Wild Horse Spring

Grant, four and a half miles south, was platted in 1886 when the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad extended its line there, and took the name of Ulysses S. Grant. Perkins County was organized the next year and is believed to be named for Charles E. Perkins, the Burlington's president. The census tracks its settlers: 4,364 people in 1890, 1,702 in 1900, a peak of 5,834 in 1930 and 2,858 in 2020, while Grant grew from 315 to 1,197. The county's flatter land is now farmed, usually under center-pivot irrigation.

What the plaque says

Wild Horse Spring Named for the beautiful, spirited wild horses so numerous in this area when white men first visited these lush plains, this Spring symbolizes the hope and faith its discovery brought to the early pioneers. Though the rich land beckoned them, men seeking homesteads had been reluctant to settle this land, so strange and forbidding because of its lack of known water sources. In the early days this Spring served to quench the thirst of the wild horses, buffalo and other wild animals of the region. Later, its clear, cool waters refreshed the hot and thirsty cowboy, trail weary from the long trek between Stinking Water Creek and the Platte River. It was never an abundant source of water but it was sufficient to supply the needs of the early settlers until they could dig wells for themselves. The precious, lifegiving water from this Spring, so far from any stream, provided comfort and courage to the men and women who established their homes in this part of the frontier, and it is to them that this marker is dedicated. Perkins County Historical Society Historical Land Mark Council

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Lake McConaughy and Kingsley Dam — 21 mi
  Nebraska's largest reservoir, 22 miles of North Platte water and white sand beaches behind a 1941 hydraulic-fill dam, built so farms far downstream could water their crops.

More markers nearby

• The Texas Trail — 11 mi
• Boot Hill — 16 mi
• Cowboy Capital — 16 mi
• Ash Hollow: Gateway to the North Platte Valley — 16 mi