38 Nebraskaland • May 2020
he Chimney is rough and looks as if it would not stand
a week," wrote Franklin Starr in 1849. Starr was one
of hundreds of thousands of emigrants who passed
Nebraska's most famous landmark on his journey.
More travelers wrote about Chimney Rock than any other
landmark along the Oregon, California and Mormon trails.
While travelers called Chimney Rock "the most remarkable
thing I ever saw" and "a wonderful display of the eccentricity
of Nature," many people didn't think it would be around
much longer.
"It is fast mouldering to ruins and if you don't look sharp,
my friends, you will never see it," wrote John Wood in 1850.
Chimney Rock was millions of years in the making. About
38 million years ago, streams and wind started carrying
silt and sand from the Rocky Mountains to the Nebraska
Panhandle. This material built up into layers of clay that are
visible in the Rock and surrounding buttes. Erosion slowly
carved out the North Platte Valley and sculpted Chimney
By David L. Bristow, History Nebraska
'T
B D id L B i Hi N b k
How Long Will Chimney
The exact shape of Chimney Rock depends on where you are standing, and shadows vary with the season and time of day. Still,
the spire is defi nitely more pointed in this early 1900s view from the east. Oregon Trail pioneer and re-enactor Ezra Meeker
stands in the foreground. History Nebraska RG959-5-1
