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201907947 <br />ARRIVERAILSIDE.COM <br />BEFORE IT WAS RAILSIDE IT <br />WAS SIMPLY GRAND ISLAND. <br />Fur traders probably discovered the island in the late 1700s. The island appears on a <br />French map published in 1821 and on American maps published in 1822 and 1825. Both <br />the Long and Fremont expeditions of 1820 and 1842 took note of the size of the Island, <br />which ranged from 40 to 70 miles in length and 1 1/2 to 3 miles wide. Westbound travelers <br />of the 1820s often mentioned the island as the most conspicuous feature of the Central <br />Platte Valley. Pioneers heading West on the Oregon, Mormon and California Trails also <br />note the Platte River and its Grand Island in their journals. <br />TO LEARN MORE VISIT, <br />44e h° <br />