Varying cultures of indigenous peoples lived intermittently along the Platte for thousands of years before European exploration.
 Historical tribes claimed various territories in the region.
The Indian tribes typically visited different areas in different seasons, as they followed the bison herds for hunting periods.
The introduction of horses, which had escaped from early Spanish explorers in the 1540s, dramatically changed life in the Great Plains.
 Indian tribes could more easily follow the buffalo herds as they migrated from north to south and back.
Before 1870, herds of several hundred thousand bison (buffalo) periodically migrated across the Platte in following seasonal grazing.
The animals often waded or swam across the Platte.
The first-known European to see the Platte was the French explorer Étienne de Veniard, sieur de Bourgmont in 1714, who named it the Nebraskier, after its Oto name, meaning  "flat water".
The French later applied the French word plate (meaning flat, and pronounced plat, or platte) to the river.

Occupied by various Indian tribes for part of each year, the Platte River territory had been claimed by both Spanish and French explorers trying to rule the Great Plains.
Spain had "claimed" all of the Great Plains after Coronado's 1541–42 expedition.
Jose Naranjo, an African-Hopi who served as a Spanish scout and explorer in the Southwest, was a war captain of the Spanish Indian auxiliaries.
 By 1714 (the same year the French explorers "discovered" the Platte), he and a small exploration group from the south had reportedly already reached the Platte three times.
He later guided the 1720 Villasur expedition to the area in a Spanish effort to stop French expansion onto the Great Plains.
Naranjo and Villasur's party made the most northern of Spanish exploration trips into the central plains.
A Pawnee and Otoe Indian attack defeated the Spanish forces; the survivors returned to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the Spanish left the Great Plains to the American Indians.

As a result of the Seven Years' War (1756–1763) (called the French and Indian War in America), the French ceded all of their lands in North America east of the Mississippi River to the British.
The Spanish took over lands west of the Mississippi River.
Since there were few fur-bearing animals on the Platte of interest to the fur traders, the French and British explorers and fur trappers ignored the Platte territory for some time.
During the course of the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815), France briefly reacquired the land west of the Mississippi River from Spain.

In 1804, Napoleon sold the area west of the Mississippi River to the US in the Louisiana Purchase; the US roughly doubled its area at a cost of about $15,000,000.
In 1820 the U.S. Army ordered Major Stephen H. Long to explore and map the area around the Platte.
Long reported the area as a great American desert, despite its native inhabitants and wildlife, due to a lack of easily-cultivated land.
As a result of his and other reports, the US initially had little interest in settling the land on the plains.
 The next "good" land was believed to be in Oregon or California, especially the coastal areas, and those were the destinations of most emigrant traffic.
 The Mormons settled Utah, largely due to religious persecution in eastern areas.
Various gold and silver strikes attracted further emigration to nearly all western states.

The Native American trail west along the Platte, North Platte River and Sweetwater River was first written about after its discovery in 1811 by Wilson Price Hunt of the Astor Expedition.
He was returning to the Missouri River posts from the newly established Fort Astoria on the Columbia River near the Pacific Ocean.
Because few American trappers and settlers were then in the contested Oregon Territory, his trail discovery was little used and nearly forgotten.

In 1823 Jedediah Smith and several trappers "rediscovered" the route.
 The trail along the Platte, North Platte and Sweetwater rivers became a major route of fur traders to their summer Rocky Mountain Rendezvous.
In 1
Varying cultures of indigenous peoples lived intermittently along the Platte for thousands of years before European exploration.  Historical tribes claimed various territories in the region. The Indian tribes typically visited different areas in different seasons, as they followed the bison herds for hunting periods. The introduction of horses, which had escaped from early Spanish explorers in the 1540s, dramatically changed life in the Great Plains.  Indian tribes could more easily follow the buffalo herds as they migrated from north to south and back. Before 1870, herds of several hundred thousand bison (buffalo) periodically migrated across the Platte in following seasonal grazing. The animals often waded or swam across the Platte. The first-known European to see the Platte was the French explorer Étienne de Veniard, sieur de Bourgmont in 1714, who named it the Nebraskier, after its Oto name, meaning  "flat water". The French later applied the French word plate (meaning flat, and pronounced plat, or platte) to the river.
Occupied by various Indian tribes for part of each year, the Platte River territory had been claimed by both Spanish and French explorers trying to rule the Great Plains. Spain had "claimed" all of the Great Plains after Coronado's 1541–42 expedition. Jose Naranjo, an African-Hopi who served as a Spanish scout and explorer in the Southwest, was a war captain of the Spanish Indian auxiliaries.  By 1714 (the same year the French explorers "discovered" the Platte), he and a small exploration group from the south had reportedly already reached the Platte three times. He later guided the 1720 Villasur expedition to the area in a Spanish effort to stop French expansion onto the Great Plains. Naranjo and Villasur's party made the most northern of Spanish exploration trips into the central plains. A Pawnee and Otoe Indian attack defeated the Spanish forces; the survivors returned to Santa Fe, New Mexico, and the Spanish left the Great Plains to the American Indians.
As a result of the Seven Years' War (1756–1763) (called the French and Indian War in America), the French ceded all of their lands in North America east of the Mississippi River to the British. The Spanish took over lands west of the Mississippi River. Since there were few fur-bearing animals on the Platte of interest to the fur traders, the French and British explorers and fur trappers ignored the Platte territory for some time. During the course of the Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815), France briefly reacquired the land west of the Mississippi River from Spain.
In 1804, Napoleon sold the area west of the Mississippi River to the US in the Louisiana Purchase; the US roughly doubled its area at a cost of about $15,000,000. In 1820 the U.S. Army ordered Major Stephen H. Long to explore and map the area around the Platte. Long reported the area as a great American desert, despite its native inhabitants and wildlife, due to a lack of easily-cultivated land. As a result of his and other reports, the US initially had little interest in settling the land on the plains.  The next "good" land was believed to be in Oregon or California, especially the coastal areas, and those were the destinations of most emigrant traffic.  The Mormons settled Utah, largely due to religious persecution in eastern areas. Various gold and silver strikes attracted further emigration to nearly all western states.
The Native American trail west along the Platte, North Platte River and Sweetwater River was first written about after its discovery in 1811 by Wilson Price Hunt of the Astor Expedition. He was returning to the Missouri River posts from the newly established Fort Astoria on the Columbia River near the Pacific Ocean. Because few American trappers and settlers were then in the contested Oregon Territory, his trail discovery was little used and nearly forgotten.
In 1823 Jedediah Smith and several trappers "rediscovered" the route.  The trail along the Platte, North Platte and Sweetwater rivers became a major route of fur traders to their summer Rocky Mountain Rendezvous. In 1
Platte River