The Platte River Valley

It is fitting that when the rain stops and Cal and Dee resume their ride, they will be entering one of the most important travel corridors in our nation's history, the Platte River Valley. Although the river is too shallow to support water navigation, its wide, flat valley invited travel by natives for centuries before Europeans came to the continent. In the 1700's, French fur traders followed the river, opening up much of the west. The name "Platte" is the French word for flat. As settlers began emigrating west, the Platte River Valley formed a crucial part of the Oregon and Mormon Trails, as well as the Pony Express route. The Union Pacific portion of the first transcontinental railroad came through the Platte River Valley. The first road across the United States, the Lincoln Highway, came through this same region, and the first fully paved highway across the country, US Route 30, followed the Lincoln Highway. Finally, the second longest Interstate in the country, I-80, closely parallels (but does not overlay) US 30 here.