West Nebraska's first State Park, Fort Robinson, west of Crawford with over 22,000 acres of beautiful Pine Ridge scenery, with the captivating Old West history and the park with its own buffalo and Longhorn herds. This historic outpost has served from the days of the Indian Wars until after the Second World War. This was the site of the Cheyenne Outbreak in 1879 and the death of the famous Sioux Chief Crazy Horse. Over the years, the fort served the Red Cloud Indian bureau, as a cavalry remount station, K-9 dog training center, POW camp and beef research station. A lunch stop is planned in Gering, about half way along the route. Gering is a place in the western panhandle of the American state of Nebraska. The city is located on the south bank of the North Platte. Together with Scottsbluff, on the north bank, Gering forms an agglomeration. Gering is the capital of Scotts Bluff County.

In this 4-star route you will drive along beautiful good roads, through the endless grasslands (prairies) of the mid-west.

History:
Striking cultures of indigenous peoples lived in the area for thousands of years. In historic times, tribes such as the Oglala Lakota (Oglala Sioux tribe), Cheyenne and others lived in the area. The Sioux used this area as a hunting ground after pushing other tribes to the west.
Chadron is named after Louis Chartran, a French-Indian (Métis) fur catcher who had a trading post on Chadron Creek in 1841. He was married to an Indian woman.

The city was formally established in 1884 when the Fremont, Elkhorn, and Missouri Valley Railroad were built through the Omaha, Nebraska area on the way to Wyoming. Chadron was first named O'Linn because of its founder, Fannie O'Linn, who built a community at the confluence of the White River (Missouri River) and Chadron Creek. This was where the railroad was expected to branch. When it was built six kilometers away in Bordeaux Creek, the townspeople packed up the entire city - including buildings - and moved it to the new location.

Among the founders of the city were the businessman Charles Henry King and his wife Martha. King set up trading and freight companies and banks in cities along the route of the railroad; he benefited from the flow of settlers and pioneers to the region. Four of the five King children were born in Chadron, including their second son Leslie Lynch King. In 1908 the family moved to Omaha, the state's business center. Leslie got married in 1912 and in July 1913 he became the father of the future president, Gerald Ford. King and his wife divorced shortly thereafter.

During the Chicago World's Fair in 1893, Chadron was the starting point of the 1000 km long "Chadron-Chicago Cowboy Horse Race". Nine riders competed for the $ 1,000 prize to be the first to reach the entrance to Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. Among the riders was the former outlaw Doc Middleton. John Berry won the race in 13 days and 16 hours.
In the Lakota language, Chadron is known as čhápa wakpá otȟúŋwahe, which means "beaver river city".