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Great Plains Quarterly Great Plains Studies, Center for

Spring 2001

The Great Road Archway Monument

Susan Wunder University of Nebraska-Lincoln, [email protected]

John R. Wunder University of Nebraska - Lincoln, [email protected]

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Wunder, Susan and Wunder, John R., "The Great Platte River Road Archway Monument" (2001). Great Plains Quarterly. 2231. https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/greatplainsquarterly/2231

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Great Plains Studies, Center for at DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. It has been accepted for inclusion in Great Plains Quarterly by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@University of Nebraska - Lincoln. REVIEW ESSAY

THE GREAT PLATTE RIVER ROAD ARCHWAY MONUMENT

The summer of 2000 marked the grand cation: Honors, a Few Laughs," focused on opening of the Great Platte River Road Arch­ economic development. Said a local develop­ way Monument just east of Kearney, Nebraska, ment official and member of the board of the on Interstate SO. Costing approximately $60 private foundation that built the thirty-foot­ million the site features exhibits on the his­ high arch, "It's going to serve as a big welcome tory of the American West in the first and mat for the state."2 Even discounting debat­ only "museum" to straddle an interstate high­ able geography, Kearney being nearly halfway way. At the 16 July grand opening, former across Nebraska in the center of the Great Nebraska Governor Frank Morrison, a spry Plains, entrance fees-$S.50 per adult, $ 7 per ninety-five years, reminisced before an audi­ child 3 to 11 and seniors 65 or over-may ence of over six hundred, including both of prove to be a deterrent. Nebraska's US senators and its current gover­ Absent from the general hoopla surround­ nor, about having realized his dream of honor­ ing the opening was any substantial attention ing the nation's westward movement. to the Monument's themes. Are the exhibits Coverage of the event in the state's two intellectually sound? Are they intelligible? leading newspapers was generally positive. The How historically accurate are the presenta­ Lincoln Journal Star noted that "while the de­ tions? Moreover, how might the Archway be­ sign and concept of the archway have been come a major educational site for the state's criticized by some, supporters hope the struc­ and the region's students and general public? ture entices some of an estimated 12 million How easily will teachers find the exhibits lend­ motorists who cross Nebraska on I-SO each ing themselves to classroom use? Such queries year."l Nebraska's reputation as the drive­ deserve exploration before we can venture to across state or fly-over land is always a con­ assess the overall value of Nebraska's newest cern to the region's tourist interests. The attraction. Omaha World-Herald used the occasion to praise the city of Kearney's boosterism with a HISTORY AT THE ARCHWAY color photo of the Arch at sunset gracing its front page article, "Kearney Always Looking Rounding a bend heading west on Inter­ Ahead." A second page article, "At Arch Dedi- state SO west of Gibbon just north of Fort

155 156 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, SPRING 2001

Kearny and two miles from the one and only found and that oxen were the best animals to city of Kearney exit, one is startled by a first draw a wagon. A videotaped bison stampede glimpse of the Great Platte River Road Arch­ quickly takes over our journey. way Monument. Eight stories tall and 308 feet Thus far this exhibit of the nineteenth-cen­ long, the building looks in some ways more tury West is carefully represented, seeming to like a stockade from seventeenth-century place viewers at the scene visually and liter­ Massachusetts than a Great Plains fort. There ally. Treatments of the , the is also a resemblance to a covered bridge; per­ Mormon migration, and the are haps those of Madison County, Iowa, were given modern, not mythic, renderings. Even factored into the design. Fort or bridge, it is a the hazards of the Oregon Trail are histori­ traffic stopper, this first museum monument cally accurate. We learn that one out of every permitted to lease air space over an interstate seventeen travelers died from accidents or highway. Indeed, it has stopped so much traf­ cholera, the two greatest killers on the Trail, fic that warning signs now appear on both and that Indians suffered severely from the sides of the interstate imploring motorists to diseases overlanders introduced. From 1841 pay attention and not drive off the road or to 1866, 350,000 people traveled the Platte stop under penalty of fine. River roads. Exiting and following the signs Five murals dominate the view as we move to ample parking spaces, one encounters a further into the structure. There are moun­ number of psychedelic tip is situated several tain men, featuring African American fur hundred yards from the Monument. No ex­ trader Jim Beckwourth, again, and planation for their appearance or placement the rendezvous. There is "Golden Country," is offered. Visitors' first impressions may be representing John Sutter's discovery, the di­ puzzlement. Billed as a place to experience versity of the throng that responded, and the history, not as South Dakota's Wall Drug or impact of the Gold Rush upon California's Corn Palace, the Archway needs to make up Native peoples. Then we meet the Mormons, for these initial oddities quickly. It does. with -announcing "This is the Upon entering the Monument and buying place!" to signify Utah-and Emmeline Wells, tickets, visitors are immediately struck by a Mormon women's rights advocate. A fourth huge escalator moving skyward about to carry mural, ironically titled "The Land of Milk and them into what looks like the opening of a Honey," depicts the doom that befell the covered wagon. Touring the building involves Donner Party. Here we hear the words of wearing electronic headphones that transmit N arcissa Whitman and Eliza Spaulding, a script coordinated to each exhibit wherever spouses of missionaries who traveled the Platte one is inside the Monument. The West awaits.3 River Road, and Bridget Mason, a black woman At the top of the escalator, the sounds of a journeying to the Pacific Northwest. The last typical Plains rain storm, replete with thunder mural, "Winds of Change," successfully illus­ and flashing light, can be heard. Jim Bridger, trates the diversity of the indigenous presence the fur trapper and mountain man, is our his­ in the West, the problems migrants and set­ toric guide. We meet a young girl who kept an tlers caused them, and the continuity modern Oregon Trail journal; we learn that Indians Indians represent today, with quotes from inhabited the Platte Valley; we are told this River bison rancher Fred region was well-traveled by many seeking land Dubray and author N. Scott Momaday. in Oregon, religious freedom in Utah, and gold Generally, the Monument builders have in California. Initial maps in the first exhibit gotten the story right, despite a few sins of are minuscule, but better maps will appear later omission. There is an assumption, for example, in the tour. We hear that Indians showed that white immigration was monolithic; there Jedidiah Smith where could be is no attention to linguistic diversity, both REVIEW ESSAY 157 among Indian nations and European emigrants. At this point the audio blares our first dra­ But at the Archway the typical sins of com­ matic patriotic theme. What the Platte River mission, the misrepresentations of history too Road is all about is "freedom"-the freedom many museums and historic sites offer their to travel. "The Great Platte River Road helped visitors, are rare. build a country." We learn that the drive­ At the Monument's next attraction we are through land "fed the restless spirit of a pio­ introduced to the , the railroad, neer nation on the move." We hear Woody and the overland stage. Particularly arresting Guthrie singing about this land for you and is the video reenactment of express riders me. There is a crescendo of patriotic music. moving the mail. The railroad exhibits are We hear John F. Kennedy talking about how thoroughly developed, an appropriate ac­ "man cannot be deterred," a reference to the knowledgment of the presence of the Union moon landing. There is talk of the Internet­ Pacific in Nebraska and the Plains. Once the the modern information highway-and the golden spike is driven into the last railroad tie construction of the first transcontinental at Promontory Point by Leland Stanford, how­ fiberoptic cable along the Great Platte River ever, the viewer is in for some startling leaps Road. And then we hear Martin Luther King of faith. Transitions are rickety, suggesting the Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech and a few words Archway designers themselves sensed a missed from Neil Armstrong. "The freedom to go opportunity to enlarge upon the American anywhere," the narrator intones, "is imbedded epic. in our nation." The pioneer spirit endures into From 1869 we jump to 1912 and the con­ the present. struction of the . The transi­ Now we hear powwow music. Indians re­ tional theme, the transcontinental driver, main Indians though we are not told that dur­ while engaging, needs greater development. ing part of the twentieth century they were Saying the prairie schooner wagon was re­ not free to travel off their reservations. And placed by an auto prairie schooner does not we are not told that traveling the Oregon Trail in itself make it seem so. Still the Lincoln required resources, a situation those wishing Highway exhibit is effectively done, down to to see the Archway may appreciate. Nor are the accurate license plates on old cars. Tour­ we told about George Washington Bush, a free­ ism, an apposite theme to develop here, also born African American who sought land in has roots in the nineteenth-century West, Oregon but once arriving in the Willamette though this link too is unexplored. But no Valley was forced to flee north with his wagon sooner do we end the Lincoln Highway than train to avoid imprisonment. Oregon did not we are driving on the Interstate and entering like slavery, but it also prohibited black Ameri­ the 1950s, the age of Eisenhower (native son cans from settling in the territory. of the Plains one state south), of drive-in Exiting the Great Platte River Road Arch­ movies and coffee pot-shaped diners. A Gene way Monument, one ruminates on the sounds Autry movie is playing at the drive-in, a curi­ and sights that have only recently been in­ ous anomaly. From a reconstructed 1950s gested. Much has been set on the table, but highway diner, we can look down on the cars the meal seems incomplete. Perhaps the passing underneath the Archway and monitor Archway's directors felt the need to open with­ their speeds with a radar gun. From 1950 to out everything quite in place, like a cathedral the present, it appears, not much happened never to be completed. Monument officials, on the Great Platte River Road.4 The exhibit however, say that it is finished. On the whole, ends with a huge map of the United States on this is an exhibition hall-a monument-that which each of the various roads electroni­ has a chance to make its mark. Its treatment cally blinks its path through the Platte Val­ of the nineteenth-century West is historically ley. accurate and done with great care. Its rush 158 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, SPRING 2001 through the twentieth century lacks the same when inquiry is key to their studies. When richness, but some revisions here and addi­ given opportunities to construct relevant tions there could make a qualitative differ­ questions and seek out answers, students not ence. only learn factual information, but also de­ velop complex concepts about understanding LEARNING AT THE ARCHWAY the past. Primary documents and artifacts are particularly potent stimuli for such historical The Great Platte River Road Archway inquiry, and the Archway is generous in its Monument lends itself to both informal and use of quotes from such documents authored formal learning. Many who come to the Monu­ by a wide variety of individuals associated ment will be traveling with family and friends, with the Great Platte River Road. Excerpts not taking a school trip; yet even an un­ from diaries (including that of the young girl planned stop is apt to be educational. Stu­ on the Oregon Trail) and other original dents will likely visit the Monument in classes sources enhance the taped narrative. Includ­ with their teachers, usually in conjunction ing fuller versions of these journals, speeches, with related history lessons. Such visits could and songs in the educational materials could become part of a long-standing tradition in only augment the potential for learning. Nebraska-the annual day trip to the State No artifacts are available for hands-on ex­ Capitol, the Museum of Nebraska History, and amination at the Archway. Visitors are told the University of Nebraska State Museum by staff at the entrance not to touch anything. (fondly known as Elephant Hall), especially While each display is carefully and realisti­ during fourth grade when state studies are cally recreated (Mormons shown dragging a emphasized. wagon from a river have ice on their fingers), Research and experience tell us that such and while preservation and protection of dis­ field trips engender the most memorable learn­ plays is certainly understandable, visitors miss ing when preceded by classroom activities re­ out on any opportunity for tactile involve­ lated to the sites to be visited. Students can ment. Preparation of traveling kits that in­ then scaffold the information they encounter clude authentic or replicated artifacts would during their visit on an already-established be a valuable project for the educational advi­ knowledge base. Similarly, post-visit discus­ sory commission to consider. sions and lessons necessarily help students in­ Adaptable technology, particularly in the terpret, retain, and make sense of their form of CD-ROMs and other software, would experience. Many historic sites and museums also be fruitful. With so many students already prepare such pre- and post-visit materials for technologically sophisticated, intereacting teachers to use with their students. According with computers would allow them to inquire to a Monument foundation official, an Arch­ more deeply into the lives of people and events way educational advisory commission, chaired featured on the tour. Only one opportunity by University of Nebraska at Kearney Chan­ currently exists for visitors to interact with a cellor Gladys Styles Johnston, is in the pro­ display-a three-button panel affording cess of preparing classroom materials related choices about a journey West. Auditory and to the site. A set of four lesson plans designed visual stimuli, however, will no doubt engage for use in Nebraska fourth grade classrooms and delight young visitors as well as adults. was proposed for fall of 2000. The commis­ Teachers will notice quickly how difficult it is sion is also looking ahead to preparing addi­ to listen to the taped narration, observe the tional materials for older students at a later displays, and read the written material simul­ date.s taneously and will need to allow sufficient time Studies have also shown that students learn for students to tend to and process all that is facts and develop an understanding of history happening. REVIEW ESSAY 159

Groups are asked to give the Archway ad­ tinues to happen in Kearney, in Nebraska, and vance notice of upcoming visits, and a reduc­ in the Great Plains region would imply a vi­ tion in admission is offered those with fifteen brant place surviving and thriving beyond the or more members. No additional personnel or construction ofInterstate 80 in the 1950s and services, however, are available to school or 1960s. School children and other visitors could other groups visiting for a formal educational be offered reasons why locals have stayed. experience. While the inclusion of the fiberoptic network hints at the present and the possible future CONCLUSION contribution of the Great Platte River Road, the Monument's essential message suggests A recent national survey found that Ameri­ that this was and continues to be a place to cans frequently identify with the past because travel across. they believe they "uncover 'real' or 'true' his­ The promotional card announcing the tory at museums and historic sites."6 The same opening of the Great Platte River Road Arch­ study determined that the majority of Ameri­ way Monument refers to it as "America's Great cans are not only interested in the past, but Trailblazing Adventure!" It may soon no also actively involved in learning, uncover­ longer be the only interstate-spanning histori­ ing, or re-creating it from such materials as cal monument, however. Recently announced photographs, books, and movies. Indeed, 57% are plans to build a Great Texas Trails Monu­ of Americans surveyed have visited a history ment across Interstate 35 in Hillsboro, Texas, museum or historic site during the previous near Dallas,7 to honor the and twelve months; and of those, 56% indicated longhorn cattle drives in a facility in the shape they felt highly connected to the past when of a monumental longhorn. Already facing they did so. The same respondents ranked imitation, the Great Platte River Road Arch­ museums the highest in trustworthiness of way Monument is special, a Kearney Chamber sources from a list including personal accounts, of Commerce officer hastened to remind pro­ college and high school history instructors, spective visitors, because it is located at the nonfiction books, and movies and television. convergence of several trails. Greg Smith, a Visitors to the Archway will find their trust former Nebraska tourism official, reassured well-placed in the historical content of the Archway enthusiasts by characterizating this exhibits. unique Plains phenomenon as "the absolute History at the Great Platte River Road pinnacle in impulse tourism marketing."8 Archway Monument is generally accurate, Although no attendance figures have been inclusive, and of educational value. The ma­ released by Monument management, at least terial is presented through stimulating and one visitor came away impressed. Wrote Presi­ engaging sights and sounds. Nevertheless, in dent Bill Clinton in the Archway guest regis­ addition to wishing for hands-on displays, one ter during his only visit to Nebraska as chief is also left wondering about two obvious voids. executive, "This is a fantastic place."9 We learn nothing about the Great Platte River itself along which the multiple pathways grew. SUSAN A. WUNDER All visitors, be they students or traveling Center for Curriculum and Instruction adults, would surely have their understanding University of Nebraska-Lincoln enlarged by vital information on this water­ way commonly known for being "a mile wide JOHN R. WUNDER and an inch deep." Visitors may also leave Department of History with the sense that this place celebrated by University of Nebraska-Lincoln the Archway was important only in the past. An overview of what has happened and con- 160 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, SPRING 2001

NOTES cable follows the Great Platte River Road; and 2000-0pening the Great Platte River Road Arch­ 1. Lincoln Journal Star, 17 July 2000, p. 3B. way Monument. 2. Omaha World-Herald, 17 July 2000, pp. 1-2. 5. Telephone interview with Jeff Smith, Great The height from the bottom of the Archway to I­ Platte River Road Memorial Foundation, Omaha, SO is thirty feet. The Archway's highest point is Nebraska, by Susan Anderson Wunder, 25 July eighty feet above the highway. 2000. 3. The pamphlet handed out with tickets at the 6. Roy Rosenweig and David Thelen, The Pres­ Great Platte River Road Archway Monument im­ ence of the Past: Popular Uses of History in American plores visitors to "hitch up your wagons, be a forty Life (New York: Columbia University Press, 1995), niner, get caught in a buffalo stampede, ride with p.32. the pony express, [and] link up with the Lincoln 7. "Next arch may wear longhorns," Lincoln Highway." Journal Star, 21 December 2000. 4. The poster, "Great Moments on the Great S. Paul Hammel, "Arch Rival in Texas Bigger­ Platte River Road," copyrighted by the Great Platte but Not First," Omaha World-Herald, 21 December River Road Memorial Foundation, 2000, lists eigh­ 2000. teen "great moments" in a timeline, fourteen in the 9. Nancy Hicks, "Clinton's Archway Visit 'like nineteenth century, but only four in the twentieth, Christmas morning,'" Lincoln Journal Star, 9 De­ including 1915-Lincoln Highway, the first trans­ cember 2000. See also "No. 50 for the 42nd presi­ continental highway, follows the pioneer's route; dent," Daily Nebraskan, 11 December 2000, and 1960-Construction of Interstate SO in Nebraska Tara Deering, "Nebraskans Turn Out to Hail the begins; 19S5-the first transcontinental fiberoptic Chief," Omaha World-Herald, 9 December 2000.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

The illustration is courtesy of The Great Platte River Road Memorial Foundation. For more information about The Great Platte River Road Archway Monument, contact the ticket office at Archway Monument, One Archway Parkway, Kearney, NE 68847; phone: (308) 237-1000 or toll free at (877) 511-ARCH; website: .