stream.
The Platte is one of the most significant tributary systems in the watershed of the Missouri, draining a large portion of the central Great Plains in Nebraska and the eastern Rocky Mountains in Colorado and Wyoming. The river valley played an important role in the westward expansion of the United States, providing the route for several major emigrant trails, including the Oregon, California, Mormon, and Bozeman trails. The first Europeans to see the Platte were French explorers and fur trappers about 1714; they first called it the Nebraskier (Nebraska), a transliteration of the name given by the Otoe people, meaning "flat water". This expression is very close to the French phrase "rivière platte" ("flat river"), which is likely the origin of the name "Platte River".
Geography
Headwaters The Platte River is formed in western Nebraska east of the city of North Platte, Nebraska by the confluence of the North Platte and the South Platte Rivers, which both arise from snowmelt in the eastern Rockies east of the Continental Divide.
In central northern Colorado is the North Park valley, ringed by mountains over 12,000 feet (3,700 m) high; this is where the North Platte River originates. The head of the North Platte River is essentially all of Jackson County; its boundaries are the continental divide on the west and south and the mountain drainage peaks on the east—the north boundary is the state of Wyoming. The nearest Colorado town is Walden, the county seat. The rugged Rocky Mountains Continental Divide surrounding Jackson County has at least twelve peaks over 11,000 feet (3,400 m) in height. From Jackson County, the North Platte flows north about out of the Routt National Forest and North Park near what is now Walden to Casper, Wyoming. Shortly after passing Casper, the North Platte turns to the east-southeast and flows about to the city of North Platte, Nebraska. In Colorado and Wyoming, the North Platte is narrower and much swifter flowing than it is in Nebraska, where it becomes a slow-flowing, shallow braided stream.
The North Platte River has been dammed about eight times for water storage and irrigation purposes in Wyoming and Nebraska as it flows to its confluence with the South Platte River. The upper reaches of the river in the Rockies in Colorado and Wyoming are popular for recreation, rafting, lure, and fly fishing for rainbow, brown, cutthroat trout, and other sport fish. In western Nebraska, the banks and riverbed of the North Platte provide a green oasis amid an otherwise semi-arid region of North America. Today, by the time the North Platte reaches Paxton, Nebraska, it is much smaller due to the extensive water taken from it for irrigation. Historically, the North Platte River was up to a mile wide (1.6 km) in many places, as evidenced by the old streambed and historic written records.
The South Platte River drainage includes about in the north east corner of Colorado, parts of southeastern Wyoming in the vicinity of the city of Cheyenne and a small part of the southwest corner of Nebraska. The South Platte drains a large part of the Front Range mountains east of the continental divide. The part of the river labeled the South Platte is formed in Park County, Colorado, located southwest of Denver, in the South Park grassland basin and mountains east of the continental divide. It is formed by the confluence of the South Fork South Platte River and Middle Fork South Platte River, approximately southeast of Fairplay, Colorado. After the South and Middle forks join, the South Platte flows east-southeast till it exits Elevenmile Reservoir; it turns almost ninety degrees to skirt the west side of Pikes Peak and flows roughly east-northeast about through Denver and on to Greeley, Colorado. From Greeley, the South Platte turns east and flows about to its confluence with the North Platte River near the city of North Platte, Nebraska.
The South Platte River has been dammed about 20 times for water storage, drinking water, and irrigation purposes in Colorado as it flows to its confluence with the North Platte River. The total number of dams in the South Platte drainage may exceed 1,000, as nearly all major streams have at least one dam. The South Platte River serves as the principal source of water for arid eastern Colorado. The South Platte River valley provided a major emigration path to Denver. The wagon trails followed the south side of the Platte/North Platte River. Wagon trains were ferried or waded across the swampy-bottomed South Platte River in low-water years in several places to stay on the south side of the North Platte River, where the trails were located. Miners who later went on to Denver followed the South Platte River trail into Colorado.
Main stem
After the North Platte and the South Platte rivers join to form the Platte River, over most of its length, it is a sandy, broad, shallow, braided river. Its many shallow channels, islands, and ever-changing sandbars made navigation difficult; it was never used as a major water transportation route. The Platte flows in a large arc, east-southeast to near Fort Kearny and then east-northeast, across Nebraska south of Grand Island and on to Columbus. The Platte River is joined from the north by the about Loup River about southeast of Columbus. During pioneer days, a Loup River ferry crossed the river. From Columbus, the Platte flows almost due east about past North Bend and then on to Fremont.
Near Fremont, the Platte bends south and then east around the location of Omaha in a large "L" turn. Near Fremont, the Platte turns sharply and flows south-southeast about to about Waterloo, Nebraska—located about west of Omaha. Near Waterloo, the Platte turns even more and heads almost due south for about . About east-southeast of Waterloo and about from the Platte's confluence with the Missouri River, the Platte is joined from the north by the Elkhorn River. The Elkhorn, a river, originates in the eastern Sandhills of Nebraska and is one of the largest tributaries of the Platte River. The Elkhorn joins the Platte on its south-bound path just southwest of Omaha, approximately 1 mile (2 km) south and 3 miles (5 km) west of Gretna. The pioneers leaving from near Omaha (established 1854) or Council Bluffs, Iowa (established 1846) used the Mormon Trail north of the Platte River and had to ferry across the Elkhorn. After the Union Pacific railroad was constructed west from Omaha in 1866, it had to build a major bridge across the Elkhorn. After the confluence of the Elkhorn and the Platte River, the Platte continues southward, about before it turns sharply and heads almost due East for about before its confluence with the Missouri River. Sarpy County is shaped like a crescent, being bounded on the east by the Missouri River, on the south and west by the Platte, and on the north by Douglas County, which contains Omaha. The Platte-Missouri River confluence is about south of Omaha.
Including the North Platte River, the Platte River stretches over , with a drainage basin of about . The mean annual flow is estimated at . The Platte drains one of the most arid areas of the Great Plains with a flow that is considerably lower than rivers of comparable length in North America. For much of its length, it is a classic wide, muddy and shallow braided stream that, in the lower reaches, flows in a floodplain bordered by bluffs. During pioneer days, the common humorous description was that the Platte was "a mile wide at the mouth, but only six inches deep." 49ers said it was "too thick to drink, too thin to plow". In western Nebraska, the banks and riverbed of the Platte provide a green oasis amid an otherwise semi-arid region of North America. The central Platte River valley is an important stopover for migratory water birds, such as the whooping crane and sandhill crane, in their yearly traversal of the Central Flyway. Fossil evidence in the Platte River valley indicates this crane stopover has been active for over 10 million years.
Since the mid-20th century, this river has shrunk significantly. This size reduction is attributed in part to its waters being used for irrigation, and to a much greater extent to the waters diverted and used by Colorado's growing population, which has outstripped the groundwater's ability to sustain it.
History
Varying cultures of indigenous peoples lived intermittently along the Platte for thousands of years before European exploration. Historical tribes claimed various territories in the region. The Indian tribes typically visited different areas in different seasons, following the bison herds during hunting seasons. The introduction of horses, which had escaped from early Spanish explorers in the 1540s, dramatically changed life in the Great Plains. Indian tribes could more easily follow the buffalo herds as they migrated from north to south and back. Before 1870, herds of several hundred thousand bison (buffalo) periodically migrated across the Platte in following seasonal grazing. The animals often waded or swam across the Platte. The first known European to see the Platte was the French explorer Étienne de Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont, in 1714, who named it the Nebraskier, after its Oto name, meaning "flat water". The French later applied the French word plate (meaning flat, and pronounced plat, or platte) to the river.
Occupied by various Indian tribes for part of each year, the Platte River territory was claimed by both Spanish and French explorers who were trying to rule the Great Plains. Spain had claimed all of the Great Plains after Coronado's 1541–42 expedition. Jose Naranjo, an African-Hopi who served as a Spanish scout and explorer in the Southwest, was a war captain of the Spanish Indian auxiliaries. By 1714 (the same year the French explorers reached the Platte), he and a small exploration group from the south had reportedly already reached the Platte three times."Villasur Sent to Nebraska" , Nebraska Studies, accessed 24 August 2011 He later guided the 1720 Villasur expedition to the area in a Spanish effort to stop French expansion onto the Great Plains. Naranjo and Villasur's party made the northernmost Spanish exploration trip into the central plains. A Pawnee and Otoe Indian attack defeated the Spanish forces; the survivors returned to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the Spanish left the Great Plains to the American Indians.
As a result of the Seven Years' War (1756–1763) (called the French and Indian War in America), the French ceded all of their lands in North America east of the Mississippi River to the British. The Spanish took over lands west of the Mississippi River. Since there were few fur-bearing animals on the Platte of interest to the fur traders, the French and British explorers and fur trappers ignored the Platte territory for some time. During the course of the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815), France briefly reacquired the land west of the Mississippi River from Spain.