Location
Wild Horse Spring, Eckery, Perkins County, Nebraska
View this marker’s location at 40.906586, -101.7283
Marker Text
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, life-giving 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.
