Pioneer Village in Minden Nebraska

I wish that people would stop speaking about that secret we call Nebraska. My family wants it to stay a secret. LOL!
Interstate 80 could be likened to a tunnel. It shows very little of the State.
We have been making arrangements to move back to the Sandhills. The place where you can see your dog run away for 3 days.
My wife says keep the secret a secret.

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That which is tolerated by the first generation is magnified in the next.

CIW

How would you be able to do that??

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~*~Erin~*~
SAHM, ranch wife, sub and quilt shop proprietress
the Back Gate Country Quilt Shop

Erin, as a spinner, I used to do living history demonstrations in a time line--men who portrayed fur trappers, settlers, people on the Oregon trail, Civil War, etc. Some of the fur trappers taught me to throw a "hawk," flesh a skin for tanning, and similar skills and I think every group did their share of Dutch oven cooking. I'd been interested in that site for ages and on our last trip, we got to see the museum. What a treasure and at the time it was for sale. I was happy to see it still in operation.

Satisfy my curiosity, please. Why were you surprised to see a recommendation for it?

I've travelled south in neb. a few times, and it is a beautiful state. in fact, next weekend I'll be going to halsey, which is in a white pine forest. i can't wait!~

Like I already said, really, it's not very well known.
Even in Nebraska, most people have never heard of the Museum of the Fur Trade.

I'm a history nerd who happened to go to college in Chadron (which is why I know it) but unlike Stuhr or Pioneer Village or even Ft Rob., it's not a well known site.

__________________
~*~Erin~*~
SAHM, ranch wife, sub and quilt shop proprietress
the Back Gate Country Quilt Shop

erin,

the full joke as I' ve heard it:

Nebraska, where you can stand on a tin can and watch your dog run away for 3 days.

referring to the flatness

But anyone who's ever been to Nebraska (beyond the interstate, of course) knows Nebraska isn't even remotely flat...


Certainly not in the Sandhills!!

__________________
~*~Erin~*~
SAHM, ranch wife, sub and quilt shop proprietress
the Back Gate Country Quilt Shop

Have you been driven along state highway 20? That highway drops less than a foot per mile between Newport and Norfolk. The elevation comes when you get out in the Western third. Its one of the reasons pivot irrigation systems are economiclly feasable in an area that would normally be quite an arid enviroment. That along with the Ogalalla Aquifer.
That being said, this talk about watching your dog run away is only meant as a joke. I hope you wouldn't take it too personal. I love Nebraska, its land, those large cottonwoods, the fertile loam soils and mostly its people.
Its where I came into this world, my family homesteaded lands from Glen (a ghost town now) to David City. They cut timber at Long Pine, that was sold for telegraph poles. There hasn't been a time since the 1870's that there hasn't been a member of my family in Rock and Holt counties. My passion runs deep in those lands.
Now I've given some of those secrets away.
By the way. If you go to the Museum of the Fur Trade, be sure and purchase seeds from some of the squash and pumpkin that they grow there. They are the results of many generations of natural selection.

__________________
That which is tolerated by the first generation is magnified in the next.

CIW

I grew up in Wayne and went to college in Chadron--I've driven the central 350 miles of highway 20 many times. General elevation might not change a whole lot, but 20 is a hilly drive most of the way across...
I wasn't taking the dog joke personally. I just didn't get how it was a joke. Unless of course you were making fun of those who seem to think Nebraska is flat.



BTW, small world! I know exactly where Glen is (was) and my mother comes from David City. My grandparents lived there until grandma's death a few years ago.

Personally, I've lived all over the state.
I grew up in eastern NE, but I married a Sandhills cowboy, so we've followed his itchy foot all over most of the western 2/3 of the state. lol
The southeast corner, by Omahanlincoln, is really the only part of the state I'm not extremely familiar with.

Otherwise, we have friends and family scattered all over the state.

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~*~Erin~*~
SAHM, ranch wife, sub and quilt shop proprietress
the Back Gate Country Quilt Shop

CIW-we are only 10 miles from Long Pine and it is a beautiful area. I think most people associate Nebraska with the drive along the interstate with nothing to see. It is far from that and our area of the sandhills is something people would enjoy seeing. Erin-I went to college at Chadron also and LOVE the area. Fort Robinson is great and South of Hay Springs is Little Ladybugs greenhouse ,they do CSA and sell at the market at Chadron on Saturdays. They have 5 high tunnels(maybe more by now)and a neat place to see.

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'This too shall pass'

Dawn,
Which way from Long Pine?
Back to the topic of the thread.
I was just thinking about another place that we enjoy camping in the summer. Just West of Long Pine you turn North on highway 183 and go to Springview. Make sure your fuel tank is full. In the middle of Springview turn West and follow County route 12 to Smith Falls. County route 12 can also be picked up at Valentine and comes East.
There isn't much said about it, but we sure have alot of fun down there on the river.
You can rent tubes or bring your own and float down the Niobrara River. Take a walk up to the falls. One time in the late part of the year we got a steel stock tank, and put a picnic table with a big umbrella mounted in the center, inside of it. The ladies sat and played cards while we floated in tubes. Enjoyed having one continual water fight. The tank gave us a place to keep coolers full of drinks and food. Stopped and had a picnic on a sand bar, out in the middle of the river. Sure was a good day. My cousin and his wife were waiting to pick us up below the bridge South of Springview. We went back to camp where about 60 other members of my family were waiting. That night we had a wonderful meal together that evening. Good times.
Theres a little place just East of Smith Falls, where they used to have a dance every Saturday night. That was also fun. More of an adult activity.
Theres the stock car races in Stuart on Saturday night. Hay Days in Atkinson the first week in August. The Madison County Fair, where the rodeo is always a good show. The rodeo in Crawford is also a good one. If you go to Chadron, and are camping, stay at Chadron State park, South of town. A very nice place, and they will have planned nature activities for the kids to. Long Pine has an annual Bluegrass Festival.
O'niell celebrates Saint Patricks Day. Be sure and wear green or you'll regret it.
From Chadron you can take Highway 385, North, 3 or 4 hours to Mount Rushmore.
From Highway 20 you can also go North to the Wounded Knee Memorial. But make sure to go to Fort Robinson first. You'll understand more about the Knee.
If your travelling along I-80 theres a museum in Hastings and a living history museum South of York. All along the interstate there are monuments about the pioneers journeys West. When you get to Ogalalla, there are alot of antique and collectable shops.
The Henry-Dorley Zoo is also fun if you are down around Omaha. The State Fair has just recently been moved to Akzarben Park in Grand Island.
If you look on the internet I'm sure you can find an estate auction going on most any weekend. They'e a ball.
The hunting in Nebraska is some of the most diversified around. We've shot Whitetail deer, Ducks, Pheasants, Prairie Chicken, and a turkey, all in the same weekend. They just had their first elk hunt in Keya Paha County a couple of years back. Out West you'll get into the Mule deer too.
One little piece of trivia. The town of Newport was literally built on a layer of hay. Every time they would try to build,the houses would sink. So they layed down a layer of prairie
hay, then brought fill dirt in on top of that.
She is a land of unlimited diversity.
Boy did this one go on. sorry to be so long winded.

__________________
That which is tolerated by the first generation is magnified in the next.

CIW

My youngest son runs trains from Fremont to North Platte. Says it gets more boring all the time. During harvest he watches the grain pile up, then he watches the piles go down.

CIW-we are west of Long Pine. The place you are talking about in the middle of nowhere (and it IS the middle of nowhere)has a dance every other Saturday night. It is at Norden in an old barn. They have redone the barn and it is amazing,alot of people show up of all ages. Have you ever been to Hidden Paradise by Long pine? Lots of cabins there,a few new ones going up. You covered alot of places in Nebraska. Thanks for sharing.Dawn

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'This too shall pass'

We visited the Pioneer Village two years ago and I highly recommend it! My ds went to Grand Island for a 4H event, and we had such a wonderful time exploring Nebraska and South Dakota - many hidden treasures for sure!

We also had no idea the historical significance Nebraska played in folks coming out west; the Great Platte River Road Archway was a very interesting place to visit as well.

Found the town of Valentine Nebraska cute; much like our own town here in WA, maybe that's why I liked it.

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Sometimes money costs too much.

I though it was kind of hokey, myself.
However, if you don't have time to leave the interstate, it's a good option!

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~*~Erin~*~
SAHM, ranch wife, sub and quilt shop proprietress
the Back Gate Country Quilt Shop

Yeah, I can see hokey too, but we were really into the whole "tourist" thing. I've spent my entire life on the west coast (save a few family vacations Oklahoma when I was a kid) so it was interesting to me :-)

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Sometimes money costs too much.

Well I'll admit, my kids absolutely loved it. In fact, every time we head across the state to Grandma and Grandpas, they ask if we can stop at the Arch.

__________________
~*~Erin~*~
SAHM, ranch wife, sub and quilt shop proprietress
the Back Gate Country Quilt Shop

When I was in Croatia in 2001 I got to got into the house where many of my grandfathers were born and the house in which my father's two oldest sisters were born. Very small buildings. Yet in the case of my father's mother, 11 people lived in the house at one time. I'm only 5'8" and had to duck through some of the doorways.

I returned to Croatia last week. However, it was to western not eastern. Mararska was an Adriatic seaside resort. Tourist are predominately from Eastern Europe, Germany and Switzerland. For some odd reason I expected them to be short - like me. Most of the women were taller than I am. I was told it was the result of better nutrition after WW-II (the American diet). Each generation a bit taller than the last.

(If you have chance read "Poland" by James Mitchner.)

Still I did not see the first person I would consider to be obese. Middle age spread a bit.