Bordeaux Creek to Deadhorse Creek road trip
Discover Northwest Nebraska’s Bordeaux Creek to Deadhorse Creek road trip takes adventurers on a lengthy adventure that explores some of the region’s most prominent locations from the legendary fur trade to the days of homesteaders settling Northwest Nebraska.
This trip is 57 miles and offers opportunities for sightseeing, photography, birding, wildlife viewing, hiking, biking, horseback riding, camping and fishing. Two museums are featured along the route.
Begin your trip heading east out of Chadron on Highway 20 for about three miles until you reach one of the region’s premier tourist destinations: the Museum of the Fur Trade and Bordeaux Trading Post. The museum was founded by Charles E. Hanson, Jr., and houses over 6,000 artifacts of the fur trade. Among the exhibits are the oldest known point blanket (made in 1775) and a large collection of firearms including some owned by Kit Carson and Tecumseh. While at the museum, be sure to make your way outside to the south and the site of James Bordeaux’s trading post, established in 1837 for the American Fur Company, which still stands on the property.
The White River and the creeks throughout the region, which lay along the route of the Fort Pierre to Fort Laramie trade route, played an important role in the fur trade of Northwest Nebraska and the larger region. Joseph Bissonette, Henry Chatillion, Louis Chartran and Hubert Rouleau were well-known traders and mountain men who frequented the area, but perhaps none were as well-known as Bordeaux for his prowess in the local business. Some came to refer to the area as “Bordeaux’s District.”
The selling of Fort Laramie and Fort Pierre to the military and the changing nature of the relationship between whites and Native Americans in the region took their toll on the trade business and in 1872 Bordeaux and his eldest son gave up the post.
Famously, Bordeaux’s trade business nearly met its fate during its first winter in 1849 when it was raided by a Crow war party that looted and attempted to set fire to the post. The Crow absconded with as many as eighty horses and mules belonging to Bordeaux, but were pursued by a group of Brule who camped in nearby Beaver Creek (in modern-day Sheridan County). The Crow broke off a contingent of warriors meant to stall the Brule pursuit and the two groups of Natives had an altercation at a butte just east of modern-day Crawford. The butte is still known as Crow Butte and is featured in another Roads Less Travelled adventure. Though there was just one casualty of the battle, the altercation impacted the fur trade in the region when it discouraged company officials from building a large trading post along the White River to replace Fort Laramie and serve the Sioux.
Bordeaux Creek, which the next leg of your journey will follow, bears his name although records exist, including maps made by Bordeaux himself in the late 1850s, and by James Bridger in the 1860s, that refer to the creek as “Frederick’s Fork” or “F. Laboue River” after Frederick Laboue, another American Fur Trade Company man who may have had a hand in the trade near what is now Bordeaux Creek and in the establishing of the trading post itself.
When you’ve enjoyed all the museum has to offer, from the parking lot, look to the northwest. About a half-mile in that direction, across the highway is the former site of Chadron’s P.B. Nelson Saloon, post office and stage station that stood in 1878. Not much further northwest along Bordeaux Creek was also the site of a cabin and trade post belonging to Joseph Bissonette from 1872 to 1877.
Exit the museum parking lot headed west and travel about half-a-mile before turning south on Bordeaux Road, which you’ll follow for some time as it tracks through the Pine Ridge alongside Bordeaux Creek. In later years, the Bordeaux area would play a large part in the settling of the area by homesteaders. A group of 20 individuals, led by Levi G. Sweat made up the “Sweat Colony” who took claims in the Bordeaux area sight unseen and traveled to the region in 1884 by wagon after departing their train in Valentine, Nebraska. Among the colony’s ranks were E.E. Egan, who would establish the first newspaper in the area, and Clay Grantham who will feature later in this adventure. “The sturdy integrity of the men of the Sweat Colony was a potent factor in shaping the affairs of the fast-settling country…and the pictures in the campfire dreams came true in the years of the Dawes County history,” wrote Egan.
About two miles from turning south on the road, look to the west to see the area along the creek where Brule Chief Spotted Tail and his people made camp from 1870 to 1872. Spotted tail was a prominent Chief in the region for many years and was a factor in much of the Native American history to take place in and around Northwest Nebraska in the mid-to-late 1800s.
Continue your trip south along Bordeaux Road, keeping a keen eye on your odometer. About seven miles from your turn onto Bordeaux Road you’ll see a small Forest Service road sign indicating Forest Service Road 723. Turn west on Road 723 and into the pine trees. Follow the road until you reach a favorite destination for Northwest Nebraska locals. You’ll immediately know why this area is referred to as “The Cliffs.” Here you’ll find a great area to camp or just stretch your legs and have a quick meal along the way. If you do plan to spend time in the area, be sure to take advantage of the great hiking trails nearby. You can find their routes in the Northwest Nebraska Recreational Trails Guide found on our website under the “discover” tab.
Once you’ve enjoyed “The Cliffs” backtrack east on Road 723 and head south again along Bordeaux Road. In about four miles Bordeaux Road will hook west and turn into Table Road. Enjoy the drive along this road that follows the upper table of the pine ridge on the southernmost portion of Nebraska National Forest. In a little over six miles from when you began to head west, Table Road will intersect with Highway 385. From here, turn south and drive for another mile until you again reach Table Road heading west. You may want to reset your trip odometer at this point to help you find your next turn.
In about 4.5 miles turn north on Deadhorse Road, which won’t be marked with a road sign. The next leg of your journey will take you down the road which follows the path of Deadhorse Creek. This region would play an important role in the settling of the Chadron area, just as Bordeaux Creek did. In addition to settling on Bordeaux Creek, some members of the Sweat Colony, including Clay Grantham, pushed out to the west and selected a swath of land along Deadhorse Creek to settle. In the years to come, the homesteaders of Deadhorse Creek built a thriving community that still exists to this day and includes relatives of the founding settlers. For the next 14 miles you’ll travel the road next to Deadhorse Creek which one modern-day resident of the community and ancestor of Clay Grantham describes as “the thing that runs and connects us all together.”
Well before you reach the road’s end, about 3.5 miles from where you turned onto Deadhorse, you’ll reach another trailhead that offers the chance to hike or bike in the Pine Ridge. The Coffee Mill Trailhead includes parts of the longer Pine Ridge Trail and is a 5.2-mile hike that accommodates hikers, bikers and horse riding. It’s listed in the trail guide (available on our website) as a moderate to difficult hike and offers access to the Canyon Loop Trail which is another moderate to difficult trail of an additional 5.4 miles.
To continue your adventure, head back north on Deadhorse Road. In about six miles look east to see a small portion of badlands like those found at Toadstool Geological Park north of Crawford. Continue north until Deadhorse intersects with Highway 20. Turn east from this point, heading back toward Chadron. In about a mile, turn north at a junction with Highway 385 north.
In about 1.75 miles, before you reach the railroad tracks, the area of O’Linn, the town that would become Chadron, can be seen about a half-mile from the road. Mrs. Fannie O’Linn lived in the area and had established a post office on her homestead of which she was postmaster. A newly arrived newspaper man by the name of E.E. Egan established the Sioux County Journal, what would later become The Chadron Record, which operates to this day. Egan was determined not to publish his paper in O’Linn and had used a byline of “Chadron, Nebraska” taking the name of a post office that had existed in the past but that had been discontinued (you’ll have the opportunity to see the site of this post later in your journey.)
O’Linn resisted Egan’s efforts to call the town Chadron, but incoming settlers followed Egan’s lead in using “Chadron” as its name. In 1885, the railroad began to approach O’Linn/Chadron and planned for a townsite near the White River. But negotiations with Mrs. O’Linn soured when the railroad refused to use the name “O’Linn.” Soon, a stranger purchased a ranch in the area of Bordeaux Creek and sold it to the railroad as a townsite that was to be called Bordeaux. Egan, insisting on the name of Chadron, pled his case to the railroad and swayed them with his arguments. The town was then called Chadron and Aug. 1, 1885, the settlers of the old town quite literally moved O’Linn, buildings and all, to the location of Chadron practically overnight.
Egan wrote of the move: “Moving outfits were in demand at fancy prices, because everybody wanted to ‘do it now.’ Every available vehicle was pressed into service and buildings were raised on wagons to be hauled for temporary shelter to the new town. One who has never witnessed the moving of a whole town, buildings and all, can hardly conceive the picturesque appearance of such an event. The road over prairie and hill was a continuous procession of houses, stocks of merchandise, household goods and people. Many of the merchants left their goods on the shelves, moving the store complete, and Ben Loewenthal completed the picture by keeping his store open for business and actually selling goods from his establishment while it was being trundled over the prairie.”
The move earned Chadron the nickname “The Magical City.”
For the last leg of your journey, head back south on Highway 385 and turn east on Highway 20. After entering Chadron, turn south on Highway 385 and travel about two miles until you reach Country Club Road. In about half a mile you’ll reach the Dawes County Historical Museum. The museum houses an impressive collection of pioneer and early-Nebraska antiques, including blacksmith tools, farm machinery, vintage quilts and more. Among the nostalgic room displays are replicas of a general store, a hospital room and a railroad room. Guests can explore the log house, barn, 1890s schoolhouse, pioneer church, and Chicago & North Western Railroad caboose on the museum grounds.
From the museum parking lot, or north lawn, look northwest, referencing a tall hill. At this location, about a half-mile from the museum, is the site where Red Cloud’s camp was captured by troops under General Ranald S. Mackenzie on Oct. 23, 1876. The area is also the location where Dull Knife’s Cheyenne skirmished with and finally surrendered to the U.S. Army in 1878 during their exodus, now known as the Cheyenne Outbreak, to escape their reservation and return to their homeland in Powder River country. The site was also home to Half Diamond E Ranch, established in 1879 which included the post office called Chadron that Egan took as inspiration for his bylines. Just north of the hill runs the military trail from Fort Robinson to Camp Sheridan. On September 5, 1877, Lakota War Chief Crazy Horse made his last ride along this trail.
When you’ve toured the museum, head back to Highway 20 and head south to the final points of interest on this adventure. Along the portion of road over the next few miles, the highway passes through the area where Quick Bear’s Brule camp was captured by the famous Pawnee Scouts on the same day the U.S. Army captured Red Cloud. About 3.5 miles after rejoining Highway 20 from the museum, you’ll reach a pullout along the highway that features the Chadron Creek Trading Post Nebraska State Historical Marker.
Just southeast of the ponds that now mark the area was the site of Chartran’s Trading Post, built in 1841 and managed by Louis Chartran from 1842 to 1845. The nearby creek, now named Chadron Creek, was originally known as “Chartran’s Creek” and famously a mispronunciation and misspelling of Chartran led to the name of “Chadron.” Adventurers can continue about another half-mile and turn east on City Dam Road to spend some time at the Chadron Municipal Ponds.
In addition to being a great place to fish, the site of the reservoirs was once the site of the cabin of famous trapper Hubert Rouleau who spent several years at the site following his career as a trapper. Rouleau is described by Francis Parkman who met the man during his adventures among the trappers in the mid-1840s as follows: “Rouleau had a broad ruddy face, marked with as few traces of thought or of care as a child’s. His figure was remarkably square and strong, but the first joints of both his feet were frozen off and his horse had lately thrown and trampled upon him, by which he had been severely injured in the chest. But nothing could check his inveterate propensity for laughter and gayety. He went all day rolling about the camp on his stumps of feet, talking and singing and frolicking with the Indian women as they were engaged at their work.”
Rouleau was known to work alongside others including a trapper called Saraphin. Parkman paints a picture of the two as a pair who took great satisfaction from the dangers of their profession. Rouleau began his fur trade career in Canada and gave up beaver trapping in 1847 but stayed in the region until his death in 1890 near Pine Ridge.
With your adventure at a close, backtrack north on Highway 20 toward Chadron. Be sure to check out our website for information on where you can eat, play, and stay in town.