The Platte River, long noted for its great width and shallow depth, parallels the Interstate across most of Nebraska and is a major tributary of the Missouri River, which it joins twenty five miles east of here. In recent years, the amount of water reaching the Missouri has been diminished because of increased demand for agricultural irrigation. A short distance above the Platte River bridge, Salt Creek joins the river; its saline qualities were first recorded by the French in 1718. A site at the mouth of Salt Creek was home to several different Indian groups over a period of 700 years, and archeological excavations and radio carbon dating show that an agrarian people had settled there as early as 1000 A.D. Most recently, the site was used by the Oto Indians, whose presence was recorded by French explorers in 1718, although the village was abandoned before 1800. Other pre-historic houses and village sites within a few miles were settled as early as 1000 A.D., and the saline deposits made the area especially attractive to both Indian and white settlers. White homesteaders began taking possession of the land as early as 1854.