Visiting the Cornhusker State - Chadron/Nebraska

Nebraska is named The Cornhusker State, for the old method of harvesting or “husking” corn by hand, and, it is famous for Omaha, meat, railroad and feedlots. Nebraska is not really a touristic destination, at least not for Europeans, and, especially, not the Western part of it. We had decided on our own to go for it, although we didn't get any support from the State Tourism Office. From SD we chose the direct route south to NE and our first destination there was Chadron, in the NW corner of the state.

 

Chadron itself  (photos above)- not far away from Pine Ridge Reservation (SD) - isn't too large (ca. 6,000 people), but has pretty impressive brick buildings from the old railroad times and some nice murals, though not too many businesses. But, it offers a real cozy café-bar, The Bean Broker Coffeehouse (photo on right), where we took our lunch break after having visited the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center (pictures below), located on the grounds of the Chadron State College. 

The museum is dedicated to Nevadas famous novelist Mari Sandoz  (1896 – 1966) - with Swiss ancestors -, who extensively wrote about her parents, pioneer life and the Plains Indians. 

The Bordeaux Trading Post (left), our next arranged stop, was operated from about 1837-1876. It is located a bit outside town and was the place where Indians brought buffalo robes, furs and ponies for guns, powder, beads, blankets,  whiskey and other useful items. There are still old buildings to be seen on the grounds, but, main attraction is the exhibition in the main house about (fur) trade in general through the times.

Chadron State Park is Nebraska’s first state park, founded in 1921 and is nestled among the distinctive buttes and canyons of Nebraska’s Pine Ridge. It is a popular spot for camping, fishing and family reunions and a great destination for hikers and mountain bikers as well as for trail rides.  

The Pine Ridge is an escarpment between the Niobrara River and the White River, a high tableland between the rivers that has been eroded into a region of forested buttes, ridges and canyons. We drove up to a fantastic Blackhills Overlook and enjoyed the scenery:

 

Afterwards we called it a day in an unexpectedly good Holiday Inn Express in Chadron, with modern, spacy rooms, evening beer & snacks and an amazingly good breakfast.