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Chief Standing Bear Trail

Chief Standing Bear Trail: Beatrice to Kansas on the Ponca Removal Route

The Chief Standing Bear Trail is a rail trail of about 23 miles running south from downtown Beatrice through Holmesville, Blue Springs and Barneston to the Kansas line, where it continues as the Blue River Rail Trail to Marysville, Kansas. The former railroad follows the Big Blue River valley along the route the Ponca people were forced to walk in 1877, and the trail is named for the Ponca chief whose court case established that a Native American is a person under U.S. law. The corridor is owned by the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska.

Trail at a Glance

  • Length: About 23 miles in Nebraska (22.9 by the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy's count), and about 37 miles all the way to Marysville, Kansas.
  • Surface: A few blocks of paved path in Beatrice, then crushed limestone.
  • Uses: Walking, running and biking. No motor vehicles. Open sunrise to sunset.
  • Fees: None.
  • Owned by: The Ponca Tribe of Nebraska. Maintained by the Homestead Conservation and Trails Association, with the City of Beatrice caring for the first few miles.
  • County: Gage County in Nebraska; Marshall County in Kansas.

Towns and Trailheads, North to South

  • Beatrice (mile 0) — 6th and Perkins streets: parking, restrooms, water, a shelter and a bike repair station, where the trail meets the Homestead Trail.
  • Holmesville (about mile 7.5) — E. Linden Road: parking, restrooms and seasonal water.
  • Blue Springs (about mile 12.5) — E. Broad St. and S. 59th St., about a mile east of town: parking, restrooms, a shelter and a repair station; no drinking water at present.
  • Barneston (about mile 20) — just south of town: parking, restrooms and seasonal water.
  • Kansas line (about mile 23) — the trail continues as the Blue River Rail Trail past Oketo and Marietta to the OneMarysville Trailhead at 617 Broadway in Marysville.

What You'll See

Farmland, native prairie and long stretches of tree canopy along the Big Blue River valley, with deer, hawks and wild turkeys along the way. The trail crosses 16 re-decked railroad bridges in Nebraska. On the Kansas side, the Blue River Rail Trail adds a covered bridge at Rocky Run, a 150-foot bridge over Blodgett Creek and a steel railroad bridge over Bommer Creek.

Who Was Chief Standing Bear?

Standing Bear (about 1829–1908) was a chief of the Ponca, whose homeland was along the Niobrara River in northeast Nebraska. In 1877 the federal government forced the Ponca to move to Indian Territory in present-day Oklahoma. On that march the Ponca camped near Beatrice and walked south along the Big Blue River, the same valley this trail follows; Standing Bear's daughter Prairie Flower died on the way, at Milford.

In January 1879 Standing Bear led about 30 Ponca north to bury his son in the homeland. He was arrested and held at Fort Omaha. In the case Standing Bear v. Crook, Judge Elmer Dundy ruled that "an Indian is a person" under U.S. law and could ask the courts for his freedom, a landmark in civil rights history. The trail carries his name because it follows the removal route.

History of the Railroad

The trail uses a former Union Pacific branch line between Beatrice and Marysville, abandoned in 2000. The Nebraska Trails Foundation acquired the corridor, and on May 11, 2017, the deed for 19.5 miles and 232 acres was transferred to the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska. The trail was completed in 2017 after $1 million was raised for it.

Nearby Places

Related Trails and Corridors