Westward Ho!

We saw the beginning of the Oregon Trail in Independence, Missouri, so now we have moved on to Nebraska to see some landmarks that those early settlers saw. On the drive from Missouri to Nebraska we passed through a corner of Iowa:

Strangely, there was no WELCOME sign when we went into Nebraska! We spent single nights at a couple of different campgrounds before arriving at our real destination. But first we stopped at a museum that had a very diverse collection of things- from vignettes of old stores and businesses, to taxidermy animals, telephones and wedding dresses through the ages, old vehicles and farm equipment, and items used by early settlers- it was amazing! But the most amazing thing was information about German POW camps in Nebraska during WWII! We had never heard of them, but there was a large exhibit of information:

There were several camps, and this one went into operation in October 1943. There were 342 officers and enlisted people working there, and soon 150 civilians were added. Nearly 100,000 German prisoners passed through this camp! Less than 10% of the prisoners were Nazi sympathizers, and once it was realized they were friendly and willing to work, they took on jobs that would have been done by Americans, had they not been soldiers fighting in the war! The prisoners worked in stores and on farms, in construction, bakeries, manufacturing, and as auto mechanics! The prisoners volunteered to do the work they wanted, and they were given good living conditions and were paid for the work they did. Here is a painting of the camp:

All of the building look the same because they are- all of the prisoners and the officers and enlisted lived there- the only difference in accommodations was the prisoner barracks were surrounded by barbed wire. They do have the last remaining guard tower:

Amazing piece of history that most people don’t know about! We saw some other interesting things on our drive to Scotts Bluff:

These small sunflowers were everywhere, and this giant bear was made from huge hay rolls! It’s off center because we were driving…

We visited 2 main landmarks that the settlers moving west saw on their journeys. The first one they would see is Chimney Rock:

This was a major landmark that was on the Oregon Trail, California Trail and Mormon Trail. It is visible from over 25 miles away! It is really quite large on this mound. Most people are familiar with the first image, but when you get close and view it from different angles you can see that it really is a broken tower.

The next landmark, which signified the settlers being approximately 1/3 of the way, was Scotts Bluff:

IT is named after Brian Scott:

This second landmark is Scotts Bluff, a large bluff that stands 4662 feet tall and is made of layers of sandstone, clay and volcanic ash that were deposited over 33 million years ago, and then were eroded by wind and water to form the bluff we see today. It continues to erode, as seen by this marker that was even with the top of the bluff in 1933.

Scotts Bluff served as a decision point for the settlers, as they could take the more difficult route through the pass, or a longer but easier route by the Robidoux trading posts. We drove to the topof the Bluff, and the views were amazing:

You can see Chimney Rock in the picture on the right- and it’s about 25 miles away!

The museum at Chimney Rock had a lot of information about the early settlers:

Interesting facts about the settlers, and suggested supplies lists from guides used by settlers. And here is a map with more interesting facts:

Scotts Bluff had a couple docents who shared information about settlers and their wagons. Some were pulled by oxen, who were stronger and did not require as much water: