Sheridan Gates to Beaver Valley Road Trip
Discover Northwest Nebraska’s Sheridan Gates to Beaver Valley Road Trip takes adventurers through some of the region’s most beautiful country and an area full of Native American history. The trip features points of interest including the Museum of the Fur Trade, the former site of Camp Sheridan, and one of the many areas said to be the possible final resting place of Crazy Horse. The trip is about 50 miles long and offers opportunities for sightseeing, photography, and bird and wildlife viewing.
Begin your trip heading east out of Chadron. In about three miles you’ll 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.
Nearby, Bordeaux Creek 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, once you’ve enjoyed all it has to offer and backtrack west about 800 feet to Pineview Road. Head north here and in about 1.25 miles turn right on Beaver Valley Road. Follow the road for about five miles until you reach Sheridan Gates Road, which offers a great view of the rock formations know as “Sheridan Gates” but is a dead-end road. The Sheridan Gates served as a marker for those traveling through the area and the ruts of a military trail that ran from Camp Robinson to Camp Sheridan can still be faintly seen running between the two buttes. For a great photo op, travel down Sheridan Gates Road as far as you’d like to get your preferred view. The formation will be visible over the next several miles of your trip, so travelers not wanting to have to backtrack on the dead-end Sheridan Gates Road may prefer to continue traveling along Beaver Valley Road as it goes north another two miles and then turns west for another six miles before it intersects with Beaver Road.
To the northeast of this intersection is a cliff formation called Beaver Wall that marks the north entrance to Beaver Valley, an area known to be a favorite destination of the Lakota and other Native American groups who frequented the region. Turn south on Beaver Road to begin exploring this valley.
The first point of interest you’ll reach is about 2.7 miles south. A sign marks the former location of Camp Sheridan. Standing near the sign, look to the northwest to a cliff-face with the creek running in front of it. It was this cliff-face that provided the backdrop of Camp Sheridan. This location was the third and last of Camp Sheridan and the first to be built up with permanent structures. Like Camp Robinson to the west, Camp Sheridan was established to oversee an Indian Agency in the area. While Camp Robinson oversaw the Red Cloud Agency, Camp Sheridan oversaw the Spotted Tail Agency, a location featured not much farther south along this road trip. As the agency moved, so did Camp Sheridan, until 1875 when its final location was established, and permanent construction began under the supervision of Captain Anson Mills of the Third Cavalry.
One second lieutenant noted in his diary that the layout of the camp resembled that of a coffin. The camp featured three company barracks, often housing two companies of infantry and one of cavalry, along with seven officer’s quarters, a hospital, guardhouse, blacksmith, and storehouses. The garrison tended to be small, in part because Spotted Tail’s camp and the Brule were known for their cooperation and required little in the way of direct attention.
In addition to providing protection for the agency, Camp Sheridan also took on the task of scouting and apprehending miners bound for the Black Hills after Custer’s 1874 expedition found gold there. At the time, entry into the Black Hills was illegal as it was Native American territory. One of Camp Sheridan’s most well-known achievements was the interdiction of a mining company led by John Gordon, of Iowa. In October of 1877 the Brules and Oglalas of the Spotted Tail camp were forcibly moved to onto the Dakota Reservation and farther near the Missouri River, and again in 1878 to an area north of Camp Sheridan that would later become the Pine Ridge and Rosebud reservations. But Camp Sheridan would not follow the camps as it had in the past.
With nearby Fort Robinson set to be expanded, and the building of Fort Niobrara to serve the Rosebud Agency, Camp Sheridan was deemed no longer necessary and shut down in 1880. Its log buildings were salvaged for lumber and its flagstaff was requested to be moved to the agent at Pine Ridge. In 1882, the final pieces of the fort’s existence disappeared when the few graves that made up the camp cemetery where moved to the Fort Robinson Cemetery.
About three-quarters of a mile south along Beaver Road you’ll come across the former site of the Spotted Tail Agency. Like other agencies, the Spotted Tail Agency was created as means of controlling trade between the U.S. and Spotted Tail’s Brule and other Lakota tribes camped in the area. The agency provided rations and equipment to the camps and its agent acted as an ambassador between the Native nations and the U.S. government. The agencies tended to shift locations as the Natives moved in the area, and Spotted Tail was no exception. After being moved from Dakota Territory where it was known as Whetstone, the agency located on a site on the White River and was renamed Spotted Tail Agency. From there, the agency was moved to the location of this marker where it would exist until Spotted Tail’s Brule and the other Lakota were moved back into Dakota Territory in 1877. During its time in Beaver Valley the agency remained generally quiet and peaceful.
Continuing south this adventure takes you through the heart of Beaver Valley. One to five miles south of the agency was the location of Spotted Tail’s Camp though its exact location has yet to be determined as it has only been marked on hand-drawn maps. This southern region of Beaver Valley was a favorite camping destination of the Lakota taking hunting trips in the area. Stinking Bear, Fast Thunder, and the parents of Crazy Horse all had lodges in the valley. Crazy Horse often stopped in the area to stay and take part in religious ceremonies.
Among the many Native Americans who camped in the area, few are more famous than Crazy Horse. The Oglala War Chief was known to have established a wilderness camp at one point in the area and took vision quests among the valley’s buttes. Some theories claim Beaver Valley is home to his final resting place among the buttes. Many theories exist as to where Crazy Horse may have been buried, but it is known, at least, that his body was brought to Spotted Tail’s camp in the valley by Crazy Horse’s parents after he was killed at Camp Robinson.
Continuing your trip south along Beaver Road, enjoy the sites of the valley and keep a keen eye out for deer, turkey, hawks and eagles as you make your way through the pine-covered hills. Eventually you’ll reach the town of Hay Springs. The town was established in 1885 when the railroad came through the area, as was the case with many of the towns along its route. Beaver Road will eventually intersect with Highway 20. Head west on the highway to make your way back toward Chadron. Just under nine miles from your turn, in the area north of the highway is the former site of Bordeaux Siding, a once thriving village named for James Bordeaux. A farmstead is all that remains today.
With your adventure at a close, continue heading west toward Chadron. Be sure to check out our website for information on where you can eat, play, and stay in town.