Scotts Bluff National Monument
Another memorable stop on our 1995 family cross-country road trip was Scotts Bluff National Monument in western Nebraska. Coming from the eastern part of the country, we wanted our daughters to see first-hand what life was like for families who traveled west by wagon train.
Rising from the plans, Scotts Bluff was one of the most important landmarks on the Oregon, California and Mormon Trails. For 19th century emigrants, it served as a guide-post. After weeks of travel across open prairie, the appearance of the bluffs signaled that the journey west was entering a more demanding phase. Many emigrant diaries record the relief of finally seeing the formation on the horizon
At the base of the bluffs, we saw deep wagon ruts etched into the ground, evidence of the thousands of travelers who passed through this corridor. Scotts Bluff was officially protected as a national site in January 1919 when it was designated a National Monument by Woodrow Wilson. The designation recognized the geological prominence of the bluffs but also the central role they played in one of the most significant migration movements in American history.
Read More From Nancy
Herbert Hoover National Historic Site
At the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site, I saw not just the resting place of a president, but also the beginning of his life. Located in the small town of West Branch, Iowa, the site preserves the humble Quaker community where Herbert Hoover was born in 1874. Hoover’s grave site one a quiet hillside overlooking […]
Grand Portage National Historical Site
This is Grand Portage National Monument in Minnesota, a place that tells the story of movement, trade and connection across a vast landscape. I explored much of Minnesota on solo road trips, and it is a beautiful state with miles between sites, long stretch of road. Each destination is chosen with intention, like Grand Portage. Grand Portage […]
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve
The rolling grasses and soft morning mist of Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, one of the rarest landscapes remaining in North America. The preserve protects a small surviving piece of the vast tallgrass prairie that once stretched across millions of acres from Texas north into Canada. Today, less than four percent of that original prairie ecosystem still exists. The Flint Hills became one […]
