A small museum. We saw a couple of new items there that we had not seen in other museums. North Platte is known as the Canteen town so there is a display about how the people in North Platte set up Canteens to feed our military returning or entering the war. Lots to see, but not very well organized.
Buffalo Bill was quite a character. He was a scout, pony express rider, ox-team driver, buffalo hunter, served in the army during the Civil War, and the founder of the Wild West Show. He built a house in North Platte, Nebraska in 1886. The house is located on his ranch Scout’s Rest. You can tour the house, barn, and log cabin.
What a great place to visit. One needs 2 days to fully see everything here. Try to pick a cool day so you can spend lots of time in the upstairs exhibits. There are over 50,000 items to see. I was impressed the moment we entered the mail building (there are 25 buildings of things to see). Lots of history. In one building, you can see the way everyday living has changed from 1830 to 1960. Kitchens, living rooms, and bedrooms are set up to show the way things changed. There are antique tractors, trucks, automobiles, planes, farm machinery, washing machines, and so much more. If you are ever in this area, be sure to take a couple of days to see Pioneer Village.
There are 3 buildings housing the antique automobiles and Trucks. So many to see.
Lots of wagons and buckboards to see. Here are a few that we saw.
Great museum. We were able to see tanks, jeeps, halftracks, a helicopter that had been shot down 5 times in Viet Nam, ambulances, a snow tractor, HMMWV’s, a WWII Volkswagon swim wagon, uniforms, motors, Hot Lips, uniforms, guns, a vehicle used in Patton’s army, and many other items. What we liked is that we could even touch the vehicles and sit in some of them. Great day. Click on travel photos for more photos.
Arrived at Mahoney State Park, Ashland, Nebraska and went to tour the Strategic Air & Space museum located next door. Cost of tour was $11, well worth the money. Gary says that this is close to the Pima Air Museum in Tucson, Arizona.
Small museum located in what used to be the sheriff’s office and home. The jail was on the bottom floor, the family lived on second floor. Besides the jail, there is a 1900 cabin that was built as a playhouse for a wealthy man’s children, and an old church.
This is a 19th century flour mill with all the original equipment still in the mill. We had a tour guide who told us how all the equipment worked. Also was able to view a video about the mill.
Ashfall Fossil Beds is home to remains of 12 million year old mammals that died after a volcanic eruption. The eruption was 1000 miles away from the water hole. The ash was very fine, the animals inhaled the ash and eventually the ash covered every thing. Fossils of barrel-bodied rhinos, three-toed horses, llama-like camels, sabre-toothed deer, elephants, and other animals can be seen. There is a barn, called Rhino barn, that covers an intact fossil site with complete fossil skeletons left in place for public viewing. We were able to watch some of the digging taking place and got to talk to an intern who explained what was going on.
Sitting in the motor home, Gary looks out and says “look at that sky.” Sure was a beautiful sky. This was the calm before the storm. Just as soon as I finished taking photos, the rains descended and the wind blew.
