ne-bras-ka

Updated: July 31, 2026

The river is very shallow, and for that reason was called by the Otoes, whose country embraced the region at its mouth, the Ne-bras-ka, and re-christened the Platte by the French trappers, a term synonymous to that given by the Indians. The Platte River, nearly three-quarters of a century ago, was called by Washington Irving, The most magnificent and most useless of streams.

Henry Inman - The Great Salt Lake Trail