When we arrived at the Visitor's Center the sign on the door said the hours were from 8-4:30. I walked up the steps, pushed on the door and lo and behold it opened. The lights were on and we were in. We were met by a young ranger who showed me the way to the Passport Station or should I say gold mine. At the station were five cancellations: Fort Laramie NHS, Oregon Trail NHT, Pony Express NHT, California NHT and Mormon Pioneer NHT. To pick up an extra 4 cancellations at one site is a bonanza.We left the Visitor's Center and started our picture-taking walk through the fort. The fort itself is a group of 14 restored buildings with many of the original ruins still existing. Rooms in the building have been restored to period condition and furnished likewise. While many of the furnishings do not boast of being original to Ft. Laramie, they are original to the period. There was no museum at the site which could have held uniforms and weapons of the times, but the movie shown in the Visitor's Center was an excellent one. It pretty much covered the history of the site from beginning to end and culminating with the Battle at the Little Big Horn. The site closed as a fort during that time and the buildings were sold to the general public. Some were dismantled in their entirety while some remained for restoration.The Fort was also a main stop on the Pony Express route from St. Joseph, MO to Sacramento, CA. The Pony Express was only in existence for about a year before the transcontinental telegraph was installed putting them out of business. And to think we now have the Post Office as a replacement. But I guess that's another story that's been reported here before. | ||||
Agate Fossil Beds National Monument is located 35 miles north of Scott's Bluff Nebraska on the western border.When we arrived at the site the wind was blowing like a banshee and there was nary a tree or a bush to offer any protection. As we arrived in the Visitor's Center we asked for the movie immediately. The Ranger was very accommodating and she told us that this site was the least favorite in the park system. We didn't know if she meant for visitation or for ranger comfort, and she really didn't know either. She said she liked it here.The movie covered the history of the archeological dig here at the fossil beds. They showed detail by detail how the skeletons of the animals were uncovered. Animals which we had never heard of before nor since. The dig was excavated in the early 1900's and found several animals ranging in size from larger than a buffalo to a kangaroo rat. There are several large skeletons on display in the Visitor's Center which are truly amazing. My National Geographic film experience had never prepared me for this.In the museum was a huge Indian artifact collection that had been preserved by James Cook. He was also the owner of the ranch where the fossils were discovered. There are tools, weapons, documents and especially clothing. Some of the clothing was given to Cook and his family by the Lakota Sioux Indians. Beads and Quills make up the intricately colored designs for the shirts, suits and gloves that we observed. They more than equaled the designs we have seen produced today.By the time we left we had to agree with the Park Ranger.....we had no idea why this is the least favorite park....or why. Besides they had an interactive device that allowed you to walk the trail from inside the building. Now THIS was a cool idea.We found a Coast To Coast Campground in Monument, Colorado for our visit to Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument. Unfortunately it was located 20 miles from the road we had to take to get there. The town of Florissant is located 38 miles west of Colorado Springs, and the park was in Florissant up the road. I say up the road because by the time we got there we were at 8,400 feet above sea level. An elevation that I've found is difficult to exert oneself without having to catch your breath every few minutes.The fossil beds and the fossils were all located in the Visitor's Center except for several huge Redwood specimens which were under cover outside the building. Immediately adjacent were a 12' petrified stump standing by itself, and a trio of stumps all attached to the same roots. They were absolutely magnificent in size and certainly comparable to the trees we encountered at the Petrified Forest National Park. Sharon took off looking for the "Big Stump" which reportedly is 40' feet in diameter. I followed a short distance away until I caught her and by that time the elevation had gotten to me. The map we had was not clear how to get to the location of the "Big Stump." I talked her into giving up the search and we headed back to the car. By the time we got there I was content to just sit and breathe. What a wuss I can be sometimes, but I'm partial about being able to breathe when I'm out walking in the mountains. Call me crazy if you want, but I guess that just the way I am. | ||||
The day we went to Scott's Bluff National Monument the weather had finally caught up to us. It was drizzly and foggy and as soon as we got to the monument we knew that this was not going to be the best day to visit.Scott's Bluff is located in the town of Gering just south of the town of Scott's Bluff in southwest Nebraska.We got to the Bluff and the entire site was shrouded in fog. The only thing that was clearly visible was the Visitor's Center. We took some pictures of that and then went inside to see the museum. They were having some kind of trouble with their video presentation and were waiting for a part so that portion of the visit seemed to be unavailable also. We walked around the museum for about 45 minutes or so and then decided to leave.By the time we got outside the fog had partially lifted and some of the bluffs were able to be photographed. It had not cleared completely so we felt it was time to leave. On the way back to town we did snap a couple more pictures.Scott's Bluff was a waypoint for the traveler's heading west on the Oregon, California and Mormon Trails. It rose approximately 500 feet in the prairie making it clearly visible to the wagon trains going through the pass. The Bluffs are sandstone so they are continually eroded by the wind and water. The reason why they're still here is because the bluffs have a capstone which prevents they're erosion. The Pony Express riders also made they're way through the pass on the way to Fort Laramie and beyond. The Pony Express was operable for 12 or 19 months depending on which version you choose to read. We are not necessarily married to either version. | ||||
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