Next stop is a slide down Windlass Hill to Ash Hollow; I'll explain that in just a moment. But first, let's recap how we ended up here. As mentioned earlier, the emigrants had to cross the Big Blue River in Kansas near Alcove Spring. Then they would have followed the Little Blue River up into Nebraska, eventually cutting over to Fort Kearny. At this point our travellers would have met the Platte River, hugging it until it splits in two near what is today the city of North Platte. They then followed the south branch several days before shooting north to Ash Hollow and picking up the North Platte River — their companion for another 300 miles or so.

It's All Downhill From Here...

But first they had to negotiate Windlass Hill, not up but down! This was one of the steepest descents on the Trail, and required a fair amount of sweat and patience to overcome. Standard procedure was to brake the wheels of the wagons and even chain them in place. Using ropes and a lot of muscle (human and animal alike), the wagons were slid down Windlass Hill. You won't be surprised to learn that signs of this activity are still plainly visible, given how many thousands and thousands of travellers passed down the steep grade. And, of course, erosion over the past 150 years has served only to deepen the ruts. By the way, we're at milepost 504 on the Oregon Trail now.

However, there was a reward making all of this toil worth it: another couple of miles from the base of the hill would land the emigrants at Ash Hollow. This must have been a welcome respite, for here they would find cool water emerging from a natural spring (reportedly the best water on the entire trip), and plenty of firewood — at least in the early days. For a nice little grove of ash trees sprang up here, thanks to the moisture. Because of the pleasant circumstances, this spot was a popular camp site even among the Plains Indians of several thousand years ago.

The picture below shows the view today from the summit of Windlass Hill. If you look directly over this traveler's hat, you'll see a dark green grove of trees in the valley; this is Ash Hollow.

Touring the Area

Ash Hollow today is a State Historical Park, located one-half mile east and 3 miles south of Lewellen, Nebraska. It's around a thousand acres in size and includes the spring, Oregon Trail markers, the Ash Hollow Cemetery and a cave dwelling of great archaeological importance. You can tour all of these, as well as the excellent displays in the Visitor Center.

Windlass Hill is also part of this park, but located in a separate tract of land a couple miles away. There are nice trails leading up the hill with interpretive signs, as you'll note in the picture above. We had a great day at Ash Hollow and Windlass Hill, munching that superior trail mix containing cranberries and mixed nuts from the St. Peter (Minnesota) Food Co-op while we walked.

Be sure to visit the Ash Hollow Cemetery and see the grave site with original head stone of Rebecca Pattison, a young emigrant who died of cholera on the Trail. There's an Oregon Trail marker next to this as well.

The nearest public camping (never stay at any site that spells "camp" with a "k") is at Lake McConaughy State Recreation Area about 15 miles away. There are a number of different camping areas on the lake; we stayed in the Cedar Vue unit. But be forewarned, this is a huge recreation area, and water like this doesn't pop up everywhere in Nebraska, so you can expect to share it with quite a few other people, fishermen and boaters alike. We rolled in fairly late (around 4:00) and basically got the last camp site available. As luck would have it though, it was fairly distant from the shoreline and the kybos, hence we had a very quiet and relaxing night here. And, again just by dumb luck or perhaps some sort of prevailing microclimate, a nice cold wind blew all night making for decent sleeping.

• State
  • Lake McConaughy State Recreation Area
  • Nebraska State Parks
  
  
• Municipal
  • City of Lewellen
  • City of North Platte