toadstool park in Nebraska

Day 240 – Nebraska Heartland (Part 2)

Day 240 of Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways
Fort Robinson

Another enjoyable day in Nebraska…though most of the interesting sites I’ve seen have been within 100 miles of each other, and I have driven over 600 miles over a few days to see them!

We started out today at Fort Robinson where I camped last night.  The campground is the site of one of the most tragic events at the fort, the Cheyenne Outbreak.  Forcibly sent to Indian Territory in Oklahoma, a band of Northern Cheyenne, led by Dull Knife, escaped and fled across the plains of Kansas and Nebraska. The 149 men, women, and children were finally captured by troops from the fort in October 1878. 

Told they would have to return to the Indian Territory, they tried escaping again on January 9, 1879. The men opened fire on the guards with the few guns they had hidden away as the women and children fled toward the White River.  Many of the Cheyenne fell in the battle, one of the last of the Indian War.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
scotts bluff

Day 239 – Platte River Road

Day 239 of Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

Today’s scenic drive on the Platte River Road led me to a variety of rock formations.  Given rocks fascinate me, I was pleasantly surprised with the western portion of Nebraska. I probably drove close to 150 miles before I made my first stop.  Sometimes I like that, as I can zone out and listen to music or to books on CD…Stephen King’s The Dome is the current choice.  Not surprisingly, it is weird.

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!
sand hills

Day 238 – Nebraska Heartland

Day 238 of Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways

Broken Bow

This morning we left Grand Island and headed northwest up Highway 2 in gusting winds through corn fields and farmland to Broken Bow, so named for a broken Indian bow found nearby. The winds are so strong in this area that trees are planted along the highways as windbreaks.  The Broken Bow area came to be known as the Sod House Frontier, as when settlers first moved to the nearly treeless area, they built their homes, corals, pig pens, churches and school out of sod.  Today the town is
small and modernized, relatively speaking. We stopped near the courthouse to snatch a cache…Nebraska checked off the list!

ON THE ROAD AGAIN!