Category: USA

Pioneer Courage Park

Omaha NE

This sculpture park is a pretty impressive sight. It is way too large to photograph the entire sculpture, so I did it group by group.

Installed in 2005 and 2009, Sculptors Blair Buswell and Ed Fraughton of Utah created Pioneer Courage with four pioneer families and their covered wagons departing westward from Omaha. Each wagon stands approximately 12′ high and more than 40′ long when the oxen, horses or mules are placed in their hitches. Individual characters range in height from 3′ to 7 1/2′. The Wagon Master served as a crucial element to wagon trains, guiding their members west and looking after the families and their supplies. This Wagon Master stands at 11′ tall and weighs approximately 2,000 pounds. The Hunter Group portrays the constant need to provide additional nourishment and supplement the families’ meals with meat.

Boys Town

Omaha NE

Boys Town was founded in 1917 by Father Edward J. Flanagan. It is dedicated to the care, treatment, and education of at-risk children. The village was made famous by the 1938 award-winning movie “Boys Town,” staring Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney.
Father Flanagan’s house.
Father Flanagan statue
Catholic chapel
Rear of the chapel
Scene where the boy Jesus taught the Jewish religious leaders.
The tomb of Father Flanagan
This garden has many flowers, shrubs and trees that are referenced in the Bible.
Christ’s Thorn
Burning Bush
Protestant chapel.

State Museum of Natural History

Lincoln NE

This museum on the University of Nebraska campus is very well worth a visit. Fascinating collection of actual prehistoric fossils, many of them found in Nebraska.
Giant Beaver, found in Sheridan County NE
Peccary, found in Franklin County NE
Saber-Toothed Cat, found in the La Brea Tar Pits CA
Dire Wolf, found in the La Brea Tar Pits CA
Ground Sloth, found in Garden County NE
Chilocothere, found in Sioux County NE
Three-Toed Horse, found in Cherry County NE
Ancient Pronghorns, found in Cherry County NE
Short-Legged Rhinoceros, found in Brown County NE
Prod Tusker, found in Webster County NE
Long-Jawed Tusker, found in Cherry County NE. These elephants lacked tusks in the lower jaw, indicating they may have had flexible lower lips.
Stegomastodon, found in Morrill County NE
American Mastodon, found in Indiana
Jefferson’s Mammoth, found in Illinois.
Imperial Mammoth, found in Lincoln County NE
Imperial Mammoth, for scale.
Long-Limbed Rhino, found in Morrill County NE
Short-Legged Rhino, found in Brown County NE
Giant Rhinoceros, found in Banner County NE
Fossil Horse, found in Sheridan County NE
Giant Camel, found in Garden County NE. It was the largest species of camel to ever live.
Titanothere, found in the Nebraska Badlands
Apatosaurus thigh bone, found in Wyoming
This Mountain Lion was struck and killed by traffic in 2005 on I-80 between Lincoln and Omaha. Examination of its claws indicate it had travelled from the Black Hills in South Dakota, along the Missouri or Elkhorn Rivers.

And there is much, much more to see at this museum!

University of Nebraska

Lincoln NE

Memorial Stadium, home of the Huskers.
Coach Tom Osborne and quarterback
Mueller Bell Tower. This is a pretty neat bell tower. In addition to chiming on the hour, and half hour, it chimes music during the day.
Johnny Carson was an alumnus of the University of Nebraska.
He generously contributed financially to the university over the years.
Replica of his “Carnac the Magnificent” turban.
This is a stainless steel tree! Pretty cool! Created by Roxie Paine in 2004. Paine has created several stainless steel trees that are displayed throughout the US.
The University of Nebraska Tractor Test Laboratory is the officially designated tractor testing station for the United States and tests tractors according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development codes. We knew about this by watching the Nebraska episode of Aerial America. While we were at the test track, they tested two tractors.

Nebraska State Capitol

Lincoln NE

This is a beautiful capitol inside and out. It was completed in 1932.
The Sower, on top of the 400 foot tall tower. The figure is modeling the traditional method of hand sowing grain. The sculpture is 19-1/2 feet tall and weighs 9-1/2 tons. It was raised to the top of the Capitol in 1930.
Abraham Lincoln statue, with the Gettysburg Address inscribed on the wall.
Rotunda on the ground floor.
The prehistoric life of Nebraska winds around Soil, Water, Fire and Air under the rotunda.
The floor mosaic in the vestibule represents “Cosmic Energy”.
Ceiling in the vestibule.
In the vestibule are three James Penney’s murals created in 1964. This one is “The Homesteader’s Campfire”.
“The First Furrow”
“The House Raising”
In the foyer, Venetian glass wall murals depict the Past, Present and Future Life on the Plains. This is “The United States Survey”.
“The Blizzard of 1888”
“Tree Planting”
“The Coming of the Railroad”
“The Spirit of Nebraska”
“The Building of the Capitol”
Senate chamber. Nebraska is the only state with a single legislative chamber (unicameral).
Nebraska State Supreme Court
The 14th floor rotunda (top of the tower). This area is called the Memorial Chamber.
The murals in the Memorial Chamber represent the work of society to achieve virtue and noble life. Labors of the head, hand and heart. This mural is The Ideal of International Law.
The Peril of Fire
The Ideal of Freedom.
The Scourge of Poverty
The Scourge of Plague
The Ideal of Self-Determination
The Scourge of Famine