Summer 2005 Cheyenne and Beyond

Week 3 - July 25-July 31

Skip to: Day 16  Day 17  Day 18  Day 19  Day 20  Day 21

Day 15 - Monday, July 25, 2005,  Sheridan, Wy to Little Big Horn, Mt to Sheridan, Wy,  167 miles driven

Today we woke up to a cloudy, overcast sky with a bit of a wind. There was a noticeable difference in the air temperature. Two days ago at Devils Tower we were at 100 degrees. Yesterday at the Medicine Wheel it was in the 60's - understandable with the 9700+ altitude and it was in the high 80's at the lower levels. This morning it was 72 degrees when we left the motel and 57 degrees when we returned. Quite a drop. Up at Little Big Horn Battlefield it was cold. A jacket or a sweatshirt was a must to survive the day.

Little Big Horn has always held a fascination for me since I came to America at the age of 11 and started to learn about cowboys and Indians. The myth surrounding Custer has always been larger than life to me. Here was a Civil War hero going to battle the "savages of the west" only to loose his life to those "savages". I use the term "savage" only to recall my youthful impression of the period. Long since I have ceased to think of the American Indian as a savage.

I will not go into the Battle of Little Big Horn in detail. According to one of the rangers giving a talk at the visitors center today, there has been more written about Custer at the Little Big Horn than about Gettysburg. Strange that a battle involving approximately 2000 Indian warriors versus 400 to 600 of the 7th Cavalry with Indian casualties at 60 to 100 and cavalry casualties of 263 would surpass the interest in a battle involving up to 200,000 with casualties in the 10's of thousands.  We had always wanted to take a tour given my the Crow Native Americans and listen to what they had to say. The last time we were here was on July 4, 1997 and the size of the crowds at the battlefield was intimidating. We took the opportunity to take the tour today. It was led by two Crow Indian women from the Little Big Horn College which is a community college on the Crow Indian Reservation. The Crow Agency is only three miles from the battlefield. We learned quite a few things from the Indian tour. First of all the Indian warrior was a bigger and tougher fighter than the average soldier of the U. S. cavalry. While the cavalry soldier was 5' to 5'5" and weighed on the average 140lbs, the Indian warrior was on the average 6' and taller and weighed up to 200 lbs. The warrior had been taught to shoot bows and arrows since the age of 4 and raised into a warrior mentality. The average cavalry member at Little Big Horn had joined the service to escape the depression in the East. The amount of battle experience for the cavalry at Little Big Horn was less than that of the Indian. We also learned that by the time that an Indian warrior reached his mid 30's, it was time for him to retire.  Sitting Bull was in his 40's and did not participate in the battle. Sitting Bull gave his weapons to his nephew to represent him in the battle. Crazy Horse did not have any sons or relatives to represent him so he joined the battle even though he theoretically was beyond the age. As an aside, we also learned that Cheyenne women could and did fight along with the men. The tour did mention that one of the Indian chiefs said that the 7th cavalry fought courageously but were outnumbered. "We swirled around them like water around a stone in the river"

At the visitors center we listened to two talks given by the rangers. Both of them were excellent. As in our other visits, none of the emphasis was on Custer the man. They talked about the battle in terms of the clash of two cultures coming to a head in the summer of 1876. They mentioned the fact that the Indian fighters had a higher level of motivation as they were defending a village of 7000+ non-combatants. Custer's main plan had been to capture the village and non-combatants in order to get the warriors to surrender. Oh how things went wrong. One of the rangers said that he is often asked "Why did Custer loose at Little Big Horn?" His answer is "Because the Indians won at Little Big Horn" The Indians had superior motivation, outnumbered the 7th Cavalry and plainly out-generaled Custer.

We walked up to the monument at Last Stand Hill which in reality is a gravestone for the non officers who died here. The 263 killed at Little Big Horn were hastily buried on the battlefield after the Indians left the area after June 26,1876. Within a year of the battle, the remains of the officers including Custer were re-buried back East. Custer is at West Point. In 1881 the men on the battlefield were disinterred and buried in a mass grave at the top of Last Stand Hill where the monument now stands. A new memorial has been added here since our last visit in 1997. There has been a memorial added to the Indians who fought and died at the battle. Nine stone markers in Red granite have been placed on the battlefield where the Indian combatant is known to have fallen. We saw about 4 of the 9, and each had prayer bundles as well as coins and tobacco on the stone. When we talked to the ranger about this he mentioned that in reality the markers are just like the Vietnam War Memorial. The Park Service periodically has to clear the stones but in this instance they call in a Cheyenne Elder and catalogue all of the items left behind. I wonder how they catalogue one dime versus another.

It was a nice day at Little Big Horn. I could come back in 5 years and still enjoy it as much as ever. It is always a learning experience.  

Sheridan Inn where Buffalo Bill auditioned acts for his Wild West Show	Last Stand Hill at Little Big Horn	Where Custer Fell on Last Stand Hill. Not where he is buried	Markers where two Indian fighters fell. Note the prayer bundles and prayer offerings
Part of the Indian Memorial at Little Big Horn	Weeping Wall at Indian Memorial at Little Big Horn	Tribute to the first soldier woman killed in battle. She was a Native American Woman and fell in Iraq.	Where Reno crossed the Little Big Horn river. On Reno/Benteen Battlefield

Day 16 - Tuesday, July 26, 2005,  Sheridan, Wy to Casper, Wy,  176 miles driven

When we got on the road it was cool - in the 50's and raining. Not a pleasant prospect for a day. We had no particular plans other than to start moving south to reach Cheyenne by Wednesday evening. We could have decided to drive right to Cheyenne but with Frontier Days going on, getting a room without reservations would be tough and expensive. We got off at the interstate exit for Banner and Story, Wyoming. When we reached Banner the sign said Population 40. There was one building which might have been a store and nothing else. I guess I blinked and missed the town. At Story we followed the signs to the site of the 1867 Wagon Box fight. At the Wagon Box fight, up to 2000 Sioux and Cheyenne warriors attacked a party of woodcutters from Fort Phil Kearny protected by by 28 soldiers. The Indians succeeded in driving off the mules in the corral but the soldiers and the woodcutters managed to defend themselves from within a ring of overturned wagon boxes. The Indians attacked the Wagon Boxes over a 4 hour period in waves but were unable to overrun the position because the soldiers had the newly issued breech loading rifles. The Indians had expected a volley and then a longer pause for re-loading which would give them an opportunity to move in but in this instance the pause never came. Losses for the soldiers was 5 killed and 2 wounded while the Indian losses were estimated to be between 6  and 60 with 120 wounded. One of the officers had stood up and been told to get down. His answer had been "Don't tell me, I know how to fight Indians". Hardly had those words been out of his mouth when he fell with a bullet in the head. The fight ended when relief arrived from Fort Phil Kearny which was 5 miles away.

From the Wagon Box site we moved on to Fort Phil Kearny. In 1866 an officer by the name of Fetterman had led a column of 80+ Cavalry to relieve some woodcutters under attack and had been lured by Crazy Horse into a trap. All of Fetterman's command were killed. The fort had lost a large percentage of its strength and feared a finishing attack which never came. Fetterman's mistake was not repeated in the following year at the Wagon Box. Fort Phil Kearny is basically a flat site with a visitors center and only a re-constructed portion of the stockade wall. Some of the foundations are visible in the ground but that is all. You see Fort Phil Kearny was one of the spoils of "Red Clouds War" when the army conceded the Bozeman Trail to the Indians. The army abandoned the forts on the Bozeman Trail as part of the treaty of Laramie in 1868, and the Indians promptly burned them down. I had forgotten that the Indians had won this war and had gotten what they wanted. However when gold was found in the Black Hills in 1874 , the handwriting was on the wall.

From Fort Phil Kearny we moved down to Buffalo to retrieve a hat i had left at a restaurant on Saturday. It was still there on the hat rack. We also visited the Jim Gatchell Museum in Buffalo which is full of artifacts of the Indian Wars and also the Cattle War of Johnson County. Among the Indian Artifacts was a helmet made from a buffalo skull with two buffalo horns hung on the site. We found out from the curator that that piece is on loan from the Cheyenne tribe and has to be covered each evening to give it rest. We saw the ceremonial cloth that is used for the cover. The curator also mentioned that periodically the elders of the tribe come to the museum and bless all the Indian Artifacts with sage. One of the more interesting displays dealt with the WWII B-17 bomber that had crashed in the Big Horns during WWII on its way east for shipment to Europe. The display mentioned that during the war approximately 1900 big bombers crashed in the US during the war period. Hard to imagine that many crashes took place away from combat. The Gatchell Museum is a jewel. 

We talked at length to an Amish Furniture store owner and he added some insight in the area. Wyoming has a sales tax while Montana doesn't. People from Buffalo will drive to Billings which is 160 miles to do their heavy shopping once a month rather than pay the sales tax. In Wyoming even food is taxed. We arrived in Casper at around 5:30 for the evening. A great day as we found stuff to do even if we didn't have solid plans.

At the Wagon Box battle site	Memorial at the Wagon Box Fight	Fort Phil Kearny stockade.	New carrying the old at Ft. Phil Kearny	Prairie Schooner at the Gatchell Museum

Day 17 - Wednesday, July 27, 2005, Casper, Wy to Cheyenne, Wy   330 miles driven

No it isn't 330 miles from Casper to Cheyenne but it is so if you make a big loop turnaround to go back to see something about 60 miles back. Our first stop was at the Ayers Natural Bridge which is 5 miles south of I-25 west of Douglas. It is one of only 3 known natural bridges in the world where water is flowing under the arch. The stone arch is within a beautiful state park with excellent picnic facilities and a limited number of camping sites. Some of the picnic sites not only provide you with a charcoal grill but also with a meat smoker. All  this and there is no fee for the use of the park. The rock cliffs around the arch are a haven for goldfinches nesting in the cliffs. They were swarming all over bringing food to the waiting chicks.

From the natural bridge our initial plan was to go to Fort Laramie. All that changed when we stopped at a rest area an mom picked up a Wyoming brochure about a small town called Lost Spring. it is listed as the smallest incorporated town with a population of 1. It all sounded very interesting so even though we were now 60 miles south of the turn-off we made a turnaround to see Lost Spring. The town of Lost Spring consists of 3 buildings. An antique store/post office, a bar and the town hall. There were several un-occupied trailers parked above the bar but the bar was closed. We entered the antique/junk store and were greeted by a middle age man. I asked him if he was the lone occupant of the town and he said that the population is 5. His side of the family represented 4 and the bar owner made up the other one. In the brochure it said that the bar was open for food but he explained that the bar is open only during hunting season. I also asked him how many people came into his store and he said that we were number 4 today, yesterday there had been none but the day before there had been 8. We bought some glassware and turned around to retrace the 60 miles from our turnaround point.

After arriving at Cheyenne we decided to go to the Frontier Days site to take in the Wind River Dancers at the Indian Village. We found out that every time we enter the parking lot at Frontier Park we will have to pay $10.00 for parking. So they still have another $20.00 coming to them. The Wind River dancers first put on a formal program for about 45 minutes to demonstrate the various tribal dances. The costumes were very colorful. After the program the dancers took a break, and we partook of a Indian Taco Salad for dinner and also visited the numerous little craft shops in the "village". After the break the dancing resumed in the form of a Pow Wow. The spectators were welcomed and encouraged to join in. We were watchers. The dancing in the performance and the Pow Wow  followed the beat of a big drum played by 4 to 6 beaters and the chants of the drum players. The narrator of the program called them songs. 

Ayers Natural Bridge	Ayers Natural Bridge	One part of Lost Springs	The rest of Lost Springs
The sign should read - Pop. 5	Wind River Dancers	Wind River Dancers	Wind River Dancers
Wind River Dancers	Wind River Dancers	Wind River Dancers - the bells on the dress of the little girl come from lids of Copenhagen tins.	Evening settles into the village

Day 18 - Thursday, July 28, 2005, At Cheyenne, Wy,  30 miles driven

Our first item on the agenda was to see the Grand Parade at 9:30 AM and what a parade it was. We chanced to find one of the shadier viewing spots and set up our lawn chairs on the sidewalk. The parade begins when fireworks are set off over the state capitol and "The" flag floats down. We were about 15 minutes from the point where the parade would start to pass us by. It was one of the biggest parades we had ever seen - approximately an hour and 15 minutes without many breaks or stops in the parade. According to the announcer who was about 50 feet away from us, there were 380+ horses in the parade. I believe him. I would bet that every wagon that we saw in the Frontier Days museum three years ago had been emptied from the museum and hitched to a horse. Even Nascar was represented with Ricky Rudd's Air Force sponsored semi in the route. It was most colorful and enjoyable. During the parade we found out that there was a melodrama played twice an evening so after the parade we drove downtown and secured two tickets to the 9:15 show. It should be fun and I will write about it tomorrow.

After downtown we packed some water and sun screen into a bag and headed for the Rodeo which runs every day during Frontier Days at 1:00 PM. We had about an hour to kill before the start of the Rodeo so we visited Dead Horse Gulch which is a series of little craft shops similar to the ones in Indian Village and also some demonstrators such as a blacksmith and a wheelwright. The blacksmith was informative about the development of cattle brands. It was interesting to see the differences in blacksmithing between the east and west. The wheelwright had obviously shrunk a metal rim on to a wheel but was not in session at the time we went by. In another area were a string of chuckwagons set up with tarp covers. All of them were cooking something and giving samples such as beans and cornbread cooked or baked over a pit fire. They were waiting for the Chuckwagon cookoff which is scheduled for Saturday. I got to talk to two of them and both had come in from Texas which for them was a ride of over 10 hours. One hauled his chuckwagon on a flatbed trailer and the other one had a closed trailer for his wagon.

We took our seats in the Frontier Days stadium and waited for the show to begin. Our seats were in the sun so the sun screen was a must. After a few ceremonies such as the singing of the national anthem and the parade of all the participants, the show began. The first event was bull riding. I could not believe the size and moves of some of these bulls. One of them came out of the chute with all four legs in the air. Most were not willing to go back to their pens without being roped and pulled towards the exit gate. One took over 5 minutes to get back. Mom read in some brochure that  doctors immediately eliminate brain damage for anyone hurt while riding a bull. After the bull riders came the bareback riders, steer wrestlers, steer ropers and saddle bronco busters. After this there was another round of bull riders and then calf ropers. In one of the steer roping events, the steer simply outran the horse and the rider had no chance to throw his rope. Another steer slowed down so quick that the horse passed him by with no rope throw. However when the rope was thrown it always found it's mark. I guess these guys do it for a living By this time we were both fully cooked by the sun. We would have stayed to see the junior rodeo events and the wild horse race at the end if we could have found a shady spot to watch them. We found our first experience with a Rodeo to be an exiting event. Cheyenne has been running Frontier Days for 109 years and they have their act together.

Some of the 380+ horses in the parade	Cheyenne to Deadwood Stage	Outhouse on wheels	We could have used the ice at the rodeo
Labeled as the best floozies west of Omaha	On Chuckwagon row	It's a big deal in Cheyenne	Bullrider in action
His rope did get him	Rodeo version of a stretcher - the steer was announced as OK	Bareback riding	Rid'em Cowboy

Day 19 - Friday, July 29, 2005,  Cheyenne, Wy,  16 miles driven

Last night we went to the Atlas Theater Melodrama for the 9:15 show. of "The Gamboling Girl", or "Little Lady Lost" or "Burried in Gravel". To give you a flavor some of the characters in the play were "Shirley Shameless", "Shyster B. Guiler", "Tawny Port", "Lydia Lavish". The heroine was "Faith Farthingale" who was the target of the villains attentions.  It was a very funny show with all the opportunities to boo, hiss, cheer, applaud, etc. They even sold you a bucket of nerf balls to throw at the villain or villainess. There were a few singing acts as breaks and the girls carrying the signs announcing the acts were very funny too. It was a perfect way to end the evening.

First thing this morning we went to the free Pancake Breakfast which is offered three times during Frontier Days week between 7:00 and 9:00 Am. We arrived at around 7:05 AM and already there was a line of about 4 blocks leading to depot square where the cooking and serving took place. It was amazing that the line kept moving along without any pause. When we arrived at the serving area we could see the griddles where pancakes were being flipped off the griddle on to trays being held by members of the boy scouts. Off to the side of the griddles is the cement truck with the stainless steel barrel which is used to mix the pancake batter.  Expecting a pancake or two and some syrup we were surprised that they put 3-4 pancakes on the plate, then passed you on to where some syrup was poured on, a few pats of butter, and then to top it off a slice of cooked ham. Coffee was provided for adults and milk for those under 14.  It was a full breakfast. There were benches set up for sitting and eating and on a bandstand an excellent western band entertained the crowd. They keep a running total of the number fed every day and the tote board for Wednesday was a number around 13,000. Not too shabby for two hours and all by volunteers. One of the workers told me that they do this every year as a practice for dealing with natural disaster. They would be able to feed many people in case of fires or tornados.

After  a visit to a craft show where mom dispossessed me of some of our funds we visited the Wyoming State Capitol which was directly across the road from the craft show. Downtown the plaque showing the location of the capitol states that the capitol is one of 10 capped by a gold leaf dome. Inside the capitol is a write-up that the capitol is one of 13 with gold leaf. The capitol guide seemed to think that they were correct and that downtown is wrong. Big deal. We walked the halls and looked at the senate and legislature chambers and took a peek inside the outer office of the governor's office. A young lady invited us in and advised that she would rather talk to people than work. We had a pleasant conversation with her about Wyoming and she rewarded us with pencils and a few Wyoming pins. She saw my lighthouse T shirt and stated that she would love to see some lighthouses. After leaving mom suggested that I print of some pictures of Portland Head and Pemaquid lighthouse and send them to her. We have her business card so we know where to send them.

The afternoon was spent relaxing at the motel in preparation for tonight's late show with Toby Keith. It will start at around 8 and probably go till 10 or so. With a 6:00 am wake-up for the Pancake breakfast it will have been another long but good day. Tomorrow we are leaving Cheyenne and turning the wagons around. We will head towards Scott's Bluff and Chimney Rock in Nebraska but have no idea where we will wind up for the evening.

Boot Display on Depot Square at night	Breakfast line - it stretches for 4 blocks back	Pancakes on the griddle	Cement truck batter mixer	Visiting Rodeo Queens
Crowd enjoying the meal and music	Old man display in depot square in the daytime	Wyoming State Capitol - are there 10 or 13 with golden domes	Statue inside the capitol	Esther Hobart Morris - pioneer in sufferage.

Day 20 - Saturday, July 30, 2005, Cheyenne, Wy to Ogallala,NE,  269 miles driven

First a few words about the Toby Keith concert. Way too loud. We liked his red-neck songs but the whole concert was way too loud. The curtain call songs consisted of his patriotic songs which I thought was a nice way to end the concert. Today was our departure day from Cheyenne and the beautiful state of Wyoming. We had plans to drive to Scott's Bluff by getting on I-80 to Kimball NE, and then heading to Scotts Bluff. Heading downtown to get to I-80 we ran into roadblocks for the parade so settled into the scenic route through Torrington, Wy. According to my computer program either route was about the same. What was amazing though was that once you left Cheyenne to Torrington there were no services for 77 miles. Good thing I had a half a tank of gas.

We arrived at the Scott's Bluff National Monument at around 1:30 PM and stepped out of the car into a 90 degree plus sunshine. Scott's Bluff is named after a fur trapper who died in the area after an Indian attack in 1828. Scott's Bluff is a very prominent sandstone formation which was used as a trail mark on the Oregon Trail. By the time that all the emigration started on the trail, Scott's Bluff was already named. At the monument we watched a short slide presentation about the western migration and the trials that the  emigrants went through. By the time that they reached Scott's Bluff they had already walked one third of the 2400 miles between Independence, MO and Oregon. According to the presentation, the change from the never ending view of the prairie to the irregular shapes of the rock formations like Chimney Rock and Scott's Bluff were welcomed by the emigrants. However they still had 2/3 of the journey to go. Many died along the trail and many lightened their wagons by dumping what they now felt was excess baggage. One quote said that to start the trip he only should have bought a light wagon and outfitted the rest of his needs from the excess along the trail.

There is a road up to the top of the bluff through three tunnels. At the top you can get a good view of the countryside and on a clear day see Chimney Rock which is 22 miles away. Today it was barely visible with the haze. Back at the bottom there was a interpreter standing by a "Prairie Schooner" showing some of the supplies that the travelers needed to make the trip. We then proceeded down the road to see Chimney Rock which was the first formation the travelers would pass. Here the display gave a timeline for the use of the overland trail as well as a hands on exhibit in giving you a chance to load a scaled down wagon with scaled down goods. The wagon was on a scale which registered if you got a correct load.

From Chimney Rock we headed towards Ogallala where we planned to spend the night. We made reservations for a motel in Ogallala after leaving Scotts Bluff and upon arriving at the motel were told by the owner (previously from Brooklyn, NY) that we were lucky as our call had come 2 minutes after someone else had cancelled their reservation. It was the last room available at this motel. Before reaching Ogallala we stopped at Ash Hollow State Historical Park. It seems that at this location the emigrants had to traverse a hilly section which they called Windlass Hill. It was thought that the wagons were raised and lowered over this hill with a windlass but according to the interpretive plaques, no such evidence exists today. However you can still see wagon ruts in the hillside at Ash Hollow. Amazing at 150 years later. At Ash Hollow the fence posts along the road had numerous worn out boots stuck upside down on a the fence posts. The ranger at Scott's Bluff told us it was a custom at that location to remember the many travelers that wore out their footwear on the trail.

At Ogallala there is a local talent Western Revue and shootout after 7:00 PM. The shootout is for free while the revue needs reservations. At first we couldn't get tickets for the show but prior to witnessing the free shootout, I was able to get two tickets as a result of a cancellation. Seems that my luck was with me. The performers were all local kids either in their last year of high school or just graduated. They put on a lively and humorous evening.

Midway at Cheyenne Frontier Days Park	Scott's Bluff, Nebraska	From atop Scott's Bluff	Prairie Schooner Interpretation at Scott's Bluff
Chimney Rock from inside visitors center. It was too hot outside	Ash Hollow boots on fenceposts	Ash Hollow - the wheel ruts are still visible 150 yrs later	The guy in the middle is interpreting an Ash Hollow post.

 Day 21 - Sunday, July 31, 2005,  Ogallala, Ne to North Platte, Ne  89 miles driven

After church we visited Boot Hill in Ogallala. After all, Ogallala was the end of the trail for the longhorn cattle drives from Texas. In a span of 10 years there were 17 violent deaths in Ogallala. Considering that in this period the population of Ogallala was around 100, it is a significant number. In one instance the sheriff killed three in the same day. It must have been a tough town.

From Ogallala we headed down US30 to North Platte with the object of visiting the Buffalo Bill ranch and museum. So far what we have seen of Nebraska has been corn, corn and more corn and cattle feedlots. We arrived in North Platte around 1:30 PM after loosing an hour due to entering the central time zone. We saw a sigh for a museum and pulled in thinking it was the Buffalo Bill Museum. Wrong. It was the Lincoln County Historical Museum. It was a lucky mistake. The main building consisted of displays of artifacts and documents relating to the area. Out back was a series of buildings that had been moved to the museum site  such as a building from Fort McPherson, a frontier store, church, school, a Sears and Roebuck House etc.

One corner of the main building was devoted to the operation of the North Platte Canteen between December 25, 1941 and April of 1946. After December 7, 1941 the citizens of North Platte got word that a train bearing local and other Nebraska men and women destined for military duty would be passing thru North Platte on Christmas Day. A group of people brought apples, cookies and other goodies to the station to give to "their sons and daughters". When the train pulled in it turned out to be a group from Kansas not Nebraska. after the initial surprise wore off, one of the women went forward and gave her food packages to the men on the train. Others in the crowd then followed in distributing the food. The rest is history. One woman Rae Wilson wrote a letter to the editor saying that it would be a way of fighting on the home front if something could be done for the soldiers passing thru. Within two weeks the people in the town of 14000 started to volunteer and greet every train with coffee, food, cakes, doughnuts, sandwiches etc. All of that had to be accomplished in 10 minutes as that is how long the train was in the station. At the high point in their activity they were feeding 5000 - 6000 military personnel a day or over 6 million during the time the Canteen was operationg. All of this was with volunteer workers and donated foodstuffs. In those days mayonnaise did not come from a jar in the store, there was no such thing as pickles from the store. Chickens had to be killed, plucked and then prepared. It must have been a monumental effort to keep this up for the whole war period and beyond. About 130 towns eventually worked at the volunteer effort. I can't imagine feeding 6000 a day all on volunteer work and donations. There were fund drives for the effort but none of it came from the government. One young boy of 13 raised over $2000 by auctioning off the shirt off his back at various county fairs and meetings. There was a video in the museum dealing with the Canteen. The video showed some of the soldiers coming back after 60 years to visit with the folks that they got to know for only 10 minutes back in the 40's. Quite an impressive and emotional story. This museum is one of the highlights of the trip so far.

The Buffalo Bill ranch was only a quarter mile up the road from the other museum. This ranch was Buffalo Bills party house. His wife had a home in the town of North Platte and when Bill Cody was not touring with the Wild West Show, the family would live at the ranch and entertain visiting dignitaries. The house is full of Cody artifacts and is now owned by Nebraska Parks. It is a beautiful property.

After dinner at a Runza Restaurant where we had "Runza's" - ground beef baked inside a bread roll with onions, cheese and cabbage, we drove out to the Union Pacific Bailey Yard Visitors Center to witness the operation of one of the largest freight car classification yards in the world. Next to the classification facility is the diesel maintenance shop. We have never seen so many engines in our life in one spot. In the classification yard, two engines push a string of freight cars up an incline and at the top the cars are separated either singly or in strings to roll down an incline to be shunted on to the correct track for train make-up. All around are signs that say that some of the engines are remote controlled. The screech that comes from the freight cars when the brakes are automatically applied at the bottom of the incline is deafening.

Boot Hill in Ogallala	Large animal operating table in Lincoln County Museum	Look what $2300 could buy from Sears in 1899	Drainage Ditch Plow in Lincoln County Museum
Buffalo Bill's House - Scouts Rest Ranch	Barn at Scouts Rest Ranch	Union Pacific at North Platte	Classification Yard Union Pacific- the stream was endless

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