Today my Internet travel led me to North Platte.

https://visitnorthplatte.com/i...-do-in-north-platte/


I've never been to Nebraska, any Sig Forum members in the North Platte area?

Seems like a pretty city, lots of parks.

There is a member here from Lexington, NE but I haven't seen him on in a while.

My wife's family is from Lex so I've been in the area a lot.


There is a ww2 vehicle museum right at the Lex exit.

Depending on your travel and timeline, Fort Robinson, NE is where CrazyHorse was ambushed and killed.

There a museum in the Fort with a wooly mammoth too.

Lake McConaughy is near there. Huge lake!

In N. Platte is the Buffalo Bill ranch state historical Park.

Enjoy the area!

Haven't been there yet, but want to stop there sometime with the kids. They have a tower you can watch the Union Pacific yard from.

Never lived there, but been there countless times. Nebraska is my home state, and this short documentary video makes me proud.

Home of the North Platte Canteen. When the residents got word that 'their boy's would be coming through on a troop train, in December of 1941, they gathered to meet the train. Only their boys were not on that train. No matter, they still greeted these young men like family. Then, they met EVERY troop train until the end of the war.

https://www.onlyinyourstate.co...h-platte-canteen-ne/

The GREATEST generation wasn’t just the airmen and women, coastguardsmen, Marines, merchant mariners, Public Health Service men and women, sailors and soldiers. People not in uniform here in America played a huge part too.

The John W. and Louise Seier National Wildlife Refuge is in my V ("Vacation") folder. About 32 miles south of Bassett, it seems like just the place I want to camp out for a few days or a week. Is there a preferred season?

https://www.google.com/maps/di...332!2d42.1912518!3e0

I went to high school in The Panhandle. It was about 3hrs away from North Platte. And it’s been over 30yrs since I lived there. You need to realize that out there, a 3hr trip is nothing. People use to drive to the Husker games in Lincoln. An extremely boring 6 or 8 hour drive on highways you can see for miles, and other than a few cornfields, the scenery doesn’t change.

As a teenager, I hated it. Having moved all across the country, to major metropolitan areas, I got dropped into a town with a population of 2400. My dad was a periodontist for the USPHS, and worked on the Lakota Sioux reservation about 18 miles from where we lived.

After growing up, I’ve actually thought about moving back in retirement. Mid-western values, a more relaxed pace, and none of the turmoil that seems to be effecting other area of America. I still have friends out there, a few that own very large cattle ranches. Another did guided hunting/fishing trips. It is a very beautiful part of our country.

We went on vacation a few years ago to Missouri, Table Rock Lake. It made me realize how much I miss the Midwest.

I highly recommend the book, "Once Upon a Town: The Miracle of the North Platte Canteen", by Bob Green.

"Every day of the year, every day of the war, the Canteen -- staffed and funded entirely by local volunteers -- was open from 5 A.M. until the last troop train of the day pulled away after midnight. Astonishingly, this remote plains community of only twelve thousand people provided welcoming words, friendship, and baskets of food and treats to more than six million GIs by the time the war ended."

quote:

Originally posted by Woodman:
The John W. and Louise Seier National Wildlife Refuge is in my V ("Vacation") folder. About 32 miles south of Bassett, it seems like just the place I want to camp out for a few days or a week. Is there a preferred season?

https://www.google.com/maps/di...332!2d42.1912518!3e0

Come in the Warm Season. That is August 15 through September 1. The temperature is guaranteed to be above 50F. Do not come in the Cold Season. That is the rest of the year.

"Nebraska. Honestly, it's not for everyone."

I have not been West of Kearney lately. I love driving North through Nebraska to SD. The sandhills are really impressive to someone from central Illinois.

If you’re still out in “Flat Rock“, check out Fort McPherson National Cemetery. It’s beautiful.

https://www.findagrave.com/cem...on-national-cemetery


Ps. Might take a bit to load.

quote:

Originally posted by maxwayne:
I have not been West of Kearney lately. I love driving North through Nebraska to SD. The sandhills are really impressive to someone from central Illinois.

My old man grew up in the Sandhills. Outside of Gordon, NE. Godforsaken little shack way out in the boonies during the depression. Lot of really interesting history and characters from that location and era. There's a book called "Old Jules" about a pioneer homesteader named Jules Sandoz. Written by his daughter, Mari. Good read.

Sandman, there was an Old Jules “Museum” in a furniture store on Main Street. Not sure if it still exists anymore. Gordon has dwindled in size. They actually combined the Rushville and Gordon school districts. Wiki states the current population is 1600. I want to say it was 2400 when I left in 1990.

Another local legend is Miles Hare. A world class rodeo clown, he was recently inducted into the Rodeo Clown Hall of Fame. A good friend of mine has a son who is a top ranked bareback rider in the world. Another local kid just did very well in amateur bull riding. How one gets involved in these sports is beyond me. But the money is good.

ASKSmith, sounds like you grew up there too. I haven't been up there in a long time. My dad would take us up there and we'd camp near the Niobrara. I'd like to do that again some day. All my relatives that I knew are passed away.

Know any Sanders' or Swansons by any chance? My great grandpa was Ben Sanders.

quote:

Originally posted by ASKSmith:
Sandman, there was an Old Jules “Museum” in a furniture store on Main Street. Not sure if it still exists anymore. Gordon has dwindled in size. They actually combined the Rushville and Gordon school districts. Wiki states the current population is 1600. I want to say it was 2400 when I left in 1990.

Another local legend is Miles Hare. A world class rodeo clown, he was recently inducted into the Rodeo Clown Hall of Fame. A good friend of mine has a son who is a top ranked bareback rider in the world. Another local kid just did very well in amateur bull riding. How one gets involved in these sports is beyond me. But the money is good.

I don’t know if there is a Rodeo Clown HoF, but there most certainly is a PRCA ProRodeo HoF and Miles Hare is inducted there. For quite awhile now, there has been a separation of the job that “bullfighters” do to keep cowboys safe from rodeo clowns, who entertain the crowd—these are most often “barrelmen.” Hare, who retired in 2008, kept cowboys safe for 30 years.

Speaking of rodeo and North Platte, Nebraska, legendary rodeo announcer, Hadley Barrett was from North Platte. He is also ProRodeo HoF. His son-in-law, Randy Corley, is also an announcer—-and one of the best.

My dad's family is from Nebraska, he was actually born in Colorado, but the family left there when he was just a boy, I think around 1910 or so, and stopped in what seems like every two-bit town (his words) between there and Lincoln where they finally settled in. They dropped family members (mostly his older sisters who had found husbands) in Benkelman, a tiny town stuffed down in the SW corner of the state, N. Platte, and Grand Island. The Benkleman branch is still there as far as I know, as well as the Lincoln folks (some of whom have migrated to Omaha), but I haven't been in touch with them for decades, and I suspect most of the ones I knew best have passed on. I spent a lot of my youth in NE, visiting, never lived there, and have a lot of fond memories, good solid people if not exactly the most exciting place in the world.

quote:

Originally posted by sandman76:
ASKSmith, sounds like you grew up there too. I haven't been up there in a long time. My dad would take us up there and we'd camp near the Niobrara. I'd like to do that again some day. All my relatives that I knew are passed away.

Know any Sanders' or Swansons by any chance? My great grandpa was Ben Sanders.

Sandman, yes I know some Sanders. I was their neighbor. I still talk to three brothers. I am not sure if they are related to Ben. The Sander’s I know owned a liquor store, across from Shald’s market, if you know the area. About a block away from the police station.

The youngest son is a conservation officer (something like that) in Alaska. He has some amazing pictures. Goes on these multi-day hunts for large game. For work, I’ve seen pics of him getting a helicopter ride, and dropped off at a snowmobile. Their entire family are ourdoorsman. Great family, I graduated with the middle son.

There is also Bailey Railyard. It's the largest railyard in the World.
The Buffalo Bill attractions are cool if your an Old West kind of guy.
The Military Museum in Lexington is neat.
You are close to great fishing, great hunting and quite a bit of true History of the West when you are there.
I have traveled extensively from there all through the Panhandle.
I lived there for a couple of years and it was perfect for me since I'm a Western person.

My B in Law lives in North Platte.Agriculture town,been there a dozen or so times. Besides the history there is nothing that I would stay for. Liked when he lived in Valentine in the Sand Hills,The rafting,hunting etc are pretty damn good plus the rolling hills is definitely a change from the corn field flats. Plus there's a couple of good restaurants in Valentine..