Mitchell Pass is a gap through the bluffs near Scottsbluff and Gering , Nebraska . Beginning in 1851, two of the Westward Expansion Trails passed through the gap, as did the Pony Express in the early 1860s. Today the area is protected as part of Scotts Bluff National Monument .
7-605: Although the gap between South Bluff and Scotts Bluff is a natural landform in the northern Wildcat Hills , the area was not easily traversed. Originally, the main branch of the Great Platte River Road (customarily referred to as the Oregon Trail and also later the California Trail ) passed to the south of the bluffs at Robidoux Pass . Beginning in 1851, after the construction of a road between
14-613: The Mormon Trail , did not use Mitchell Pass, but rather passed the bluffs at a further distance on the north side of the North Platte River. The Pony Express went through Mitchell Pass, as did the wires for the first transcontinental telegraph . The term Mitchell Pass was not used during most of the emigrant period, rather it was called "Devil's Gap" (because of the howling winds), "The Gap" or "Second Scott's Bluffs Pass." It only became known as Mitchell Pass following
21-568: The bluffs, Mitchell Pass became the preferred route of the Great Platte River Road. It was favored over Robidoux Pass because it was both shorter and emigrants remained closer to the North Platte River , an important water source. Who built the road through the pass about 1850 is unknown, although one possibility includes soldiers from Fort Laramie . The northern branch of the Great Platte River Road, commonly called
28-452: The establishment of nearby Fort Mitchell in 1864. A branch of Nebraska Highway 92 now passes through the gap. 41°49′47.17″N 103°42′43.17″W / 41.8297694°N 103.7119917°W / 41.8297694; -103.7119917 Wildcat Hills The Wildcat Hills are an escarpment between the North Platte River and Pumpkin Creek in the western Panhandle , in
35-559: The northern and western edges of the Wildcat Hills. The plant and animal life in the Wildcat Hills is atypical for Nebraska; the ecology more resembles that of the Laramie Mountains , 60 miles to the west. The dominant tree in the region is the ponderosa pine . Bighorn sheep , pronghorn , elk , mule deer , and wild turkeys live in and around the hills. Cougars (mountain lions), which had been extirpated from
42-563: The region around 1900, returned to the area in the early 1990s. The Wildcat Hills (along with the Pine Ridge ), are the only areas in Nebraska with a permanent breeding cougar population. The Emigrant Trail passed through the northern Wildcat Hills at Robidoux Pass and after 1851, at Mitchell Pass ; the rock formations were frequently mentioned in emigrant journals and letters. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission acquired land for
49-607: The state of Nebraska in the Great Plains region of the United States. Located in Banner , Morrill , and Scotts Bluff counties, the high tableland between the streams has been eroded by wind and water into a region of forested buttes , ridges and canyons that rise 150 to 300 m (490 to 980 ft) above the surrounding landscape. Chimney Rock , Scotts Bluff , and Courthouse and Jail Rocks are outcrops along
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