Where
Myths Were Made!
By Candy Moulton
The
tallgrass prairie and rolling lands between the Arkansas
River in Kansas and the Missouri
River in North Dakota beckon travelers with frontier
forts, pioneer trails, homesteads, and gold rush towns.
Across this swath of the nation's heartland, the countryside
changes from the rolling hills along the Missouri to
nearly flat grasslands, rugged badlands, and the forested
Black Hills. The cultures who settled this region are
as diverse as the landscapes.
Pawnee,
Cheyenne, Lakota, Arikara, Mandan, and Omaha Indians
were among the many
tribes who considered this their homeland before the
American fur traders began working in the area and
before the frontier military established its own forts.
Later,
after approval of the Homestead Act, Americans moved
in to claim land, followed by European immigrants who
came from places as diverse as Scandinavia, Czechslovakia,
Russia, France, and Scotland.
There
is a lot to explore on the Great Plains so let us begin.
KANSAS I find
it necessary to slow down near the Amish and Mennonite
community
of Yoder,
Kan., because I'm sharing the country road with horse-drawn carriages, and
women pulling Radio Flyer wagons filled with children or goods they either
intend to
sell/trade in town or that they bought/traded for in town (the goods, not
the children)....
Find
the rest of this exciting article and more by subscribing
to American
Cowboy magazine...
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Photograph
by Erik Stenbakken
The streets
of Wilber are hopping each year during the Wilber
Czech Festival.Tens of thousands of travelers who
were headed toward Oregon and California passed
the site that evolved into Rock Creek Station just
south of Fairbury, Neb.
Best
known for its connections to the overland emigrants,
Rock Creek Station also
served the Pony Express. William F. Hickok, who
worked at the station as a stock tender and stable
hand, launched himself toward a reputation as
a gunman when a dispute over money led to a
shootout
in 1861 with station owner David McCanles.
" From
Prairie Grasslands to Dakota Badlands, the
Upper Plains States hummed with Old West activity,
and today are a hotbed of opportunities for
Western history-minded travelers. "
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