% WATERS OF NEBRASKA. 63 



side of this steep ascent and wall, and these go to form White 

 River. The road from Hat Creek Station to Camp Robinson, 

 thirty miles distant, lies near its base. " From Hat Creek the 

 trend is a little south of east for thirty-eight miles to the point 

 where this road makes its steep and difficult ascent." Beyond 

 this point it runs northeasterly for a few miles, then southerly un- 

 til it meets and terminates the northern bluffs of White River, iii 

 the prominent landmark called Soldiers' Grove Cliffs, north of and 

 overlooking Camp Robinson." * * * "It was traced eastward 

 to Camp Sheridan, forming the southern border of White River 

 valley." (Captain Stanton.) Hence, the river and its valley are 

 shut out from the rest of Nebraska by this natural barricade on the 

 south. On most maps of the State, this range is represented too far 

 to the north. It forms in the midst of a valley otherwise easily 

 traversed. The White River in Nebraska has many small trib- 

 utaries, many of which are beautiful, clear rivulets. Except the 

 ridge just mentioned, it flows through a rather gently rolling 

 country. 



The Elkhorn River, is one of the most beautiful streams of the 

 State. It rises west of Holt and Elkhorn Counties. Near its 

 source the valley widens to a very great breadth, and the bluffs 

 bordering it are low and often almost inappreciable. In the 

 region of its source especially south of the centre of the valley, are 

 a great number of beautiful, small, fresh water lakes. Within a 

 region eighteen by twelve miles square, there are at least twenty of 

 these lakelets, most of which drain into the headwaters of the West 

 Fork of the Elkhorn. It soon becomes in size a respectable 

 stream. In the eastern border of Madison County it receives the 

 North Branch of the Elkhorn, which rises in the southern part 

 of Knox County. Unlike the West Fork, or main branch, it does 

 not originate in a lake region, but in a region of innumerable 

 small springs. The channel is full of water holes, between which 

 the water often in midsummer flows under-ground. Soon it looses 

 this character and becomes a rapid, clear, deep and beautiful 

 stream. The general direction of the main river approximates to 

 250 miles. Its direction is southeast. It empties into the Platte 

 in the western part of Sarpy County. For a large part of its 

 course, the Elkhorn flows over rock bottom. It has considerable 

 fall, and its steady, large volume of waters will render it a most 

 valuable manufacturing region. 



