on location: midwest O randy mink NEBRASKA’S FRONTIER TRAILS our groups cruising through the heart of Nebraska don’t have to T stray far from the superhighway to get a taste of early life on the prairie. In fact, one attraction actually bridges Interstate 80. Meandering 455 miles between Omaha and the Wyoming border, this transcontinental corridor follows the route taken by 19th century settlers in covered wagons as they trekked west- ward on the Oregon, California and Mormon trails. Pony Express riders, stagecoaches, steam locomotives and automobile drivers on the Lincoln Highway (America’s first cross-country road) also followed the path, much of it paralleling the Platte River. In the same pioneering spirit, today’s travelers can blaze their own trail across the Great Plains, sampling a number of historical places a short hop from I-80 exits. A recreated 1880s street in Ogallala invites visions of the Wild West. JUST OFF INTERSTATE 80, GROUP-FRIENDLY ATTRACTIONS Nebraska DED Photos Nebraska Take a journey back in time at the Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer (left) and Great Platte River Road Archway. 28 December 2010 LeisureGroupTravel.com Interstate 80 meets the Platte River at Grand Island, home architect Edward Durell Stone. American Indian and Old of the Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer, a 200-acre liv- West artifacts are displayed in Fonner Rotunda. The recon- ing history complex. In Railroad Town, a village of 60 histor- structed Pawnee earth lodge offers a glimpse into Nebraska’s ical buildings, visitors explore shops, period homes and barns only indigenous tribe. among townspeople demonstrating crafts and going about Harold Warp’s Pioneer Village in Minden, southwest of their daily lives. One home is the birthplace of actor Henry Grand Island and 12 miles south of I-80, houses one of the Fonda. See a multi-media presentation and exhibits about world’s largest collections of Americana. With more than 50,000 Nebraska history in the Stuhr Building, designed by noted antiques in 26 buildings, the attraction was started in 1953 by Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer in Grand Island is one of the Midwest's most celebrated living history museums. BRING ALIVE THE STATE’S COLORFUL PIONEERING PAST Frontier days come into focus at the Stuhr Museum's hardware store and Fort Kearny State Historical Park. LeisureGroupTravel.com December 2010 29 I REDISCOVER THE ROAD TRIP IN NEBRASKA. IN NEBRASKA, YOU CAN RECAPTURE THE MAGIC OF ROAD TRIPS PAST. With so many fun places to visit, it’s easy to let loose and relive the good times. So what are you waiting for? 888-444-1867, Dept. 1LGC Nebraska Department of Economic Development’s Travel and Tourism Division on location: midwest O Warp, the youngest of 12 children of Norwegian immigrants who grew up on the Nebraska prairie. He made his for- tune as a plastics manufacturer. Buildings at Pioneer Village include a sod house, log cabin, Pawnee earth lodge, 1872 railway depot, original Pony Express station and a general store stocked with 19th century mer- chandise. Craftspeople demonstrate weaving, spinning and broom making. A collection of 350 antique cars, 20 air- planes and 100 tractors also sweeps vis- itors back to yesteryear, and they can see examples of seven generations of American kitchens since the 1830s. In the town of Minden, groups might be able to catch a show at the newly reno- vated 1891 Minden Opera House. Scout's Rest Ranch in North Platte was the home of Buffalo Bill Cody. Kearney (pronounced “CAR-nee”) is famous as the location of Great Military history buffs like Fort Sod House Museum and an original Platte River Road Archway, a monu- Kearny State Historical Park, the site Pony Express Station. ment to America’s pioneering spirit and of a frontier outpost on the Oregon Visions of the Old West captivate freedom of mobility. A log bridge span- Trail that housed a Pony Express and groups at Buffalo Bill Ranch State ning I-80, it offers an entry movie and stagecoach station. The recreated stock- Historical Park in North Platte. On 16 interactive exhibits about westward mi- ade has a sod blacksmith shop and acres of the original ranch of William gration—in wagon trains, stagecoaches, powder magazine. The park is a good F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody, visitors can tour cars and trains. Visitors experience a spot for viewing the sand hill crane mi- the three-story Victorian home and a buffalo stampede, a “prairie schooner” gration in March and early April. barn with faded promotional posters of journey and a frontier fort. The Lincoln Gothenburg, west of Kearney on I-80, Cody’s famous Wild West Show, which Highway exhibit showcases a 1914 is the “Pony Express Capital of Ne- became an international phenomenon Model T Ford and 1927 Oldsmobile. braska,” offering such attractions as the in the late 1800s. The ranch was a rest- TOUR OPTIONS ABOUND IN NEBRASKA TOWNS LIKE Early forms of transportation are displayed at Harold Warp's Pioneer Village (left) and Cody Park Railroad Museum. 32 December 2010 LeisureGroupTravel.com Canteen, a World War II hospitality center that served soldiers passing through town on the train. Fort Cody Trading Post, at the I-80/Highway 83 interchange, bills itself as “Nebraska’s largest souvenir and Western gift store. The Wild West lives on at Front Street and Cowboy Museum, a recre- ated 1880s street that recalls the rowdy past of Ogallala, a cowtown once nick- named the “Gomorrah of the Plains.” On summer nights after watching a shootout on the street, tourists move indoors for the Crystal Palace Revue, a Western stage show. The attraction also has a restaurant, bar and gift shop. Other sights in Ogallala include Boot Hill Cemetery, where many cowboys Check out the Pawnee earth lodge at Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer. were buried with their boots on, and Mansion on the Hill, one of the finest ing place for many of the performers memorabilia at Cody Park Railroad examples of Victorian architecture in and animals. Check out the park’s small Museum, located in a park along the Nebraska. herd of bison. Another 233 acres of the North Platte River, a site where Bill For modern-day trailblazers in the ranch is a state recreation area with pic- Cody staged his first rodeos. North Cornhusker State, Western lore and nicking, camping and hiking. Platte Rail Fest, an annual event in good old-fashioned nostalgia await— Also in North Platte is Golden September, made the American Bus just off the exit. LGT Spike Tower and Visitor Center, an Association’s Top 100 Events in North eight-story observation tower that America list for 2011. North Platte’s Obtain Nebraska visitor guides overlooks Bailey Yard, the “world’s Lincoln County Historical Museum and itineraries – largest rail yard” and focal point of the has artifacts that relate to Native and contact group- friendly suppliers Union Pacific Railroad system. Rail Americans and early settlers, and it directly – at fans can peruse vintage equipment and documents the legendary North Platte leisuregrouptravel.com/instant-info GRAND ISLAND, MINDEN, KEARNEY AND NORTH PLATTE The Stuhr Museum's one-room schoolhouse and Great Platte River Road Archway provide peeks into Nebraska's past. 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