Monday, June 04, 2007

Lewis and Clark Road Trips at Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, Nebraska

On Saturday, June 2, 2007 I signed books at the Base Exchange store at Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, Nebraska. In the photo above, I’m talking with consultant Andy Alexander, who is the manager of  PTAC (Procurement Technical Assistance Center) at Nebraska Business Development Center. Andy is a retired military officer and a native of the East St Louis area, where he helped build Lewis and Clark trails as a boy. Andy has helped me register to do business with the government, so he is still helping to build Lewis and Clark trails.The photo was taken by Aloysius Carino of Bellevue, Nebraska. Outside there was a pet show going on that morning, and there was a wonderful collection of dogs to look at.

Catfish Lake Restaurant is located just south of the base, near the July 21, 1804 Papillion Creek campsite of Lewis and Clark. The restaurant has several holding ponds of farm raised catfish for both its place and the Joe Tess Place restaurant in south Omaha. To reach it you go through the little tiny community of La Platte, Nebraska, which was originally called Larimer City. The two story Larimer hotel still stands here. Guess what William Larimer, Jr. did next?  He founded Denver, Colorado. When I was president of the Mouth of the Platte chapter of the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation we were in charge of  a major grant from the National Park Service to erect signage along the Missouri River.  I lobbied hard to put a sign at the restaurant and lounge, and I am pleased to say that they made a nice little area for it, with benches and a sidewalk leading to the sign. The restaurant is also a destination in my book and on the website Trip Planner.

Bellevue, Nebraska is really the foundation of my history knowledge. It is the second oldest American town in the West, established in 1822. Only Pierre, South Dakota is older, established in 1818. I blogged about Omaha Chief Big Elk and the Fontenelle family recently. Several members of the family have been put in touch with each other after reading my blog Escape from Death and A Sister’s Revenge: the Daughters of Omaha Chief Big Elk.

Posted by Kira Gale on 06/04/2007 at 12:05 PM

(0) Comments • Permalink • Digg It • Add to del.icio.us