Small Towns in Western Nebraska (#10)

…continuing with our exploratory road trip this past July as we wandered through northern and western Nebraska. 

After our visit to the excellent Museum of the Fur Trade in Chadron Nebraska, we still had time on our hands, so I decided to venture into the northwestern corner of the state in order to check out the Oglala National Grasslands…

We don’t like to drive someplace and then have to follow the same road back.  I spotted a road on my map that led through the town of Whitney Nebraska and then connected to NE Highways 2 and 71 which eventually led into South Dakota’s Black Hills.  Once we arrived in Whitney, we couldn’t determine which route to follow north and west…certainly nothing that was paved…although my map said it was.  We stopped and asked a lady who was relaxing in her yard and she told us that we couldn’t get to the National Grasslands via her town.  Rather than wander around…we headed back to the main road.

As the photo shows, Whitney isn’t exactly a bustling metropolis…more like an end of the road place.  Peaceful though...  The village was founded in 1888 and it was originally called Dawes City and then Earth Lodge.  In the end it was renamed in honor of a railroad official, Peter Whitney.  At its peak in 1940, Whitney had 154 residents…today there are about 70 remaining.  Just east of the village, one can find the site of Old Fort Useless.  It had been built for settler’s protection but it was never used…

So, before long we returned to US Hwy 20 and then turned north on Nebraska Highways 2 and 71…despite the fact that we’d have to follow the same route back.

Of course, given my better half’s love of horses, we had to stop to take a photo of this paint horse grazing near the road.  The American Paint Horse Association is the world’s second largest equine registry.  Over a million of these beautiful horses are registered…with about 15,000 being registered every year.

After 8 or 9 miles, we came to the official beginning of the Oglala National Grasslands… As you can see from the second photo, as is appropriate, there is a lot of grass spread across rolling hills for about as far as you can see.  I can't imagine what the first settlers thought when they saw this!  

Truly intrepid explorers with 4-wheel drive and more time than we had can access the Hudson-Meng Bone Bed archeological site or explore the badlands on exhibit in the Toadstool Geologic Park.  We didn’t see any pronghorns or prairie dogs…but the Grasslands is reputed to be a great place to view both species.

For more information, go to https://www.fs.usda.gov/recarea/nebraska/recarea/?recid=30328, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson-Meng_Bison_Kill, and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toadstool_Geologic_Park.  

We were almost at the South Dakota border when we turned around to head back to Chadron, to our hotel and dinner.  Along the way we passed this abandoned one-room school house…sitting decrepit and alone on the prairie.

I couldn’t determine when the last one-room school was closed in Nebraska.  However, in 1995, there were 200 of them still operating in the state, 128 in 2000 and only 75 remained in 2005.   I did find a reference on Wikipedia that stated that as of 2017 about 400 one-room schools were still operational in the USA.

This part of our route nearing Chadron showed a different image on the horizon...not just grass and rolling hills.  Buttes and rocky terrain off in the distance tempted me to try another back road...but I resisted. 

The city of Chadron is the County Seat for Dawes County Nebraska.  The Dawes County Courthouse was built in 1935 and, as you can see, it was designed in the Art Deco Style.  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.  The county covers 1,401 square miles and it has a population of about 8,700…down from 11,493 in 1930.

This is Chadron State College’s former library building.  It was constructed in 1929 and its one of 5 buildings at the College that is listed on the National Register.  The building is now home to the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center.  It is dedicated to the life and works of author Mari Sandoz and to the high plains region of the western USA.  This area of the USA was the setting for many of her fictional and non-fictional works. 

Mari Susette Sandoz (1896 – 1966) was a Nebraska novelist, biographer and teacher.  Her books include: “Old Jules”; “Crazy Horse: The Strange Man of the Oglalas”; “Cheyenne Autumn”; “The Horse Catcher” and; “The Buffalo Hunter”.  To learn more about Mari Sandoz, you can go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mari_Sandoz.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, every small town in Nebraska seems to have a mural painted on a wall somewhere.  The Chadron Record was published in print for well over 100 years…from 1885 until 2003.  A semblance of this newspaper may still be operational...on line.  

Chadron is named for Louis Chartran, a French-Indian or Metis fur trapper who ran a trading post on Chadron Creek in 1841.  The town was formally established in 1884 when the railroad was constructed through the area from Omaha Nebraska en route to Wyoming.  The town was first named O’Linn for its founder, Fannie O’Linn, who built a community nearby.  However, the railroad changed course and was built about 6 miles away.  The townspeople, packed up the town…buildings included…and moved to the new location.

Note: In the Lakota language, Chadron is known as ‘chapa wakpa othunwahe’, meaning “beaver river city”.

Of course I ‘had to’ check out the part of Chadron near the railroad tracks.  I didn’t find any listings for historic buildings but both of these buildings, especially the old wooden grain elevator, have to be over 100 years old.  The second structure looks like an old freight depot.

Unlike any of the other towns we visited across northern Nebraska, Chadron still has rail freight service.  The Nebraska Northwestern Railroad is a Class III railroad that began operations in 2010 after it purchased 7.22 miles of track…previously the Chicago and Northwestern Railway Cowboy Line, between Dakota Junction and the rail yard at Chadron.  The purchase also included other rail facilities including the former Chicago and North Western roundhouse and turntable…which I somehow missed!

One last note about Chadron’s history… During the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, Chadron was the starting point for the 1,000 mile “Chadron-Chicago Cowboy Horse Race”.  Nine riders competed for the $1,000 prize that was awarded to the first to reach the entrance to Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show at the fair.  The winning rider won the race in ‘just’ 13 days and 16 hours.

After we checked into our hotel, we headed out for dinner.   Based on a bit of advanced research, Wild’s Bar and Grill was my choice.  Although much of downtown Chadron is listed on the National Register, (41 contributing buildings), Wild’s Bar and Grill is located in a building that is a decidedly new bit of construction. 

The interior of the restaurant is fairly basic, with lots of wood on the floor, booths and the bar.  It is quite spacious and there is a raised area where there might be entertainment at times…certainly looks like a stage.  To the left of the second photo, another area that almost mirrors the image…with more booths.  It was a busy place!

Laurie decided on the beer battered cod fish with “Wild’s” chips for her dinner. ($8.00) It was very satisfactory, price, portion and quality wise.  The house made potato chips were better than most.

For my dinner, I chose the chicken fried chicken. ($9.25) My breaded and fried chicken breast was accompanied by redskin mashed potatoes and a warm roll.  As you can see, the chicken fried chicken and the potatoes were smothered with country gravy.  Yes, I did add Tabasco after taking the photo. 

Service was friendly and fairly efficient especially with the restaurant being as busy as it was.  I have a hard time remembering when we’ve been able to order dinner in a restaurant for only $18.54 including tax!

Wild’s Bar and Grill is located at 216 West 2^nd Street in Chadron Nebraska.  Phone: 308-430-2407.  This restaurant is on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BarWilds/.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave