North Platte is where the Railroad meets the Wild West and we had to hang on for the show. This was to be a Rodeo stop so our born and bred Texas friend could attend his first rodeo. That is correct, this man from the Lufkin, TX area had never been to a rodeo and we wanted to correct that and make him a “True Texan”!
What we did not realize is that North Platte is steeped in Western History. It is the home of Buffalo Bill’s, Scouts Rest Ranch with the elegant Victorian home built in 1886 and Fort Cody Trading Post. Cody’s Wild West Show is said to have been the first rodeo so how appropriate we were attending a rodeo in North Platte. There are references to Cody all
over North Platte making us realize what an important figure he is in the area.
North Platte is home to the largest “Hump Yard”, Union Pacific Baily Yard, in the world. The Golden Spike offers views of the yard where we saw trains being made. The yard
covers 2,850 acres, approximately 2,800 football fields, where every 24 hours 10,000 rail cars are moved. The name “hump” comes from two mounds, the eastbound cresting at 34 feet and the westbound cresting at 20 feet, which allows rail cars to gently roll into one of 114 bowl tracks. This is an automated procedure and it was amazing to watch the cars coming down the hump and forming a train bound for places unknown. From
the top of the Golden Spike, eight stories high, the train cars looked like miniatures going in all different directions. While at the top of the Golden Spike we had the pleasure of having a retired Union Pacific Railroad Engineer explaining the workings of the yard.
From the “hump yard”, we headed to the North Platte Historical Museum. We have visited many, many museums yet this one was one of the largest covering all aspects of North Platte history. The museum building was very nondescript although the inside was filled with items ranging from the founding of North Platte to the current. One of the most interesting displays was the North Platte Canteen. The canteen began on a very personal note; there was a rumor that on December 17, 1941 members of the Nebraska National Guard would be passing through North Platte on their way to the West Coast and to the War. Local citizens congregated at the depot to greet the soldiers with homemade food items, coffee and cigarettes. When the train arrived the soldiers were from Kansas, not Nebraska. Although disappointed the group distributed the items loving collected for their husbands, sons, brothers, friends to the appreciative soldiers. One member of the group, Rae Wilson, realized what the impact was on these soldiers far from home and on the way to war. With her drive and challenge, more than 50,000 people contributed time, food, money and comfort to soldiers passing through North Platte for more than four years. For us, born after World War II, watching the Canteen video made us realize just what the people of North Platte did for the soldiers going to unknown places to fight for our freedom. Laurie’s dad served in the Navy in the Philippines during the war. Watching the movie made Laurie hope that her dad passed through North Platte and was a recipient of the Canteen’s hospitality on his way to the west coast.
Leaving the museum building and going into the yard, we were met with a village consisting of a barn, blacksmith shop, church, barber shop, station depot, houses and gardens. Many of the buildings were open and we could see what life was like a hundred years ago.
We found the same generous hospitality offered in 1941 being offered in 2011 and we appreciated what North Platte offered us. Unfortunately North Platte offered much more than we were able to see and do in our two day visit. Of course the main event was the rodeo and it did not disappoint.
