Join Me on the Kearney to Grand Island Historic Tour

Central Nebraska has several historic pioneer overland trails some of which date back to prehistoric times and the Native Americans in the area. On 6 September, 2012 I will be going on a guided tour of the trails between Kearney and Grand Island, Nebraska. The tour is sponsored by Family History Expos and there is still time and room available for you to register and join us on the tour.

The trails include the Mormon Trail and the Oregon Trail also known as the Platte River Road. Our guide for the tour will be Ronnie O'Brien, Director of Cultural Education at The Great Platte River Road Archway in Kearney, Nebraska. 

Also on the tour will be R. Val Rasmussen, Past President of the Temple Fork Chapter, Sons of the Utah Pioneers - 1986. During 34 years with the LDS Church Education System, a highlight was assignment as Nebraska Area Coordinator / Lincoln Institute Director. Starting in 1996, he was Education Chairman for the Nebraska Mormon Trails Association. 

In addition, we will have Terry Welch along. He is a retired instructor of 38 years with the LDS Church Educational System. Terry has been actively involved with trail research and trail exploration for nearly twenty years, having been a tour director on multiple occasions. He was also involved with the Sesquicentennial Mormon Pioneer Wagon Train of 1997.

Following the tour, on the 7th and 8th of September, we will have the Midwest Family History Expo. Click here for information about registering for this outstanding event.

Ronnie O'Brien will be teaching 
Bringing the 1860's on the Central Nebraska Mormon/California Trail to Life.

It took her eleven years and a lot of determination to piece together what life was like for the pioneers who settled along the Mormon/California Trail in Central Nebraska in the 1860’s. To register for the Expo, click here. 

R. Val Rasmussen will also be presenting 
The Nebraska Corridor 1847 to 1869 "A Protected Exodus" "Are We There Yet!" 

Yearly thousands of western families travel the "Nebraska Slab", I-80 (463 mil.) , in route to pioneer historical sites in the Midwest. Mesmerized , because they have no idea where the trail is, or what happened in their current panorama! To prepare for the Sesquicentennial Wagon Train Celebration, Nebraska Travel and Tourism, in cooperation with the Nebraska Mormon Trail Association, produced: A Self - Guided Tour, "A 19th Century Exodus". We will provide material which allows you to be successful "Family Tour Guides". Included will be information on 18 sites you can choose from, to highlight your ancestors exodus experience, in the most romantic segment of the pioneer trail! 

Terry Welch will also be presenting
Uncommon Aspects of Mormon Pioneer Migration

From Nauvoo to Salt Lake; Mormon pioneers left a trail legacy of hardship and endurance which differed in many respects from other west bound groups. This presentation will explore those differences.