Day 55 – 8/26 – Gering, NE to Torrington, WY – 37 miles

After the pseudo-metropolis of Gering/Scottsbluff, the world thins out. I’m bidding farewell to Nebraska this morning, deviated from my long-time companion, the Platte River, for most of this final stretch. Bustling Scottsbluff gives way to the pleasant town of Mitchell, which yields to modest Morrill, which in turn relinquishes the floor to the tiny bordertown of Henry. Tumbleweeds cluster in culverts, their brief exploits long forgotten. Raccoon corpses dot the shoulder, adorned with empty bottles of Fireball, used vapes, and fast food containers. Only the steadfast Union Pacific persists, chugging past every hour or so, heading westward with a kilometer-long line of empty containers, and then returning with heaping piles of coal, loaded in the booming Powder River Basin coal mines.

I had anticipated that I would reach this stretch with rampant enthusiasm. After 24 days, I would finally complete Nebraska! These last days, though, were in many ways the peak of the trip for unexpected hospitality. I knew my friends in Chicago and Des Moines would be awesome. I couldn’t expect the care that I experienced in Broadwater, or from my amazing hosts in Gering. Even on this last morning, three more cars stopped to offer me rides, with one trying to sweeten the pot with a cold drink. Western Nebraska has been amazing, but it’s time to say goodbye.

After the different emigrant populations had been separated by the Platte throughout much of Nebraska, they finally converged in this stretch, thrown off by the disruptions of the bluff and its badlands. Whether they were headed towards California, Oregon, or Utah, they entered Wyoming here, as I do, though likely without the accompanying highway construction project. They were even preceded here by an Astorian scouting party, led by Robert Stuart, in 1812

As empty and open as it seems, though, this was the setting for a momentous event in 1851–the largest gathering of the Plains Indians in history, somewhere around 10-15,000 total. Given that Torrington’s population is 6000 and Scottsbluff’s 14,000, it’s difficult to fathom the scale of that event, and how it would have reshaped this valley over those pivotal days.

The United States government had invited all of the Plains tribes for a treaty council to discuss the growing impact of emigrants upon the region, in recognition of the growing risk of open hostilities. 270 American soldiers were on hand, but by all accounts the discussions were largely harmonious, and there seemed to be genuine interest by all sides to find workable accommodations. The United States representatives conceded that the land was indigenous property; no claims were made to the contrary. In exchange, the tribes agreed that the Americans could develop roads and forts, to facilitate easier movement through the region. To compensate for this impact, the US government signed off on an annual payment of $50,000 for the next 50 years, though the senate would ultimately downsize this to a ten-year deal. This agreement became known as the Horse Creek Treaty and the Treaty of Fort Laramie.

Anyone who has studied indigenous history in colonial America and the United States knows what happened next. It would be easy to understand if “treaty” became translated as “broken promises” in indigenous languages, because this unfolded time after time after time, with the legacy of these betrayals still influencing relations today. Perhaps the agreement might have held up a little longer if interest remained focused on reaching the far West, but a gold rush to Pike’s Peak followed in 1858, drawing hordes of new pioneers into the heart of treaty land. Before long, this sparked open conflict between Americans and the Cheyenne, and the US government did nothing to enforce its end of the agreement. That was just the first domino; the region destabilized as resources became increasingly strained, sparking not only violence between white settlers and indigenous tribes, but also inter-tribal conflicts.

Ultimately, most of those Plains tribes would be forcibly resettled. Wyoming has only a single reservation today–the Wind River Indian Reservation, north of Lander–while the Crow Reservation sits just across the border in Montana. Walking into Torrington, though, there is little to indicate the once substantial presence that frequented these lands. Just a single sign, sitting alongside the highway, as the cars go whipping past.