Overland Trail
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The Overland Trail was a pioneer trail beginning at several different points. Parts of it were based on traditional Native American trails, and it connected to the Great Trail which led back to the East Coast.
Beginning in Omaha, Nebraska, the Overland Trail followed the Great Platte River Road and the Sweetwater River in the Nebraska Territory across the plains to the South Pass of the Rocky Mountains. There it crossed the Continental Divide, eventually splitting near Fort Hall. Between 1840 and 1860 more than a quarter of a million emigrants (immigrants) used a variety of transportation, including stagecoaches and covered wagons, to make the trek.
Fort Ruby, near Hobson, Nevada was established in 1862 to protect the trail's important connection between California and the Union states during the American Civil War. It was located at the east entrance to the Overland Pass into Ruby Valley.
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