[Illustration: “_Scott’s Bluffs._” From Richard Burton’s City of the Saints, 1860.] With the migration of 1852, the historical spotlight permanently shifted to Mitchell Pass. During the early fifties the California migration reached its peak; the charms of Scotts Bluff and the peculiarities of the new pass were not lost on the new crop of journalists. It was in 1852, apparently, that the little-used name “Capitol Hills” was first applied to Scotts Bluff by Hosea Horn and other guidebook writers. The origin of this name is suggested in the Sexton diary of June 10: Made our noon halt opposite Scott’s Bluff, altogether the most symmetrical in form and the most stupendous in size of any we have seen. One of them is close in its resemblance to the dome of the Capitol in Washington. There is a pass through that is guarded on one side by Sugar Loaf Rock, on the other by one that resembles a square house with an observatory. It is certainly the most magnificent thing I ever saw. In the _National Wagon Road_, a guidebook by W. Wadsworth based on a trip of 1852, Scotts Bluff is one of the three major landmarks described on the whole California Road: “Here is some of the most beautiful and picturesque scenery upon the whole route.” Wadsworth labels the Scotts Bluff of today as “Convent Rock.” In 1853 Frederick Piercy made a remarkable sketch of the bluffs, with buffalo-hunters in the foreground. He referred to these bluffs as “certainly the most remarkable sight I have seen since I left England.” [Illustration: THE OREGON TRAIL] OREGON TRAIL ST. JOSEPH KANSAS CITY MARYSVILLE OGALLALA LOWER CALIFORNIA CROSSING JULESBURG SCOTTS BLUFF FORT LARAMIE INDEPENDENCE ROCK _SWEETWATER_ SOUTH PASS FORT BRIDGER SODA SPRINGS FORT HALL _SNAKE RIVER_ FORT BOISE LA GRANDE FORT WALLA WALLA WHITMAN MISSION _COLUMBIA RIVER_ THE DALLES FORT VANCOUVER OREGON CITY ASTORIA LEWIS AND CLARK ST. LOUIS _MISSOURI RIVER_ _YELLOWSTONE RIVER_ _COLUMBIA RIVER_ CALIFORNIA ROAD SODA SPRINGS _HUMBOLDT RIVER_ LAKE TAHOE DONNER PASS PLACERVILLE SUTTERS FORT SAN FRANCISCO BOZEMAN TRAIL FORT LARAMIE VIRGINIA CITY MORMON TRAIL NAUVOO COUNCIL BLUFFS OMAHA GRAND ISLAND FORT KEARNEY ... FORT BRIDGER SALT LAKE CITY _VIRGIN RIVER_ (to LOS ANGELES) SANTA FE TRAIL ST. LOUIS INDEPENDENCE COUNCIL GROVE BENT’S FORT _PURGATOIRE_ _CIMARRON CUT-OFF_ SANTA FE OLD SPANISH TRAIL SANTA FE _VIRGIN RIVER_ (to LOS ANGELES) Note: For modern names not shown see your automobile maps. APRIL 1958 NB 7007 [Illustration: THE OREGON TRAIL NEAR SCOTTS BLUFF ROBIDOUX AND MITCHELL PASS ROUTES]