28 GUIDEBOOK OF TSE WESTERN UNITED STATES. 





sm 



Elm Creek 



Overton, and Josselyn, the train reaches the city of Lexmgton, for- 

 merly kno\\Ti as Plum Creek. This was once noted 

 Lexington. ^g a favorite locality for depredations by the Southern 



Elevation 2,387 feet. Chevemic Indians under Chief Turkey Leg, who cap- 



Population 2,059. , , ,1 , r-i,.-T -7^^- -r- 



Omaha 23imiies. tured and burned a freight tram here m 1867. It is 



now more famous for its irrigation system. Farther 

 east the farmers depend on the rainfall to water their crops, but 

 from this point westward tlie river waters are diverted through large 

 ditches and distributed over the cultivated land. 



The next station is Darr, beyond which is Cozad, named after 



a Cincinnati capitalist who purchased a 40,000-acre 

 Cozad. tract of land and laid out the town on it. The vil- 



Eievation 2,485 feet, lage of WiUow Island takes its name from one of 

 Population i,c^. the so-caUed islands included between old channels of 



O maha 245 miles. i • i 



the river that are now occupied hy water only during 



floods. It now consists of only a few houses, but has 



Willow Island. the distinction of being the point from which in 1872 



p^uialtonS ^'"'*" ^^^" ^' ^' ^^^^ (''Buffalo Bill ") started with Alexis, 

 Omaha 250 miles. Grand Duko of Kussia, Gen. Custer, Gen. Sheridan, 



and others for a buffalo hunt over the prairies. 

 Just before entering Gothenburg the train crosses a large irrigation 

 canal, and farther west such canals are seen in many places. The 



bottom lands are devoted to the cultivation of crops, 

 Gothenburg. and the higher land or general surface of the Great 



Elevation 2,561 feet. Plains, at considerable distances both north and south 



Population 1 ,T30. r .-i j . ■, ■. i • 



Omaha 255 miles. ^^ ^hc Toad, IS uscd largely for grazmg. Here, as at 



almost every other town along the railroad, may be 



taU 



We 



skirts for many miles. Their barren aspect is in strong contrast with 

 the appearance of the productive bottom lands. This is a part of the 

 great sand-hill district which covers nearly a fourth of Nebraska. 

 The sand is probably derived by disintegration from the Tertiary 

 beds and was heaped into hills by the wind at a time when the surface 

 was not weU protected by vegetation. The movement of the sand 

 IS checked by the spread of vegetation, especially the bunch grass 

 that grew here generally before the advent of the white man. Where 

 this protecting cover has been destroyed for any reason, such as 

 overstocking, and the sand is exposed, movement besms a^ain and 



dunes and blow-nnt>^ m-p T^rnrlnnQrl \>.^ +v>« „-;„j-. 



to"^'-' "o 



_ South of the river, about 5 miles from the raiboad but plainly 

 visible from the train, are steep slopes and bluffs rising abruptlv to a 

 plain that lies 200 feet or more above the bottom lands. There is 

 a notal>le contrast between the lands along the river and these bluffs, 

 which parallel the raiboad fur many miles. The slope is notched 



