The Platte River was a critical part of the Oregon Trail in terms of navigation and fairly flat land to cross, it more importantly acted as a water supply. However, at several points on the Oregon Trail along the Platte River, the emigrants would have to cross the Platte River. Although the Platte was described as “a mile wide and an inch deep”, that wasn’t always the case as seen in the Pedaling Pioneer’s video.
Pedaling Pioneer 