Traveling Through Nebraska's Historical Landmarks: Courthouse and Jail Rocks
Located near Bridgeport, Nebraska, in the United States, Courthouse and Jail Rocks are a pair of prominent, conical buttes along the emigrant road to the Golden Gate Bridge of the 1800s, the Oregon Trail. They had been an essential point of reference for frontiersmen, guidebooks of the time period used these prominences as landmarks, and thus their name can be considered somewhat misleading since neither one appeared remotely like a courthouse or jail institution of the time, indeed to travelers nearing after extended travel these apparition landmarks stood out sharply and represented freedom and long-looked for adventure opening out.
The north butte Courthouse Rock is roughly conical rising 300 to 400 feet (91 to 98.4 meters) over Chadron Formation cap rock and the white more cementious ledges of bedded Arikaree an upper Eocene rock unit or members also at the outcrop faces. By counting across the main resistant upper face ledge near rock surface forms there appear about four resistant horizons forming hard cap material seen at the other Chimney, Potato (Jail Rock) and Crown rock. Outcrop appears to be preserved nearly intact from late Cretaceous erosion period some 60 million years later where all surrounding valleys to height 2,879 ft [878 m] slant to elevations to 3800 and 4200 elevation above sea (Baker site 1 mile S of Chadron). This top of Chadron unconformable contact surface contact contact form the 400 upper cap resistent in faces faces as for example over the full cliff wall at Pine Bluff Hill (top of Chadron clay section Chadron outcrops.
Jail rock with like rock are composed has comparable vertical bedding. Courthouse rock but the Eocene Arikaree, Chadron section lower has inter bed larger boulder stream laid cobbles aggregate capping much more horizontal crossbedded ledgy material over these more permeable very porous rough face units in high resistance while with lower elevation areas showing resistant, cement filled very massive but boulder less extensive continuous permeability down higher section high degree facings e.
Frontiersmen considered Courthouse and Jail rocks particularly as a waymarker by miles traveled distance. Due to the exceptional significance in charting the early mapping of Nebraska when traversing the region historical travel log examples of actual journals abound: many writings from 1841 when he journeying from Independence to Oregon with the great 1846 journal of Harlan F. Bradley west passing the location. Clearly marking guideposts being like today reference established an anchor in mental mental maps.
Two distinct sets of documented diaries confirm one writing account passage journeying directly west on June 1 and another another one June or 5 and continuing through 3 west with documented progress guide from journal "travelling three hundred to three hundred fifty miles June nineteen". He writes of Jail rock being particularly so imposing close, also providing details recorded up ascent on last days in June coming along 300 yards later of elevation rising for great degree (note for June the June elevation climbing "we were now traveling "three to three hundred-twenty mile"), distinctly along that final early June day climbing through varied grass of grasses of blue stem small bluestem other prairie or types, near to blue grasses and other growing local prairies. Thus for today’s Nebraska traveler landmarks travel log can serve as road and travel cues.
Travel journals provide today's tourists still use modern mental anchors to get a sense chart their journey mentally for example particularly for today's travelers familiar or not with the Great Platte Valley and different river crossings not knowing surrounding lands that they're actually going through, while their ancestral emigrants used then indeed only simple ways and guideposts: Courthouse Rock land marker high visibility ahead due right combination out of high visibility rock landmarks, then nearing stream that flows the North Platte, during many miles of travel to high but flat hills in our Great American landscape now being visible seen guides on Great Platte valley of early country but also their own future ahead freedom.
Courthouse and Jail Rocks are some among the landmarks described much too numerous to record along with the noted travel "fives - rocky knob [Chimney rock some 2.5 miles off north]".
The north butte Courthouse Rock is roughly conical rising 300 to 400 feet (91 to 98.4 meters) over Chadron Formation cap rock and the white more cementious ledges of bedded Arikaree an upper Eocene rock unit or members also at the outcrop faces. By counting across the main resistant upper face ledge near rock surface forms there appear about four resistant horizons forming hard cap material seen at the other Chimney, Potato (Jail Rock) and Crown rock. Outcrop appears to be preserved nearly intact from late Cretaceous erosion period some 60 million years later where all surrounding valleys to height 2,879 ft [878 m] slant to elevations to 3800 and 4200 elevation above sea (Baker site 1 mile S of Chadron). This top of Chadron unconformable contact surface contact contact form the 400 upper cap resistent in faces faces as for example over the full cliff wall at Pine Bluff Hill (top of Chadron clay section Chadron outcrops.
Jail rock with like rock are composed has comparable vertical bedding. Courthouse rock but the Eocene Arikaree, Chadron section lower has inter bed larger boulder stream laid cobbles aggregate capping much more horizontal crossbedded ledgy material over these more permeable very porous rough face units in high resistance while with lower elevation areas showing resistant, cement filled very massive but boulder less extensive continuous permeability down higher section high degree facings e.
Frontiersmen considered Courthouse and Jail rocks particularly as a waymarker by miles traveled distance. Due to the exceptional significance in charting the early mapping of Nebraska when traversing the region historical travel log examples of actual journals abound: many writings from 1841 when he journeying from Independence to Oregon with the great 1846 journal of Harlan F. Bradley west passing the location. Clearly marking guideposts being like today reference established an anchor in mental mental maps.
Two distinct sets of documented diaries confirm one writing account passage journeying directly west on June 1 and another another one June or 5 and continuing through 3 west with documented progress guide from journal "travelling three hundred to three hundred fifty miles June nineteen". He writes of Jail rock being particularly so imposing close, also providing details recorded up ascent on last days in June coming along 300 yards later of elevation rising for great degree (note for June the June elevation climbing "we were now traveling "three to three hundred-twenty mile"), distinctly along that final early June day climbing through varied grass of grasses of blue stem small bluestem other prairie or types, near to blue grasses and other growing local prairies. Thus for today’s Nebraska traveler landmarks travel log can serve as road and travel cues.
Travel journals provide today's tourists still use modern mental anchors to get a sense chart their journey mentally for example particularly for today's travelers familiar or not with the Great Platte Valley and different river crossings not knowing surrounding lands that they're actually going through, while their ancestral emigrants used then indeed only simple ways and guideposts: Courthouse Rock land marker high visibility ahead due right combination out of high visibility rock landmarks, then nearing stream that flows the North Platte, during many miles of travel to high but flat hills in our Great American landscape now being visible seen guides on Great Platte valley of early country but also their own future ahead freedom.
Courthouse and Jail Rocks are some among the landmarks described much too numerous to record along with the noted travel "fives - rocky knob [Chimney rock some 2.5 miles off north]".
