Old West Trail Country Home

Flooding along the Old West Trail - 6/23/2011

It's very difficult to watch from afar the difficulties that the people and places along the Old West Trail are facing from the flooding this spring and summer. Minot, Pierre, Sioux City, Omaha and others are facing the wrath of the winter snowmelt from the rockies and the torrents of spring rains as the Mighty Mo and other rivers exceed the banks and levies providing protection. We hope and pray that the folks heed the warnings and seek higher ground, away from the record water levels.

101 Things to do in Wyobraska - 11/10/2010

The Scottsbluff Star Herald published a fantastic article called "101 Things To Do IN Wyobraska". A great many items mentioned in article have been long time locations along the Old West Trail. Of course, the article stops at #75 but it probably has to do more with space considerations at the website and not the fact that they ran out of ideas at #75.

Among the Old West Trail locations mentioned are:

1 - Toadstool Park outside of Crawford, NE
3 - Scotts Bluff National Monument in Scottsbluff, NE
7 - Fort Robinson Intertribal Gathering at Fort Robinson State Park, NE
11 - Oregon Trail Ruts in Guernsey, WY
18 - Drives along the state of Nebraska's Scenic Byways
22 - Wildlife viewing at Fort Robinson near Crawford, NE
31 - Paddle in a pond at Chadron State Park in Chadron, NE
43 - Wildcat Hills Nature Center at the recreation center
58 - Museum of the Fur Trade in Chadron, NE
66 - Fort Laramie National Historic Site in Fort Laramie, WY

I really like #5, #10 and #47, being a fan of old movie theaters and drive in's.

Now, in all fairness, the blog writer at happystinkingjoy has a rebuttal to the article that I thought was pretty dang funny and thought I would post it as well. And considering that he is probably a little closer to most of the mentioned locations, his vent deserves some degree of coverage and while I may disagree what some of his thoughts, he does make some good points.

Either way, the Star Herald article is not a bad read and could definitely give you some ideas out in that part of the Old West Trail.

Once in a Lifetime Rail Travel Trip from the UPRR Museum in Council Bluffs - 8/13/2010

The Union Pacific Railroad Museum is offering a once in a lifetime opportunity to ride on a round-trip from Council Bluffs, Iowa to North Platte, Nebraska on some of the cars in the UP Business Car fleet in celebration of it’s 50th Anniversary. The excursion will be pulled by No. 844, Union Pacific’s living legend steam locomotive. Some of the business cars being pulled on the 15 hour trip include the “City of San Francisco”, the “Walter Dean”, the “City of Portland”, the “Columbine” and the “Katy Flyer”.

Ticket prices range from $200 - $1000 and include a lunch and dinner. Each of the passenger cars is unique and represent a variety of era’s of passenger train travel throughout history. Very few companies in the history of the United States can boast of their heritage and history like the Union Pacific Railroad can and this trip give individuals the opportunity to experience that history first hand.

The trip will take place on November 13, 2010 and tickets are available online from the Museum Excursion website beginning on August 17th, 2010 at 10:00 AM Central time. Visit the website to get more information and to see images of the individual passenger cars that are available for the trip.

Link to the UPRR Museum website

Link to the UP Steam Excursion website

Union Pacific Museum to open Passenger Train Exhibit - 1/28/2010

Long gone are the days when travel by passenger train was the preferred way of getting from city to city. Even during the 50's & 60's, travel by airplane was out of the price range for most non-business travelers and travel by car was often too time consuming to travel a great distance. Travel by train was fast, reliable and cost-effective for those wishing to get away for business or pleasure.

The Union Pacific Museum, one of the stops along the Old West Trail and now located in Council Bluffs, Iowa, will be creating an exhibit to celebrate this era in travel called "America Travels by Rail". The permanent exhibit will open in the spring of 2010 and will be located on the top floor of the Museum.

According to Beth Lindquist, director of the museum, the exhibit will talk about the heyday of passenger travel and streamline trains. A lot of trains for the Union Pacific were called Streamliners. Council Bluffs is also home to the Union Pacific's corporate business fleet of passenger trains and can sometimes be seen at the rail yard in Council Bluffs.

Pony Express Annual Re-ride Celebrates American Bravery & Endurance - July 14, 2009

The National Pony Express Association is currently conducting their annual re-ride from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacremento, CA, retracing the 1,966 mile historical route from July 9 - July 19 this year. The re-ride is a 10 day, 24 hour per day non-stop event commemorating the Pony Express from 1860-61 along the National Pony Express Historical Trail, and is the longest event held annually on any historic trail in the United State.

The National Pony Express Association is an all-volunteer, non-profit historical organization for the purpose of identifying, reestablishing and marking the original pony express trail through the eight states it served: California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Nebraska, Kansas, and Missouri.

The Scottsbluff Star-Herald article by Tanya Weiser details the festivities of the Western Nebraska Division as they re-enacted their 64 mile portion of the re-ride which also celebrated the Scotts Bluff National Monument 90th Anniversary.

It's incredible that an American symbol of bravery and endurance such as the Pony Express, so deeply ingrained in our history, education and folklore, really only lasted for 19 months. It proved that a transcontinental communication system could be successful as well as provided the foundation of telegraph lines and eventually the transcontinental railroad.

Final goodbye's to Johnny and Ed - June 23, 2009

OK... so you've had a great day of driving and sightseeing along the Old West Trail and you settle down into your hotel room with the family and turn on the black and white in-room TV for some evening entertainment (from your choice of 3 channels). Maybe Mission Impossible is on tonight and is followed by the local news from wherever you might be.

It rolls around to 10:30... the kids have drifted off to sleep and you and your spouse are greeted by the sound of Ed McMahon's familiar voice saying "Heeeeeeeeerrrr's Johnny",… and all is right with the world once again. With the loss of Ed McMahon today, America has lost another great link to our past from a simpler time and place.

The Tonight Show of the last 15 years has been a place of entertainers hawking their latest book or movie. When was the last time that Dave, Jay or Conan had on someone that didn't have something to sell? During Johnny's time, guests were friends of his, people that would stop by when they could get away from a movie shoot, Grandma’s who had won first prize at a state fair or Jim Fowler bringing on a member of his menagerie of wild animals. Johnny and Ed were the guys that you gladly invited into your life every night. They never wore their politics on their sleeve and could always be counted on to laugh along with their guests instead of at them.

I’m the first person to understand that all things change, sometimes for the better … but not always. I would much rather watch a re-run of Johnny every night rather than the current crop of late-night hosts. I honestly wish that whoever the rights-holder of The Tonight Show episodes from Johnny’s era is, they would allow them to be shown in sequence on a nightly basis . They should show the good and the not so good, because part of the fun were the nights when monologs would bomb or a skit wouldn’t go off exactly to plan.

So here’s to you Johnny and Ed… thank you for being there for us for all those years.

Great Website for traveling with children in mind - June 19, 2009

I discovered a new travel blog that is dedicated to "finding fun with four kids". Many of the places she reviews and blogs about are in the upper midwest & plains states, including some that are also along the Old West Trail. Some of the locations that Linda talks about are

"The Medora Musical" which was the follow-up show to "Roosevelt's Life in the Badlands" and "Old Four-Eyes" in Medora, ND
"The Worlds Largest Buffalo" in Jamestown, ND

This site also features other writers from around the country that relate their travel experiences and locations with kids, what to expect, how to travel frugally, and places that are very "kid" friendly.

Linda's recent North Dakota trip travel log is a very well written piece and helps me to remember a couple of vacations when my kids were of similar ages to hers. I look forward to reading more of her experiences in the future.

True West Magazine article on Extreme Western History Adventures - May 13, 2009

Jana Bommersbach has a great article on True West Magazine's website that lists some fantastic trips and adventures that put you in the heart of the Old West Trail experience. Imagine yourself as a member of Custer's 7th Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Bighorn or volunteering and living among the Native Americans on the Blackfeet Reservation in Glacier National Park. You can travel the Oregon, Mormon or California trails in pioneer wagons while experiencing the Battle of Red Buttes between United States soldiers and the Sioux. Your family can celebrate the lifestyles of Mountain Men and Fur Traders at the 1838 Rendezvous as well as travel over the Grand Tetons in a covered wagon train.

Take a few minutes to read Jana's excellent article and perhaps make your plans for your next great adventure. Article was updated by Steve Shaw in May of 2010.

Roadside America entry for Bedrock City in Custer, SD. - April 23, 2009

Roadside America has done it again with a nice article on Bedrock City in Custer, SD. These guys are without a doubt, some of the best in the world at understanding and appreciating the value of retaining and these links to our past. While the Flintstones may not be appreciated by anyone under the age of 25, there is a vast segment of American's that grew up with Fred, Wilma, Barney, Betty and the rest of the Bedrock gang. This roadside experience appears to have held it's own very well over the years and it seems that the owners have taken very good care of this piece of Americana. Built in 1966, Bedrock City was definitely built in the spirit and era of attractions to be visited along the Old West Trail.

Please see more on the Old West Trail County page for Mount Rushmore or at Roadside America.com.

Nebraska ranks as the top state in the Happiness Index - April 6, 2009

According to mainstreet.com, Nebraska now ranks as the top state in the Happiness Index. The index, which looks at issues such as household income, debt, employment and foreclosures, is all about which states are best weathering the current economic turmoil. The current edition of the Happiness Index suggests that the plains states are the main sources of financial happiness. Iowa and Kansas came in at number 2 & 3 respectively in the blended averages.

As far as the other states in the Old West Trail, Wyoming came in at 7th, South Dakota at 8th, North Dakota at 11th and Montana at number 15.

Mainstreet.com is a site that provides a wide range of financial information around smart spending, investing and money management strategies, career planning, retirement and small business management, and is part of TheStreet.com's network of financial media enterprises.

Please see the entire article at http://www.mainstreet.com/article/moneyinvesting/news/happiness-index-nebraska-nabs-top-spot

A bit of history from 1888 - Yellowstone “Park” - April 4, 2009

“Yellowstone Park is a large tract of county, embracing some thousands of acres, on the borders of Dakota and Montana territories, chiefly noted for its “Geysers,” or hot mineral springs and its splendid scenery. A company has been formed, and is actively employed in laying out the grounds, erecting handsome buildings, and taking active means to insure its popularity and success as a health resort, conducted on the basis of the German watering spas.”

From the book “Knowledge Wisdom Power or A Universe of Thought and Fact” embracing History Science, Art and Literature, Published by W.M. Patterson & Co. in 1888.

Wyoming takes 3rd on the overall Well Being Index of all 50 States - March 11, 2009

The state of Wyoming placed 3rd on the overall Well Being Index out of all 50 states, with only Hawaii and Utah placing higher according to a poll done by the Gallup Organization. The index is a built by measuring life evaluation, emotional health, physical health, healthy behavior, work environment and basic access. According to the data, Wyoming ranked:

4th in Life Evaluation	4th in Work Quality
28th in Basic Access	14th in Healthy Behavior
2nd in Physical Health	3rd in Emotional Health

Overall, the western states ranked significantly higher than eastern or southern regions, with the Ohio Valley and Mississippi River states ranking the lowest. For the Old West Trail states, South and North Dakota ranked the lowest in terms of overall Well Being. I wonder if they called the folks at Wall Drug.

You can see the article from Gallup at http://www.ahiphiwire.org/wellbeing/ or at this link.

Discovered some great new sites - March 10, 2009

Mark Jackson has a great site he started a few years back that led to an interesting hobby. His site called Eccentric America is a fantastic collection of photos of roadside oddities and attractions that really celebrate eye-catching kitsch, many of which will be represented on this website as I continue to build it. I love his comments on Dinosaur Park in Rapid City.

Brian Butko is an author and editor of several books on Americana, many focusing on the history of The Lincoln Highway, roadside Diners and Drive-in Movie theaters. I’m looking forward to reading some of his titles and I have listed them on the Old West Trail Amazon Store for purchase or you can order them from his website as well.

Diner City is a page that is focused on current roadside diners, some of which are historic and some of which are new but very retro and celebrate the sprit of 50’s and 60’s diners.

Kipp Sherer and Jennifer Sherer's resource for drive-in movie information at drive-ins.com is a fantastic site for drive-in movie theaters all across the United States, as well as great collection of online exhibits featuring the history and current state of drive-ins. Their affection for drive-in theaters is evident in the work they do on their website.

The American Roadside is a site that has listings, photo galleries and news about many great roadside locations across the U.S. They also have a blog feed that I will start following.

Cinema Treasures is a website dedicated to the discovery, preservation and protection of movie palaces across America. Patrick Crowley and Ross Melnick are the co-founders of the site have done a great job of documenting great places to see both current run films as well as re-releases and special showings of historic classics.

Swarm of Earthquakes hit Yellowstone National Park - February 19, 2009

Scientists monitoring seismic activity around Yellowstone are reporting a series of small but frequent earthquakes around the national park, causing concern that they may be a sign of something bigger to come. These earthquake swarms are not out of the ordinary, but to happen over a series of days like this are very unusual. Yellowstone National Park is the caldera of a large volcano that last erupted 700,000 years ago and the geologic formations within the park are stark reminders of the geological activities occurring just below the surface. Seismic activity in the park caused the Hebgen Lake earthquake on August 31, 1959, which killed 28 people. See the article on the earthquake swarms here on Fox News.com and here on USNews.com. Additional information on the Hebgen Lake earthquake can be found on this site.

Old West Trail Country

Where the History of the Great Plains comes Alive