The Historic Trail In Nebraska Everyone Should Take At Least Once
By Delana Lefevers|Published October 30, 2016
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Delana Lefevers
Author
As a lifelong Nebraskan, Delana loves discovering the many hidden treasures of her state. She has worked as a writer and editor since 2007. Delana's work has been featured on more than a dozen websites and in Nebraska Life Magazine.
Imagine your worst day at work. Maybe you accidentally spilled coffee all over your boss’s shirt, or forwarded a personal email to all of your clients, or got caught singing (poorly) in the break room. Pretty embarrassing, right? Well, at least no one will remember a century from now and erect statues and historical markers telling the story of that major flub.
Not so for Private George Shannon. His work gaffes have become historical fun in northeast Nebraska.
Shannon was sent out to retrieve two pack horses that had wandered off from camp. He failed to find his way back and spent 12 days separated from his party.
The young explorer had assumed that he was behind the expedition party, so he rushed ahead trying to catch up. Failing to find them, he had decided to go downstream and wait for a trading party to come along so he could join them. It was there that another member of the expedition found him and brought him back on September 11th.
Private Shannon and his misadventure have been memorialized with the George Shannon Trail in northeastern Nebraska. The 240-mile trail was founded in 2001 as a joint tourism effort by the communities located along unlucky Private Shannon's historic path...which just happens to wind through some incredibly scenic parts of the state.
The communities along the trail are Bloomfield, Bow Valley, Center, Creighton, Crofton, Hartington, Lindy, Niobrara, St. Helena, St. James, Santee, Verdel, Verdigre, Wausa, Winnetoon, Wynot, and the Ponca and Santee Sioux Nations.
Sixteen descriptive signs and 13 wooden chainsaw statues of Private Shannon dot the trail. Each sign tells a little more of the story, and each statue is in a different pose and position to represent that part of Shannon's misadventure.
The trail is a great fun activity for anyone who loves history - or just a really good story. Special events are held on the trail throughout the year. Geocachers also love this place for the more than 200 caches along the trail.
The Shannon Trail isn’t meant to make fun of young Shannon or his sense of direction. His is simply an interesting story to tell – one of many that occurred on the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Taking the trail is a fun way to learn, through one young man’s eyes, about a side of the adventure that not many people have heard of.
Get more information about the journey – and about George Shannon – at the Shannon Trail site.
