Westward Ho

September 5, 2013

I'll say adios here as I enter Colorado in a few hours. This signals the end of eight months of travel to many new places from San Diego County to Texas, around the Gulf of Mexico, north through the Southern States and big NE cities into the Maritime Provinces to Nova Scotia, the most distant point of the trip.

Fortunately instead of oxen I had my trusty Jeep Liberty and T@b to take me  all around our grand Country.

The way home was through Quebec and Toronto, Niagara Falls, Ohio and west from there.

Looking over my shoulder from the west side of Mitchell Pass, Nebraska through which flowed  westward the Indians, Trappers, Pioneers, Gold Rush Miners, I am but one more traveler on the way West.

There will be more travels and perhaps another blog down the road.

O Pioneers!

O Pioneers! is the title of a Willa Cather novel; as I drove along contemplating the thousands who traveled this Oregon Trail in the 19th century, I thought this title apt.

Chimney Rock served as a landmark for pioneers along the Oregon Trail, the California Trail, and the Mormon Trail, which ran along the north side of the rock.

Rising nearly 300 feet above the surrounding North Platte River valley, the peak of Chimney Rock is 4,226 feet above sea level.

"The landmarks indicated our progress and helped to break the monotony."
-Phoebe Judson 1853

The north Platte River flows by my campground near Scott's Bluff.

From Independence, Missouri, the pioneers followed the Little Blue, Platte, Sweetwater, Snake and Columbia Rivers through Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho and Oregon. They traveled about 12 to 15 miles per day and it took four to six months to travel the two thousand miles.

Scotts Bluff which rises over 830 feet above the plains in western Nebraska on the south side of the North Platte River was an important milestone for the pioneers

The monument has five rock formations named Crown Rock, Dome Rock, Eagle Rock, Saddle Rock, and Sentinel Rock.

The Visitor Center has been here since the 1930s.

Oregon Trail through Mitchell Pass.

Around 4:00 a.m. The wagon leader sounded the trumpet or fired a rifle and everyone woke up.
By 5 a.m. breakfast was being prepared while the cattle were rounded up after grazing overnight.
By 6 a.m. the men & boys hitched the wagons and everyone ate breakfast.
At 7:00 a.m. The bugle sounded and the Wagon Master shouted "Wagons Roll",
and they started off for the day.
There was an hour lunch break referred to as nooning.
At 6:00 p. m. They would circle their wagons and start the campfires burning.

William Jackson's painting of the Oregon Trail with Chimney Rock and Scotts Bluff ahead in the distance.

A view from the top of the bluffs.

" We have a great deal of sickness on the road at this time. We pass companies every hour of the day waiting for someone to get better or to die. Passenger trains hardly ever wait."

-John Clark, May 29,1852

Looking down on the Visitor Center complex and the climbing road which goes through three tunnels to reach the top.

"A great deal of alkali water in pools injurious to sheep; lost three head on account of drinking it. Crossed numerous creeks and sloughs. A severe tempest
about 6 o'clock with hail as large as apples. No campfire for the buffalo chips were wet and no wood."
-Thomas Flint, July 1, 1853

Hiking path at the top of the bluffs.

A view through the wildflowers.

Conestoga wagon to carry all your worldly goods.

Pioneer left behind. :-(

When I Am Among the Trees
by Mary Oliver

When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust,
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness,
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly, and bow often.
Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, "Stay awhile."
The light flows from their branches.
And they call again, "It's simple," they say,
"and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.

Red Cloud

Willa Cather

"There are only two or three human stories, and they go on repeating themselves as fiercely as if they had never happened before; like the larks in this country, that have been singing the same five notes over for thousands of years."

- O Pioneers!

Built in 1879 this is the house in Red Cloud, Nebraska in which Willa Cather lived from 1884 to 1890.

Due to school teacher Mrs. Bennett's early efforts, many of the Cather family belongings were saved. The house is restored as it was with many original pieces.

The dining room was open for lunch as a way to make extra money as there were no restaurants then in Red Cloud and Willa's mother's cooking was popular.

In the hallway Cather family caps and jackets hang as though it were 1890.

The Cather Foundation owns at least seven buildings and the old depot is one of them. For the tour I followed the guide around town in my car.
The old train depot was once a stop for passengers between Denver and Omaha. Young Willa had a glimpse of a larger world here and this place is recreated in her stories and novels.

The St. Juliana Falconieri Catholic Church now owned by the Foundation is also a feature in Cather's works.

Her neighbors, the Miners, were models for characters in her books. She became friends with all of the Miner children and dedicated My Antonia "To Carrie and Irene Miner, In memory of affections old and true".

Inside this home is the original parlor, a source of great pride to Mrs. Miner.

Stained glass windows donated by Cather after she became a member of the Episcopal Church.

A wonderfully restored old bank also figures in Cather's works. This was one of four banks in Red Cloud that all went bust during the Great Depression.

Cather at fourteen wore her hair short and signed herself Dr. Wm. Cather as she wanted to be a doctor.

Photo of Cather and friend out camping.

A Reading List.

"The history of every country begins in the heart of a man or a woman."
-Willa Cather

Homestead NP

Beatrice, Nebraska
August 31, 2013

FREE LAND was the cry!

The Homestead Act of 1862 brought about significant and enduring changes to the United States; by giving government land to individuals in 30 states. This law allowed nearly any man or woman a chance to live the American Dream.

Over 1.6 million people rose to the challenge including my great grandmother Cora in California. They claimed 270 million acres.

Under the Homestead Act, 10% of the nation, was given away. The only monetary payment for each 160 acre claim was an $18 filing fee.

Inside the Visitor Center are friendly young Rangers and a great educational display.

John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath, 1939, describes the drought of the Plains in the 1930s and the resulting ruined farms and lives.

Due to their nearly hopeless situation, and in part because they were trapped in the Dust Bowl, the Joads set out for California. Along with thousands of other "Okies", they sought jobs, land, dignity, and a future.

"It is the purpose of our government "to elevate the condition of men, to lift artificial burdens from all shoulders and to give everyone an unfettered start and a fair chance in the race of life." President Abraham Lincoln, July 4, 1861.

This California woman receives the deed to her hard-earned property.

Outside is a restored original dwelling and fields of beautiful restored prairie grass.
In the orchard of peaches and plums I picked fruit and ate a peach right off the tree. The area is remote and there was little except me and the prairie.