Lewis and Clark to the Underground Railroad

There is so much to see and do in this area we knew we wouldn't be able to see it all before we leave tomorrow.  

Here's a photo of Victorian Acres RV Park

Here's our site.  Now you know why we wanted to stay another day.  

It was another beautiful day,  so drove a mile or so to Missouri River Basin Lewis & Clark Interpretive Trail and Visitor Center.  We arrived a 9 am as they were opening the exhibits.  

This replica keel boat is 55 foot long and was featured on the "Great Journey West" film.   

Notice in the background no one else was here yet. 

We paid our admission of $4.50 per person as this isn't a national park.  It was such a lovely day we decided to do the hiking trails.  The Earth Lodge Trail took us to the Earth Lodge which was 48 feet in diameter.

It was almost hidden in the tall grasses.

Of course Bill noticed the wind wall--anything to make it warmer.

The opening was for the smoke from the fire to escape.

There were some nicely displayed artifacts and Bill read all the placards.

We've been to the Mandan Village before and this replica resembled it.

We finished that trail and decided to take the River Overlook Trail.  You know how Bill gets confused on which way to go.  

We made it down to the overlook and had a nice view of the Missouri River.  Bill (history buff) looked down and saw a railroad track beside the river and said "why didn't Lewis and Clark just take the train?"  We were 190 feet above the river at this point.

Never liking to take the same road when there's one that we haven't been on, we decided to take a different trail back.  Unfortunately, this sign that says "More Challenging Trailhead" wasn't down by the river.  We saw this when we climbed back up.  We decided we didn't need to hike anymore after this so we went inside the interpretive center.  

 Bill made comment that he wasn't surprised that only the female is the blood sucker.  

And of course, they mention the dog Seaman.  

The video was very well done and listening to it we realized how much of the trail we've been on.  There were three floors of displays and a very large exhibit on fish that I didn't spend much time with.  Sorry, Eddie Joe, and Jim.  

Another one of the 71 trees that will be auctioned off. 

We crossed the Missouri and rode over to the Iowa welcome center for information on attractions so we could figure out which direction we will go tomorrow.  

Decided we'd cross back over the state line for fuel in Nebraska City.  We paid $3.83 per gallon.  

Our next adventure was Mayhew Cabin & Historic Village and John Brown's Cave.  Senior price was $2.00.  

The Mayhew cabin is one of Nebraska's oldest structures which was built in 1855 and was said to be a stop on the underground railroad.  It was the home of Allen B. Mayhew and Barbara Ann (Kagi) Mayhew and sons.  

John Henry Kagi, brother of Barbara Mayhew's lived with the Mayhews before joining the abolitionist John Brown in Kansas.  

Edward Mayhew wrote of an instance in 1859 when Kagi "brought 14 Negroes to the cabin and they were fed a breakfast of cornbread."

We started through the tunnel and there were places where one could sleep.  As we started through it got darker and darker.  Bill was ahead of me and I almost had a panic attack.  I finally ran out the end of the tunnel.  

This is where we came out of the tunnel.  This wasn't the actual tunnel but a replica. 

This A.M.E. church was unique in the fact that it served as a church and a school.

These benched were hinged and became desks for the school.

This was the train station that every town seemed to have.

This was a school for white children.

And every town has a cemetery.

After touring the outside exhibits we went inside the museum.  There was a display about the Beecher Bibles.  These were Sharps rifles hidden in Bible crates.  


The museum was small but I was amazed at how many people were there.  We really enjoyed this part of history.  We have visited Harper's Ferry before and it was nice to be able see this part of the story.  

Kagi was killed in October 1859 during John Brown's raid on Harpers Ferry, Virginia.  John Brown was hung shortly after. 

We took a short walk through the courthouse.

 And of course, took more pictures of the trees.

We decided to have a late lunch at the China Buffet before going to the Arbor Lodge State Historical Park where J. Sterling Morton (Morton Salt family) was the founder of Arbor Day.

We had a nice lunch and after sitting down, we both said we were on overload and decided to skip Arbor Lodge.  

Tomorrow is a road day.

Turtle Safely........