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The Platte flows from the Colorado Rockies as two headwaters, the North and the South Platte. They meet close to North Platte, Nebraska and then flow on as the Platte River for 500 kilometres (300 miles) until it joins with the Missouri near Omaha. The Platte was renowned by people making the great westward trek following the Oregon Trail in the mid 19th century as being "an inch deep and a mile wide". Impossible to use for navigation, the Platte nevertheless provided a route westward that was followed not only by the Oregon Trail but also by the railroad that replaced it. The modern Platte is important as a source of drinking and irrigation water for a large area beginning at the Front Range corridor cities, such as Denver, until it reaches the Missouri. |
