Wagon trains arriving at Scotts Bluff had to choose how to get past the bluffs while trying to stay near the North Platte River. Traveling through the badlands next to the river was impossible for wagons, and before 1851 ravines on the west side of the bluffs prevented wagons from going through the notch ahead. Emigrants could cross the river to the north side, risking the current and quicksand, or take Robidoux Pass to the south and make a long detour. Robidoux Pass was named for two brothers who built a trading post on the trail, and a nearby spring, a blacksmith for repairs, and opportunities to buy or trade needed items made it a useful route. In 1850, soldiers from Fort Laramie or traders competing with Robidoux created a one-wagon-wide trail through the ravines. This new route returned travelers to the river eight miles sooner than the old one, and emigrants began using the shorter route in the 1851 travel season. William C. Lobenstine wrote in his 1851 diary that the passage through Scotts Bluff had only been made possible in 1851 and was already preferred by nearly all emigrants, cutting eight miles from the old road. The covered wagon trade lasted only one and a half months each year, while trade with American Indians continued year round.