t's small consolation if you ever get stuck
in the mud, but the fact is Nebraska has
come a long way since pioneer times in the
development of its public roads and highways.
A glance through pioneer reminiscences and the
spring issues of early newspapers provide plenty of
evidence that good old-fashioned Nebraska mud was one of
the principle obstacles in the way of spring travel here.
Covered wagon emigrants, beating their way to Oregon,
California or Utah, frequently had trouble with the muddy
Nebraska leg of the long journey, almost always undertaken
in early spring. The trails became so badly rutted that
wagons could not pass, and new roads had to be marked out.
This accounts in part for the fact that the Oregon Trail may
be several miles wide in certain parts of the state, notably
southeastern Nebraska.
In territorial times, roads were little better than trails and
when the ground thawed out in the spring they usually were
impassable. Rural roads were not the only ones afflicted by
the spring thaw. Villages and city streets suffered in equal or
greater proportion.
An editorial in the Dakota City Democrat, April 13, 1861,
issue may be considered typical: "Last week this city was
visited by shower after shower of April rain that reduced
I
By Patricia C. Gaster,
Nebraska State Historical Society
10 NEBRASKAland • MAY 2018
A Brief History
Muddy Nebraska
The Elmer Ball family, Woods Park (Custer County), 1886. NSHS RG2608-1069
Stuck in the mud near Bancroft, ca. 1910s. NSHS RG3334-1-56
