Long before Jailhouse Rock reverberated over the airwaves, Courthouse Rock and companion, Jailhouse Rock, appeared in pioneer journals. One of a half dozen landmarks found on the Overland Trail to the West, these remnant buttes tower over the North Platte River Valley. Emigrants, leaving St. Louis, received this weak introduction to the Rocky Mountains that lay ahead, and were quite impressed.
Rising almost 400 feet from the valley, these rock formations are listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Diary entries, now over 170 years old, explain a strong fascination with these scenic wonders. Knowing they would never see these sights again, pioneers left the wagon trains and walked five to six miles to climb and carve their names in the Nebraska landmark.