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This summer we crossed the Plains through Nebraska, following the famed pioneer trail along the Platte River. We traveled west from St. Louis, skirted around Kansas City, and passed through a small slice of Iowa, where sunflowers grow wild in the fence rows and the dirt is black as coffee grounds.
A shortcut from Iowa took us on Nebraska Highway 2 – a road that should be labeled as a crime because some contractor has surely spent time in prison. This thumping washboard of a road alarmed us so much we actually pulled over to check for a flat.
Around lunchtime we were back on the smooth surface of Interstate 80. If you haven’t traveled through American’s heartland, specifically the mid-section of Nebraska, let me clue you in with a single word: Corn. For hundreds of miles, that’s pretty much your only view.
Just outside Kearny we were startled to see an enormous structure arching across the interstate. Turns out it’s a marvelous museum - The Great Platte River Road Archway.
Kearny was the starting point for the big western migration. Buffalo originally made the trail along the Platte River. Indians and fur trappers followed. Then the Mormons and early pioneers took up the path. The California, Oregon, Gold Rush, and Mormon trails all begin here. The route was used by Pony Express and stage coaches, with railroads following later. When the automobile became popular, the road was improved and labeled The Lincoln Highway. President Eisenhower expanded the idea, and the original buffalo trace is now I-80.
The Archway is a splendid self-guided tour with audio phones, cleverly staged displays, and fascinating narratives. You enter through an escalator with a wagon boss at the top beckoning you on. The tour is self-paced, and takes you through the history of the Platte River Road from roaming buffalo all the way to the modern interstate. Entries from the diaries of pioneer families are played, and the combination of enthusiasm and plight in their words is inspiring to us modern RV travelers. Such a pampered, soft life we lead compared to those who traversed this country before us!
Adjacent to the Archway is a living museum of sod homes where costumed homesteaders go about the daily duties of pioneer life. A large gift shop is also on site, filled with an impressive collection of souvenirs. Visiting The Great Platte River Road Archway is a pleasant way to break up a long day of driving across Nebraska.
We stayed at the nearby Kearney RV Park & Campground, which offers a night’s rest amid the cornfields. This is a bare-bones campground, with limited landscaping and gravel pads, but was pleasant enough for a one-night stopover. And its proximity to the Archway makes for an easy bike ride.
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June 24, 2023
