From October 1862 until March 1863, stagecoaches of the Central Overland California and Pikes Peak Express traveled near here along the Oketo Cutoff. The route left the Fort Leavenworth to Fort Kearny Military Road northeast of Marysville, Kansas, angled northwest to cross the Big Blue River near Oketo, Kansas, and passed through the Otoe Indian Reservation and land that would become the short-lived village of Charleston, just south of the later site of Odell, Nebraska. It rejoined the main trail between Steele City and Diller, Nebraska. Express company owner Ben Holladay, who held the government contract to carry mail and passengers from the Missouri River to California, ordered the cutoff built at an estimated cost of $50,000, creating a shorter, better road while bypassing Marysville after the town refused to improve the Military Road. Although Holladay's coaches used the Oketo Cutoff, freighters and other travelers continued to follow the Military Road, which had been popular since the late 1840s. After only a few months, Holladay abandoned the cutoff, although the road may have remained in use.