White River Valley
Road Trip
Discover Northwest Nebraska’s White River Valley Road Trip starts outside of Crawford, Nebraska, near Fort Robinson State Park, and takes adventurers through one of the earliest settled areas of Sioux County.
This tour doesn’t have many stops, but what it lacks in attractions it makes up for in its display of the natural beauty of one of the Pine Ridge’s more attractive, and less traveled areas. The tour offers excellent opportunities for photography and wildlife viewing including antelope, turkey and any of the many bird and raptor species that call Northwest Nebraska home. Anglers may want to bring a rod along – there’s plenty of opportunity to fish the White River along the way. Railroad enthusiasts will enjoy traveling beside what remains of the famous Cowboy Line, originally built by the Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad in the late 1880s, as it snakes alongside the river through the valley. The tour takes explorers near the sites of two Northwest Nebraska ghost towns, Glen and Andrews.
This trip is 40 miles long.
You’ll begin the trip south of Crawford and just east of Fort Robinson State Park on Highway 20. Head west, driving through Fort Robinson, one of Nebraska’s most significant places with regard to the history of the American West. Originally a temporary camp guarding the Red Cloud Agency from 1874-1877, the fort served the U.S. Military in multiple roles until it ceased to be a military post in 1947. Just some of the fort’s prominent history includes its role during the Indian Wars, its stationing of African American “Buffalo Soldiers” in the early 1900s and its serving as a German POW camp during World War II.
Travelers can easily make a day, or even a weekend of exploring the Fort and the nearby site of the Red Cloud Agency, but one essential stop along this road trip is the site of Crazy Horse’s death. To visit the site, navigate using the google map attached to the tour or stop at the fort’s large, brick, administration building west of the highway and ask for directions to the nearby site.
Leaving Fort Robinson west along Highway 20, travel about 1.75 miles and you’ll find a Nebraska State Historical Marker honoring the Cheyenne Outbreak of 1879. Three-quarters-of-a-mile further you’ll find a monument to the outbreak on land owned by Dull Knife College. Though the entrance is gated, visitors are free to pass through the gate to visit the monument. Please remember to close the gate after you’ve passed through both entering and leaving.
In 1878, a year after being taken from their traditional home to a reservation in what is now Oklahoma, the Northern Cheyenne tribe decided to leave the poor conditions of their reservation and, without permission, return to their native lands in the north. Over 350 Cheyennes took part in the breakout under the leadership of Dull Knife and Little Wolf. When they reached Nebraska the group split into two along the lines of its leaders. Little Wolf’s group sought to join Sitting Bull across the border in Canada, Dull Knife wanted to seek out Red Cloud at the Red Cloud Agency near Fort Robinson. What Dull Knife didn’t know was that Red Cloud and his people had been moved into Dakota Territory.
His party of 149 men, women and children were intercepted south of what is now Chadron and were taken to Fort Robinson on October 24, 1878. The group stayed at the fort through the end of the year as their requests to join Red Cloud were denied and they were eventually, in December, held prisoner in the fort’s barracks.
Under orders to pressure the Cheyenne to return to their reservation in modern-day Oklahoma, the commanding officer of the fort, who had previously asked his superiors for permission to let the Cheyenne stay, ceased giving the group firewood and food. On January 9, 1879, the Cheyenne executed their plan to break out from their confines, using weapons they had stored earlier to attack the guards. The group exited the fort under fire, some barefoot and ill-equipped for the trek through the snow. They followed the White River southwest before cutting to the north and climbing over the buttes to the south of the marker’s location in order to evade their pursuers. As they continued to flee, the Cheyenne had sporadic engagements with the army in the area.
According to History Nebraska, 26 Cheyenne warriors were killed the night of the breakout and about 80 women and children were recaptured. The remaining group was able to move northwest and evaded capture until January 22. Some managed to escape, including Dull Knife and some of his family, and make their way to Red Cloud. 64 Cheyenne and 11 soldiers were killed during the breakout.
After visiting the monument, head west on Highway 20 about 1.25 miles and turn south on White River Road. Follow the road as it heads south and then west along the White River. You’ll travel along this road for about 13 miles through the rest of the trip. Look for signs indicating which areas along the river are available to be fished. These areas are on private land, but landowners have agreed to allow anglers by walk-in only. Respect the private land while you’re on it and make sure you have your fishing license. To be extra respectful, ask landowners for permission to fish before heading to the river.
The first settlements in Sioux County were in this valley along the river. After all, the settlers were protected by nearby Fort Robinson, and they also had the benefit of the Sidney to Deadwood Trail that ran through the area supplying the fort and eventually carrying those heading to the Black Hills in pursuit of gold For around three years it rivaled the Oregon Trail in terms of capacity because traffic flowed both ways over it.
“Up it swarmed the gold seekers, men and women from every walk of life, the jerkline teams of horses and mules, and slow drags of Ox freight.
Down it came disillusioned miners, empty freight wagons, passenger and mail stages, and the Treasure Coach with its galloping four and shotgun guard,” according to Sioux County History: First 100 Years.
The area was also settled by fort soldiers who took homesteads along the river, including Henry Kreman who came in 1881 and whose family still resides in the area. About five miles from your turn south on White River Road, the road will dip into a small valley which was referred to as “Glen” by settlers. The local post office was eventually moved here and a general store was built when the area began to grow due to the railroad coming through the area.
At its peak, Glen was a bustling community and the site of many outgoing shipments of cattle, potatoes and grain. When the Kinkaid Act was passed, which promised more land to new settlers than previous agreements, some began to leave the area to collect their 640 acres elsewhere. As automobiles began to make the nearby larger towns more accessible the stores in Glen began to close and the passenger train stopped running along the Cowboy Line. The depot and station became obsolete and were sold. The stockyard and sidings were removed and what remains of the now defunct community can be seen in remodeled buildings as you pass through the small, secluded, valley where Glen once stood.
Continue traveling west along White River Road, enjoying the valley and keeping a keen eye out for turkey. About 13 miles from when you turned onto White River Road, the road turns north and forks. Keep north onto what is now Andrews Road. In the area west of this fork is the site of the former town of Andrews, originally named Hunter, which was located near the headwaters of the White River which supplied natural springs to residents and the railroad. When it was Hunter, the town was home to a trading post on the Cheyenne to Fort Robinson stage road which traveled through the area. It wasn’t until a post office was established in 1903 that the name was changed to Andrews since Nebraska already had a town named Hunter.
Hunter, or Andrews, became an important railroad town along the Cowboy Line when the F.E.&M.R.R built a water tower and coal chute in the town to resupply the steam locomotives traveling the line. In 1885 a depot was added, and a passenger train and two sidings completed Andrews’ nature as a railroad town. Employees and workers of the railroad made up a large part of the town’s residents. Eventually the town would grow to have a café, rooming house, blacksmith, bowery, schoolhouse and a local band. It earned a reputation for shipping the most cattle from any point west of Valentine, Nebraska.
In 1919, a flood caused extensive damage to the railroad and the town. Mrs. S.D. Bassett, a Baptist Missionary from New York, and a resident of Andrews drowned in the flood.
An excerpt on Andrews from Sioux County History: First 100 Years reads: “In the depression years there were many hoboes riding the trains looking for work or a handout. Horse traders traveled through in the summer months, they hobbled their horses to let them graze along the river. Sometimes a band of gypsies traveling through would stop, music and singing could be heard from their evening campfires.”
The transition from steam to diesel locomotives and the construction of Highway 20 to the north led to a downturn for Andrews in the 1940s. The post office was closed in 1951 and its pool closed in 1959. Nothing recognizable remains of the town.
Continue traveling north on Andrews Road until you reach Highway 20. From here, turning west will lead you to more adventures in Harrison, or turn east to head back toward Crawford or Chadron. Visit the lodging, dining and activities sections of our website for information about where to sleep, eat and play in the area.