By Priscilla Lister
"The Sandhills are the best place I've ever found," Lee DeGroff, 77, a lifelong Nebraska rancher in this storied land of dunes, told us. "I haven't been anyplace else."
Such droll honesty and a genuinely warm welcome characterized our fascinating foray into the Great Plains of the Cornhusker State, where my friends and I found attractions we had never imagined, a historic confluence of trails and rails, and open and friendly locals who shared their stories with a pride any region would envy.
"It's so peaceful here on the one hand, but harsh on the other," said Rhonda Haynes, DeGroff's daughter, who grew up here, too. "You have to be a tough cookie to live here. But that sweet smell of grass ... I will always have sand in my toes."
Those Sandhills of Nebraska are believed to be the largest dune field in the Western Hemisphere, formed about 8,000 years ago at the end of the last Ice Age. They cover some 20,000 square miles, or a bit more than a quarter of the state. Unlike the shadowy swells of sand dunes in Death Valley, the Sandhills are rolling meadows and pastures covered in grasses, along with wildflowers in spring. They stretch along Highway 2, the Sandhills Journey Scenic Byway that has been called one of America's 10 most beautiful highways.
"Your whole being starts to relax here," said Haynes.
She was right. We really did relax. No one puts on airs here. There is no traffic, and we had no need for fancy clothes. We wandered at our leisure and explored both the past and the present, where we found plenty of surprises.
Consider Cody, population 150. Tucked into this tiny town lie two remarkably noteworthy attractions: George Paul Vinegar and Sandhills Boot Co. The George Paul Vinegar company began by growing grapes, which is challenging in Nebraska, noted George Johnson. The varietals must withstand long, harsh winters and ripen before the short growing season ends.
"These first wines, though they were nicely balanced with tremendous fruitiness, were completely different from anything else most Americans would be familiar with," he said.
So he was inspired to make vinegar with them and began to do that in 2009. Today, George Paul Vinegar is one of only two vinegar-makers in the United States —the other one in California — that use traditional methods involving long aging. George Paul's signature balsamic, Emilia, sells for $45 per 100 milliliters and has become a favorite of foodies nationwide (www.georgepaulvinegar.com).
Right down the lane lies the Sandhills Boot Co. (www.sandhillsboot.com), a one-man custom shop where Kyle Rosfeld uses a sewing machine from 1897 to hand-craft beautiful boots that will surely fit better than any you've ever worn.
"I'm a throwback to old methods," he said in his tiny shop in the tiny town. "I start with a footprint — I need at least 45 minutes of personal time to measure and hear what someone wants."
His hand-stitched beauties made from American leathers last a lifetime: "I can replace or repair any part of these boots and they will be the same as new," he said. Pairs start at $1,250 and are guaranteed to fit. Rosfeld is currently working on pairs for Neil Young and Willie Nelson featuring red, white and blue motifs.
Cody lies west on Highway 20 from Valentine, a bustling town of about 2,700 where the sidewalks are adorned with red hearts and the Plains Trading Co. (www.plainstrading.com) beckons as a special independent bookstore.
Just south of Valentine on Highway 83 we trekked through the Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge (www.fws.gov/refuge/fort_niobrara) that straddles the Niobrara River. Many people like to canoe down this scenic river, but we drove and hiked through the refuge, where we spotted bison, elk and prairie dogs.
On lovely Highway 2 we found Glidden Canoe Rental in Mullen (www.sandhillsmotel.com), where we discovered an activity that seems utterly unique to Nebraska: "Tankin' on the Loup." We sat inside old metal stock tanks usually used to water cattle, and two of us used paddles to glide our way down the serenely quiet and peaceful Middle Loup River.
Heading into North Platte, we tasted cold-climate Nebraska wines at Feather River Vineyards (www.feather-river.com); we viewed the world's largest railroad classification yard, where locomotives and rail cars are serviced and sent out again, a repair facility that dates to 1868 when the Transcontinental Railroad was still under construction; and we found historic sites that moved us profoundly as we explored this crossroads in the heartland that proved important to so many people before us.
The Oregon Trail and the Mormon Trail, the California Trail and the Bozeman Trail all passed through here along the North Platte River. From the 1840s to the 1860s, some 260,000 pioneers used these trails to reach the West. When the railroad began operating, the wagon trains essentially stopped.
Just west of North Platte in Sutherland we saw remnants of those pioneers' wagon-wheel ruts. On the north side of the North Platte River was the Mormon Trail, while on the south side, the Oregon Trail. While little more today than grass-covered depressions, the ruts bring to mind the incredible hardships endured by those early settlers in their herculean walks over thousands of miles to reach a better life.
Naturally these trails also followed old Indian trails. The history of Nebraska is equally filled with the tragic displacement of the Pawnee, Sioux, Cheyenne and other native peoples who once called these bison-filled hills home.
The Lincoln County Historic Museum (www.lincolncountymuseum.or) in North Platte presents the rich history of Native Americans and pioneers who settled in this Platte River Valley through many artifacts from arrowheads to early telephones.
"One of our proudest legacies is the North Platte Canteen, which served 6 million troops during World War II," the museum boasts. The warm people of these Great Plains have opened their arms for a long, long time.
Just down Buffalo Bill Avenue from the Lincoln County Museum is the Buffalo Bill Ranch State Historical Park, another view into the past. Buffalo Bill, aka William Cody, was born in Iowa in 1846. In 1860, he became a Pony Express rider, one of its youngest at age 14. He was a scout on the Santa Fe Trail, a wagon-train master and a fur trapper in his early years. Hired in 1867 by the Kansas Pacific Railroad to provide buffalo meat for workers, he won a buffalo-hunting contest so claimed the title "Buffalo Bill."
Today it's possible to tour his private home and barn — named a state historical park in 1965 — where a wealth of Cody memorabilia is on display, from firearms to horse-drawn buggies once owned by "America's most famous showman-scout." Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show toured the country from 1883 to 1886.
Fort Cody (www.fortcody.com), also in North Platte, is a trading post of souvenirs along with a real collection of cowboy gear and Buffalo Bill mementos. We especially loved "Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show in Miniature," a remarkable creation of 20,000 wooden figures — in motion — that depict the attractions of the Wild West Show — possibly the first rodeo ever.
In the exceptionally lovely city of Gothenburg we went inside an original Pony Express station that showcases the amazing story of that short-lived Western legend that lasted only from April 1860 to October 1861, when the telegraph put it out of business. During that year and a half, horseback riders delivered the mail from Missouri to Sacramento in about 10 days — the fastest communication available during that era.
DeGroff, his wife, Beverly, and daughter Rhonda raise quarter-horses and cattle on their ranch outside Brewster, population 17, that lies just east of the Nebraska National Forest. They also operate the Sandhills Guest Ranch (www.innsnorthamerica.com) where it's possible to find B&B accommodations and lots of homespun warmth. They'll also take you tankin' or canoeing on the North Loup River that runs through their ranch. Beverly has found fossils on that river, including camel bones and elephant tusks that experts have dated to 3 million years ago.
"You have to look for them," she told us. "I'm always looking at gopher mounds to see what they dig up."
Beverly grew up in Loup County, right in the center of the Sandhills.
"You can't take anybody out of the Sandhills for very long," she told us. "Look up and see the blue sky; all you hear is wind blowing and birds singing."
Said daughter Rhonda, "When I have trouble sleeping, I take a walk out there in my mind."
The Sandhills will do that for you.
WHEN YOU GO
We flew into Denver International Airport, rented a car and drove the 3.5 hours to North Platte, Nebraska.
For more information: Nebraska Tourism Commission, www.visitnebraska.com Sandhills Journey Scenic Byway Visitor Center, Broken Bow, Nebraska: www.sandhillsjourney.com.
Priscilla Lister is a freelance writer. To read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.
View Comments