Steamboat Trace History

The path that is now the Steamboat Trace has been used to move people and goods for centuries. From the Paleo Indians of 12,000 years ago to the hikers and bicyclists of today, culture after culture have journeyed along this corridor. As each culture has changed so has the technology, from the earliest foot travelers, to horseback and canoes, to the steam ferries, to the ever changing rail engines, and finally back where we started, the foot travelers.

By the end of the 17th century when the Spanish were seriously exploring this area, the Otoe Indians were well established in this area. The Spanish explorers were military men interested in claiming territory for Spain. In the early 18th century the Otoe and Pawnee Indians joined together to successfully push the Spaniards out of the area. The Spanish were followed by the French, who unlike the Spanish, were interested in establishing trade with the Native Americans. As a result, they were embraced while the Spanish were rejected. Through the remainder of the 18th century, the French were the primary European influence in this area. In fact, during this time a "trade delegation" from several of the tribes in the area went to New Orleans to set up trade agreements with the French. Five of these representatives even went to France to appear in the court of King Louis the XV.

At the start of the nineteenth century, at the request of Thomas Jefferson, a man named Merriweather Lewis was planning an expedition into the Louisiana Territory. During the time the trip was being planned, the United States purchased the Territory from France. This purchase helped Lewis with the problem of how to deal with the French. In July of 1804, Lewis and Clark and the rest of the Corps of Discovery passed through this area stopping at several locations along the Steamboat Trace. They noted in their journals the same swallow-filled bluffs and rich vegetation that are still to be found along the Steamboat Trace today. During the rest of the first half of the 1800s, many explorers, hunters, trappers, and pioneers began to come to the area and used this area as a gateway to the west.

In 1854, the first townships in Nebraska were establish at Brownville and Nebraska City. This was followed by a time of tremendous growth in the area as steamboats plied the Missouri River bringing the goods and people that would be needed to settle the West. During this time the Steamboat ferries were transporting people across the river in large numbers. The establishment of the ferries provided the means to not only come up the river but to cross the river. This time was exciting but was not without its troubles. The Missouri River was not an easy river to travel. From 1860 to 1880 more than 400 steamboats were lost to the river. Today you can ride the river on replicas of two of these steamboat ferries, the "Spirit of Brownville" and the "Belle of Brownville". Since the Army Corps of Engineers has channeled and somewhat tamed the river, commerce flows on the river in relative safety. You can still see the loading of grain onto barges for transport down the river during the summer and fall.

In 1867 when Nebraska became a state, the first legislature was debating about the location of the state capital. A compromise was reached with Lincoln being named the State Capital and Peru was given the state college, first called the Nebraska State Normal School. As the steamboat trade began to dwindle it was recognized that, to survive, this area was going to need to be located on the railroad. This began a much less successful time in the history of this corridor.

The selection of Omaha as the place where the Union Pacific railroad was going to cross the river sounded the death knell for the Brownville-Nebraska City area to become the major commercial center that it had hoped to become. In 1871 attempts were made to get the railroad established in the Brownville area and in 1875 the Midland Pacific Railroad was extended from Nebraska City to Brownville. Since that time this line has transported people, grain, and other products to and from the area. Ironically the current trail has at one end Cooper Nuclear Station and at the other end the Nebraska City Power Station (coal fired). The earliest shipments on the rail line included coal that was mined in the area and the final shipments on the line included spent fuel from the Nuclear Station.

In June of 1992, Burlington Northern Railroad, after determining that there was no longer enough traffic to maintain the rail corridor to Brownville, filed an abandonment of the line. In October of 1995, following a failed attempt to establish an excursion train from Nebraska City to Brownville, the Rails to Trails Conservancy purchased the line and deeded it to the Nemaha Natural Resource District. A volunteer group established by the Nemaha NRD recommended that the trail be called the Steamboat Trace. This group, now the Steamboat Trace Association and Nemaha NRD have worked together to make this trail a reality. In the Fall of 1998 the first section from Peru south to Cooper Nuclear Station (two miles south of Brownville) were completed and opened to the public. The north section to Minersville (just south of Nebraska City) should be completed in the Spring of 1999. Work continues all along the trail to enhance the experience for trail users.

History continues to play a large part in the lives of the people of this area. From Brownville with its restored business district and over 20 homes dating from the 1860s to Peru with the first college in Nebraska, to Nebraska City the home of J. Sterling Morton founder of Arbor Day, this area is both beautiful and fascinating. Come experience a little bit of history in a peaceful setting along the Missouri River. Come travel the Steamboat Trace.