Chimney Rock National Historic Site

The Oglala Sioux Indians of the family called the mountain elk penis, the white pioneers and settlers gave it its present name after the English word for chimney.

History

1824 established trappers and fur traders of the Rocky Mountain Fur Company, who traveled from St. Louis to direct paths in the Rocky Mountains, a route that led along the North Platte River. Between the mid- 1840s and the opening of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869 the Chimney Rock was for the settlers who moved along the North Platte River on the Oregon Trail, California Trail and the Mormon Trail to the west, an important landmark for being the prairies had crossed and stood before the crossing of the mountains. Around half a million people moved to this time along the river passing under the rock. Also, the Pony Express was on the route to the river.

National Historic Site

Chimney Rock was designated on 9 August 1956 as a national monument by the type of National Historic Sites and is administered by the Nebraska State Historical Society. There is a visitor center with a museum on the history of the Indians and the settlers, which is one of the most important museums in the Oregon Trail.

In addition, Chimney Rock was chosen to represent the State of Nebraska in 2006 to the State Quarter.