(relaxing music) JIM SWENSON: Often times I'll hear that we don't have mountains, we don't have oceans.

Yeah, that's right.

But you know, we have more miles of river system than any other state in the nation.

We have more parks in Nebraska than in many other states can boast.

And those parks feature on the iconic things that you see as you crisscross Nebraska.

MARK RETTIG: It doesn't matter whether it's Lewis and Clark history, native Native American history or going through our history with World War I up to where we are now.

I feel that without the history and teaching our young about where our roots really came from they could be missing out on life.

JAKE RODIEK: We're very fortunate in our park system to have great partnerships with each community and the public that use the parks.

JIM MILLER: It's a good, quiet family-type environment.

They just come out here for the natural beauty of it.

MELODY DILLON: It's definitely one of our favorite places as a family to go and just hang out at.

ALAN BARTELS: Somebody who considers themself a photographer, it can be hard to find a land owner or even find where the most beautiful places are.

With Nebraska State Parks you already know you've got those beautiful places.

You just pull up, get out of your car and go exploring.

(relaxing music) NARRATOR: Program funding provided in part by: MAN: Did you know that since 1993 the Nebraska Lottery has given over $750 million back to our state?

In fact, all 93 counties, from Sioux in the west to Richardson in the east have benefited from these funds.

The money has gone to protect our environment, support the Nebraska State Fair, and fund scholarships for Nebraska college students.

As you can see, the Nebraska Lottery is helping to build a better and brighter Nebraska.

(upbeat music) VOICEOVER: Leach Camper Sales of Lincoln, a family-owned business since the 1960's.

Leach offers a full line of new or pre-owned gas and luxury diesel motor homes, travel trailers and Fifth Wheels.

(upbeat music) Leach provides sales, service and rental for outdoor enthusiasts.

More information is available at Leachrv.com.

(birds chirping) (waterfall flowing) (crickets chirping) ALAN BARTELS: People think of Theodore Roosevelt as the father of the park system in the United States but in 1864, Abraham Lincoln signed over the Yosemite Valley to the state of California for the purposes of recreation.

So he kind of set a precedent for establishing parks in the United States.

JIM SWENSON: Larger cities started to develop urban park environments.

One thing that was missing was kind of the go-between.

So in 1921, Nebraska became the 19th of the 48 states to actually set aside ground and develop a state park, out at Chadron State Park.

(birds and crickets chirping) JOSH MAY: Chadron State Park is special in its own way, not just because it was the first state park but because of the area.

The Pine Ridge is only found right here in this area and if anyone travels out this way they'll know what it immediately.

BARTELS: It's a good example of Nebraskans working together.

James Good from Dawes County wanted a state park in his part of the state.

Well, some Omaha legislatures wanted some highway construction done, so they worked together and supported each other's initiatives and Chadron State Park was formed.

MAY: Mr. Good was appointed the first park superintendent at no pay and he also had the first building on the grounds.

Back in 1921 he built this cabin up there which the fireplace is still standing to this day with a marker on it.

In 1929, Senator Good actually bought up 160 acres of land just to keep out some bootleggers from moving in and used his own money to purchase it which upped the park acres from 640 to 800 acres.

JERRY BERRY: My folks came to this country in 1929 during the beginning or the heart of the depression.

He decided that he needed to come west and they ended up in Chadron, Nebraska.

The state park, it was brand new at that time.

There was very little building and the neighbors would come in and help with the park.

If it was too wet to farm or whatever, they'd get together and have a big work deal and then the park would have a lunch.

(relaxing music) (water trickling) MAY: The Pond, as we call it now, actually started off as a swimming pool.

It was created by horse and dredges basically and that formed the first pond which was moved, in 1961, up to the actual location now where we have our swimming pool.

The pond is still used for fishing and paddle boating to this day, though.

BERRY: The water came from Chadron Creek.

We always laughed because a mile and a half up the creek was 500 head of hogs.

And I don't think they chlorinated the water but we never missed a stroke.

GREGG GALBRAITH: The Pond was updated in 2014.

It's the first thing you see as you come in the park.

There's a picnic shelter around there and there's a lot of gatherings there.

BERRY: Our family took part in family reunions here and everybody always has a good time at Chadron State Park.

MAY: We have 22 cabins here.

16 of them are the original cabins built in 1930's by the CCC during the great depression.

They have been modernized.

They have indoor plumbing and electricity but they're still rustic.

(pipe vibrating from disc hitting it) MAY: The disc golf course has proven to be one of our more popular amenities here at the park.

GALBRAITH: The first nine holes are more novice and then you get to the back nine and I mean, you're up on Buttes, you're throwing through trees, ravines, just, it's very intense and people just love it.

(crossbow shooting) GALBRAITH: We designed this, I think there's 14 targets here with our archery range and we added 3D targets to it.

SWENSON: You drive in and you see Chadron Creek flowing through the park and it starts to give you an idea of being close to the mountains.

GALBRAITH: Kids just love it.

They'll walk through it and they're up to their knees in water and chase the frogs and the crawdads and different bugs that are in there, and just splash and have a good time.

(crickets chirping) MAY: In 2012, Chadron State Park had a large fire that started over west of the park and actually burned into the park and killed off lots and lots of trees.

GALBRAITH: The next year we had lots of rains and there was a lot of erosion, a lot of wash off but the rains have helped the grass grow.

We've got understory that's growing.

We've got new trees, deciduous trees that are coming up that we didn't have before.

I don't know if it's ever looked this good.

We also do a project with the Boy Scouts, they've been coming out.

This will be the fifth year that they've come out and they're replanting the pine trees.

It is amazing how they can grow on rock and that's basically what the Buttes are, rock, rock foundation.

But you can go on hillsides and there's something growing out of a crack.

(birds chirping and relaxing music) (animals howling and water trickling) JIM SWENSON: Chadron State Park was the genesis of it all and you start moving ahead a few years, in 1934, when Ponca State Park came onto the horizon.

Through the generosity of the local community and the Legion Post there, Post 117, to donate the ground that would become Ponca State Park and allow for growth to occur there.

A couple of hundred acres at that point in time, now over 2,000 acres at that park.

(ducks quacking and river flowing) JEFF FIELDS: I remember the first time my wife and I drove into this park, just that landscape of forest and the rolling hills, kind of that New England flavor to it and fell in love with it from the get-go.

There's over 25 miles of hiking trails at Ponca so it's a great opportunity to see all the landscapes that the Missouri River has to offer.

It's always fun to go up and look at the old oak tree which was a sapling in 1644.

Another great feature is the Towers in Time which is located at our entrance.

It features three separate towers that kind of portray three different time periods of flora and fauna in this area that are all engraved.

ALAN BARTELS: Ponca State Park is a gem, a jewel of a state park in Nebraska with lots of history, beautiful scenic river views.

And in 1804 Lewis and Clark sailed through that area.

SCOTT OLIGMUELLER: We're at our 3 State Overlook right now.

It's where you can see South Dakota and Nebraska and Iowa.

FIELDS: This is probably one of the focal points of Ponca State Park is the 3 State Overlook.

It's also a neat spot where you an actually kind of see what we often call The Tale of Two Rivers.

We have the start of the eastern gateway, essentially is the Missouri National Recreational River.

This 59-mile stretch of river is probably one of the first glimpses of the old Missouri River that you're going to see where you have the unchannelized river, the sandbars, you have snags out on the river, a lot of things that Lewis and Clark and other people that, steamboats and others that navigated upstream encountered 200 years ago.

SWENSON: Ponca in the springtime is a special place.

That's when the birds are coming into the wetlands and into the timber.

The oak trees are starting to come out with a little mouse-ear sized leaves.

The young deer that are moving around, it's springtime at Ponca State Park.

When's the last time we were able to hike this trail?

OLIGMUELLER: It's been a while actually.

FIELDS: Wow Scott, look at the wild leeks.

I don't know if you've ever smelled these before but they definitely got a pungent onion smell to them.

OLIGMUELLER: They used this along the expedition, didn't they?

The Lewis and Clark Expedition?

FIELDS: Actually, at Fort Atkinson they had the early stages of the fort there.

In 1820, they had a outbreak of scurvy and this was one of the plants, basically, scurvy was a lack of eating vegetables and vitamin C. This was one of the plants that helped save them.

(birds chirping) FIELDS: Here's a remnant of Dutchman's breeches.

If you look at the flower on them it supposedly looks like a Dutchman's breeches hanging on a clothes line.

(birds chirping) FIELDS: There's another good, neat forest shrub we have here, the Missouri gooseberry.

Pretty thorny thing, it's not a real friendly one to run into but the berries it produces are pretty valuable to wildlife.

You actually make jelly out of gooseberry.

It kind of has a green berry on it.

Here's one of my favorites.

This is called bloodroot.

It gets its name, the root part of it has a kind of a tuberous type of root.

But you can see when you break it open it has that real kind of a bright, kind of almost looks like blood.

It's pretty cool.

(birds chirping) FIELDS: This time of year is the best time if you're a bird watcher to come here just because if you look at the canopy the leaves aren't fully grown yet, so you have a rare opportunity to look up into a tree and see birds without being hidden with all the leaves.

Late April, early May is when most of the migrating songbirds are either arriving to nest here during the summer or on their way north in the case of warblers.

Most of them are stopping here as a stopping point as they migrate north.

OLIGMUELLER: You know, migration's always one of my favorite times of year, seeing all the different birds out along the river and it's really cool when you hear thousands of birds all together.

(birds chirping) FIELDS: That chirp, chirp, chirp's the hand turkey.

There's the Tom.

OLIGMUELLER: It's cool when we hear them talk back and forth to each other.

FIELDS: It's kind of fun to watch.

Every time the hen talks, it gets the gobbler going.

A lot of times you'll make a loud noise, you'll get a Tom turkey to react to it.

(Jeff making turkey call) FIELDS: We're getting close to the turkeys here.

That's a chickadee up there.

That's real common.

That's a year-round resident here, the black-capped chickadee.

Typically you'll see chickadees and nuthatches in kind of a colony, they feed together.

OLIGMUELLER: It's a turkey feather.

FIELDS: We must be getting close.

SWENSON: You follow the trail long enough and surprisingly enough you end up at the banks of the Missouri River.

And all of a sudden you see a big sandbar in front of you.

You could walk along the sides of the river.

OLIGMUELLER: A lot of people I'm able to talk to that come back here and hike, they like it.

They're kind of able to get away from the park a little bit and peace and quiet and enjoy nature back on this backwater stretch.

FIELDS: That is the interior least tern.

It's one of our two endangered or threatened species that are on the river.

The other one's the piping plover, both of which nest out on the sandbars out on the river.

There's a northern shoveler and have some blue-winged teal.

The first one is a male northern shoveler.

They got kind of a funny shaped bill.

They got kind of a mallard coloration to their head.

He's gonna come right down and land for us here.

It looks like three males and one female blue-winged teal.

I think the males are all after the one female in the bunch, it looks like.

One of the neat things when we stand here and look that I think's probably one of the coolest things about being along the Missouri river, is you get some of this cottonwood forest and just to be out in that cottonwood forest is pretty neat on the floodplain.

OLIGMUELLER: People don't typically think Nebraska of having this much topography.

It's kind of cool to be able to show it off and look back at the bluffs.

SWENSON: We're still very dependent upon the generosity, both through volunteer spirit, financial support that we get from many private investors that make all this possible and will carry us forward into the future as new recreational trends evolve.

STEPHANIE BENSTEAD: I have never seen a community put their money where their mouth is like I have Ponca.

They volunteer at the park non-stop.

People are always up at the park.

The park has so many events that bring people to town and it's such a support for the businesses, such a support for the community.

I don't think we'd have a town.

They kind of joke about us being a mini Wal-Mart.

We try to keep some tools on hand so in case something goes wrong at the park.

There's always the grill stuff.

(coffee machine grinding) BENSTEAD: A gourmet coffee and ice-cream shop.

We do serve a daily lunch special.

CLERK: Thank you, ma'am.

CUSTOMER: Thank you.

BENSTEAD: So we stay pretty busy.

There's a couple that visits the park and the first summer we were here they were here every weekend.

And last summer they were here every other weekend.

This spring when he pulled through to set up he had stopped in to say, hi, that they were back.

And I asked where his wife was and he said she's been fighting cancer.

So I made her her regular coffee and drove out to their campsite and said hello to her.

It's good to have them back.

(birds chirping) JIM SWENSON: Ponca State Park and Niobrara State Park are very similar.

They share a great history associated with the Missouri River.

They share a great legacy related to Lewis and Clark, also Native American history.

At Niobrara however you're on the bluffs.

There's not as many trees.

It's more of an open plain.

One of my favorite places to be in Niobrara is at Niobrara when the sun's coming up and the meadows are all green.

MARK RETTIG: Niobrara State Park is 1260 acres.

We are right on the transitionary of tall grass prairie to short grass prairie up here.

And that's what you'll see as you're going through the park nowadays with the Niobrara Legacy Project.

We're right on the confluence of the Niobrara and Missouri river.

SWENSON: It was those rivers that caused us to move Niobrara State Park in the mid '80's up to the area that its sat now on the bluff tops looking out.

RETTIG: We've got people that's been coming here for 27 years, 30 years, they'd come in when the old park was located down between the two bridges.

PHYLLIS: I remember bringing the kids up here to the old park.

Which is down below LORI: Paddle boats, we had paddle boats.

PHYLLIS: We had paddle boats.

Yeah, that was fun.

When dad and I were first married we took the ferry across, didn't we?

LORI: I didn't know that PHYLLIS: Yeah (lady laughs) CARRIE: I didn't either How man years you been married?

PHYLLIS: Too many (laughing) DUANE: About 10.

We're kind of dating ourselves PHYLLIS: I was gonna say we got our car on that big old ferry in.

CARRIE: You did ferry across there?

PHYLLIS: We really did, yeah.

That's the truth, guys.

Then when we got the camper we started coming up here to camp.

Brought the Fifth Wheel up.

DUANE: After things got established a little bit we said it'll never be like the old park but.

PHYLLIS: Yeah.

CARRIE: That was Brady's first camping experience.

PHYLLIS: Brady, that's where you learned to drink orange Crush pop was right down here in their campsite.

DUANE: He learned how to get in the cooler.

PHYLLIS: Your daddy got mad at me 'cause I said, Brady, you can have a can of pop and your dad said, no Brady, you can't.

And I said yes he can, he's camping.

AARON: Yep, camping rules.

(birds chirping) RETTIG: Lewis and Clark, the Mormons, outlaws, Doc Middleton, Kidd Wade, Jessie James all frequent this area back in the day.

All this property that we're on now used to belong to the Native Americans.

Ponca on this side of the river and the Sioux on the other side of the river.

The land between the Niobrara River's natural channel and the Mormon Canal became an island later known as Niobrara Island Park.

Most of the trees here were planted here.

There was a few cedar trees around.

There was a few cottonwoods back in the day, some elm.

Most of the trees that you see here right now were planted by the Park Commission.

(birds chirping) RETTIG: One of the things that always grabs people when they come here and it's something that I never get tired of, and that's our scenic views throughout this park.

We get a fantastic view of the great state of South Dakota.

They get a better view looking back over at us over here.

The park has a lot to offer to everyone.

It's a great hunting area up here.

It's a great fishing area up here on both rivers.

It's a great recreational area for people that like to boat on the river.

It's a clean river up here, just a good opportunity to get family outdoors, make them lasting memories that they keep coming back to the park.

(flock of birds chirping loudly) RETTIG: If you want a quiet campground, if you want good, clean cabins, if you want a scenic view like no other in the state, if you wanna catch fish and maybe catch that trophy fish or that master angler, Niobrara State Park's the place to come.

(river water swishing and birds chirping) RETTIG: We get our horses from a lot of equestrian people that wanna find a good home for their horse.

We'll buy them or they'll donate them to the park because they know we're gonna take care of them.

It's a good home here so they'll live their days out here.

SWENSON: Niobrara State Park, one of the fun adventurous things to do there is the trail rides.

People really do enjoy riding those horses and getting a nice view off over the Missouri River.

AARON: Brady, what did you think today about going out on your first big horseback ride that nobody was holding the reigns for you?

You just did it yourself?

BRADY: It was scary.

(laughing) AARON: A little scary.

To be honest, it kind of spooked me a little bit too because I've never been that high off the ground on a horse.

PHYLLIS: They're so pretty though.

BRADY: That's a big change for me from riding ponies at the little park to riding a full blown horse.

AARON: Right.

CARRIE: However, you looked pretty much like a natural.

AARON: You did really well.

CARRIE: I looked back and I kept checking on him, he was right behind me.

How are you doing, bud?

Mom, I'm cool.

RETTIG: I just like to know that I was able to help someone have a memorable time here at Niobrara State Park.

If I can be part of that and they appreciate that, that would be my legacy that I could be remembered by.

(birds chirping) (river swishing) SWENSON: If you wanna flow down river from Niobrara you eventually get to Indian Cave State Park as the Missouri River flows south and another wooded bluff, oak laden bluff tops overlooking the Missouri River.

3,000 plus acres of wild habitat, if you will.

The pawpaw trees that Lewis and Clark talk about in their journals, you know, that provided fruit for them to eat as they were making the move towards the Pacific Ocean.

KEVIN HOLLIDAY: We have all sorts of different plants and animals that you can only find here in Indian Cave State Park.

ALAN BARTELS: No matter when you go to Indian Cave State Park there's beautiful colors and amazing things to see.

HOLLIDAY: In the spring we have numerous plants and everything is starting to grow.

SWENSON: I don't think there's any place else in Nebraska where you can experience so many redbuds 'cause you're on kind of the northern cusp of their range.

But they all come to their little puffs of pink showing up all across the landscape.

BARTELS: Then in the fall it's one of the best places to see fall foliage in Nebraska along the Missouri River.

And the park also has these little outlook places where you can step out for these river valley views and see the greens, the yellows, the oranges, and the reds.

HOLLIDAY: The fall is the busiest time of the year.

The cave is what this park is named for, is one of the biggest historical features we have down here.

We have a native petroglyph writing on the cave walls.

They used that for shelter from 2,000 plus years ago to all the way through the years.

Native Americans came through.

Lewis and Clark on their journals noticing Native Americans using the cave at the time.

(river flowing) (relaxing guitar music) BARTELS: There's not very many true ghost towns in Nebraska.

But St. Deroin at Indian Cave State Park is a true Nebraska ghost town.

It was founded in 1854.

HOLLIDAY: Joseph Deroin, he created the town of St. Deroin.

He created the town, the school house, the general store and the community down there along the river.

It has flooded a few times since then so they would continue to move the town up until the last flood of 1911 ended the town at that site.

Technically, St. Deroin would've been the first town in Nebraska but with the flood it took the town away.

We have the cemetery, the St. Deroin Cemetery on site.

BARTELS: One stone in there belongs to A. J. Ritter.

The legend is that he blew off an arm while fishing with dynamite in the Missouri river.

His arm was buried somewhere around town.

When he died later it was interred at the St. Deroin Cemetery.

Him and his arm were not matched up.

Park staff there today still tell the tale to campers about Mr. Ritter wandering around at night searching for his missing arm.

JOAN KEIGHLEY: We've been coming up here for over 20 years.

I like the camping and I like the people.

We've made a lot of friends.

We enjoy talking to all the different people.

HOLLIDAY: We have the broom maker.

You could watch him make it right in front of you and you could purchase them then.

Soap, we make our own soap.

(metal hammering on anvil) WAYNE KEIGHLEY: Because at that temperature it gets soft and pliable just like your gum does.

HOLLIDAY: Wayne is our blacksmith.

He helps out around the park.

He's just a all-round knowledgeable guy that just loves this park.

And same with his wife, Joan.

She makes the candles for us and helps at events throughout the year as well.

They are great people to have, friends of Indian Cave and family of Indian Cave.

JOAN: That's how all of them start, just as a piece of string.

(metal hammering on anvil) JOAN: The process is the same as the pioneers.

It's just the pioneers used animal fat which is smelly and smutty and we make better candles than that here 'cause these are beeswax and paraffin.

The trick today is to dip them in the water and not get the water on you 'cause it's about 33 degree water.

RYAN JENKINS: I grew up in Fall City and our youth group would come up here every fall and camp in the group camping area.

We would explore the woods and have camp fires and roam free without any guidance.

JOHN JENKINS: I remember those camp-outs too with the youth group and everyone just had a lot of fun.

We also did some hikes at night around the St. Deroin Cemetery and we'd tell some ghost stories, try to get everybody scared.

A good time was had and I got a lot of good memories.

RYAN: That unstructured play and exploration which, at a park like this, it's important for kids to experience when so much of their lives are structured now with sports and activities.

It's important to have a place like this that kids can come and explore nature and get dirty and have those experiences away from their gadgets.

JOHN: You feel like you're some place besides Nebraska camping.

It's just a beautiful spot.

I worked here part-time in the mid-90's on the weekends and I was the naturalist and gave nature tours.

And it was pretty awesome to be paid to do that.

I'd hike several different trails and it was just a lot of fun.

I brought my family out here quite often to go camping or picnicking.

MEGAN JENKINS: I was Vin's age when I first came here.

He's in sixth grade.

I used to play in the woods too when I was a kid.

And I was just thinking about that how I can't believe I actually played in the woods.

Just trying to come here and spend the weekend without being online and hike and wake up outside.

It's a tradition that I'm trying to pass on to Vin that I got from my dad 'cause it's very rewarding.

VIN TRAMPE: To me and my mom, I think we were putting up our tent and it was super windy, and we did it but I think we forgot to put a certain thing on or we put it up wrong.

And it started raining and it started kind of flooding.

SWENSON: People recognize that going outdoors, having time with family whether it was just camping in a tent, fishing at the favorite fishing hole or lake, picnicking and seeing the stars, all those things have always been treasured moments for families in Nebraska.

RYAN: Since we've come here so often it has a history and feel to it and a real sense of place that being here you remember all these things that you've done here.

It feels like home.

JOHN: It is a sense of community with people who you see here every year.

And maybe you don't see them for a year but then when you do come back it's just like you're right back on, it's like time hasn't passed.

GARY STEVENS: We've been camping here with family and friends since 1980.

I've done different projects all over the park from up at the shop to the new wood shingle roof on the wild cabin.

So as I go through the park I see things that we've touched over a lot of years.

It gives you the feeling of satisfaction to know that you did a good thing for people that can come and use it.

They put in a Frisbee disc golf here and you got about a 40 foot wide ravine that's 16 foot deep.

And when it's raining, muddy and such it's very hard to get down and through.

We came across the materials to span that bridge and myself with another volunteer, we come up with a plan.

SWENSON: The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission manages the parks but the parks belong to the people.

It's important that folks understand that these are their resources.

Don't take them for granted.

STEVENS: I guess I'd like to think that the volunteers were a very important part.

Mostly, it's the satisfaction about building something that others can use and you know you had a hand in making it better.

(relaxing upbeat music) (crickets chirping) (vehicle cruising past) ♪ When you find he doesn't care ♪ JIM SWENSON: Now you gonna go all the way across Nebraska, take that long journey from the southeast corner all the way up to the northwest corner, Pine Ridge, beautiful area.

Red Cloud Buttes, the Cheyenne Buttes.

Rich military history.

There was a fort out there, Fort Robinson State Park.

JIM MILLER: There's miles and miles of country to hike in and can see all kinds of wildlife throughout the park at different times.

The park itself is just a little over 22,000 acres.

It's the biggest park in the Nebraska park system.

ERNEST GENDRON: The first thing is we experience with our eyes how beautiful the area is, looking out at the buttes or seeing the herd of buffalo that's out here.

I think that you do feel the weight of the history and all the things that come before when you walk around out here.

ALAN BARTELS: Fort Robinson has been used for various things through its long history.

GENDRON: When I talk to visitors to visitors about the history of Fort Robinson something that I always try to impress upon them is that it didn't start in 1874, that we have thousands of years of history with the indigenous peoples in this area.

In the early days it was Camp Robinson before the site was upgraded to fort status.

So as Camp Robinson it was a semi-permanent operation and then once the government decided to stay here long-term they were upgraded to Fort status.

But the main reason for being here initially was the Red Cloud Agency.

So when they established a Red Cloud Agency here a lot of the people from Fort Laramie ended up here.

And of course the Lakota, the southern Oglala Lakota in particular and some of the Sechongwa, those folks were moved here.

And the White River area was an area that people had been camping in and hunting in and considered part of their seasonal grounds for decades and decades, hundreds of years.

The killing of Crazy Horse is something that I think is deeply felt by a lot of people still today.

A lot of people have different interpretations of that.

I try to impress upon the visitors that it is, of course, a tragic event and that there's many sides to that.

A lot of people will come to visit the memorial, the small memorial and the location where Crazy Horse was fatally stabbed and murdered.

They decided to relocate the Northern Cheyenne people who had been living mostly in Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, and around the White River here to remove them to Indian territory, as they called it at the time, which was Oklahoma.

And it was there that they joined up with their southern Cheyenne and southern Arapaho relatives.

They weren't treated very well when they were there.

About a third of their population died because of ill rationing, because of diseases and things like that that they contracted while they were there in that brand new climate.

A faction of the northern Cheyennes decided that they wanted to move north back to their homeland.

And so then what follows is another tragic event which is called the Cheyenne Breakout, basically, of 1879.

And eventually the Cheyenne, because of that monumental struggle, were able to preserve a homeland in Montana in the modern day Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation.

After the Lakota were moved to Pine Ridge we had the so-called Buffalo Soldiers that were here.

So the African American cavalry unit was here and so in 1890 there was the Wounded Knee event, the Massacre.

And so the cavalry was sent north to provide reinforcements for the soldiers that were engaged there.

SWENSON: They served as, in World War I for a remount station for a training of horses.

And World War II they had the dogs out there that they trained for military service and it became a prison of war camp also.

GENDRON: The Department of Agriculture had the run of the place and as I understand were knocking down a lot of the buildings.

And so it was at that point that the people of Crawford actually stepped in, were concerned that the history was being destroyed of the area and so through that sort of grassroots that we have the preservation of a lot of the buildings that the things today.

MILLER: All these old buildings that were used in the military time had been renovated all the way from putting in plumbing in some of them, they're that old.

The white small buildings are the first original officer's quarters.

They're made of Adobe but they're covered with siding now.

GENDRON: We have all these life changing sort of events that happened here that are these huge, huge dates in history with association with the murder of Crazy Horse, with the Cheyenne Breakout, with World War I, with World War II and the war dogs and all those things.

I think that something that always strikes me when I'm out here walking around and what I often think about are like the little moments of the history, thinking about women sitting in their lodges around Red Cloud Agency beading and doing stuff for their families.

Or folks sitting by the White River, an area that they've lived in for a century or more.

(birds chirping) GENDRON: My favorite things to do out here are to just walk around, to listen to the river, to the wind and smell the pines when you get up on the ridge.

SWENSON: It's a safe place to be and you stay in those historic quarters and you just think about how it used to be.

You can see the stars at night.

You can hear the horses whining in the distance.

You can ride out on those trails and get lost if you want and just be there in solitude.

MILLER: It's quiet, a lot of the things that you can do out here are family-related fun kind of stuff.

It's just sitting by the campfire by your building and talking all night or taking your kids and going for a walk.

You don't have to worry so much about the big city kind of stuff.

GENDRON: It's not necessarily about segregating or trying to push away parts of our life and say I'm gonna have the natural part of my life today and go back to my technological life some other time but maybe to come out here and connect with the environment and come away with thinking about how this is life and how can I incorporate more of life into my everyday experience?

MILLER: God's country.

It's just a one of a kind place.

You come out here and go for a walk in the hills and get lost in yourself and nature.

(audience applauding) (water gushing) SWENSON: On the Platte River now, wooded oak laden bluff tops, formerly two camps, Harriet Harding and Esther Newman camps that in 1982 we acquired and converted into a great state park located smack, dab between Lincoln and Omaha.

It really is an enjoyable venue to escape the city life and come and enjoy the outdoors.

MELODY DILLON: I love Platte River State Park because it is quiet, it is peaceful, it's a place where all the employees make you feel like family.

A good place to go just to be quiet, hike, do anything you'd wanna do.

When my kids were younger and we went there for swimming lessons every summer, the kids loved to spend the summer there.

Then it grew into my kids having their first jobs there.

My kids are well grown now but definitely a place that when we're together we still go to.

ADAM JOHNS: I came to Platte River State Park in 2001 and started a naturalist program and became full-time and I moved my way up through there.

I love Platte River State Park because it's a very natural park.

Nature is our big thing, our mountain bike trails, our nature programing, our lake, our fishing, our canoeing.

It's just very much of a natural atmosphere and setting here.

BARTELS: Platte River State Park, it's known for its beautiful little waterfall.

It's a rare Eastern Nebraska waterfall and it's no major Niagara Falls or anything like that but it attracts all kinds of romantic walks with people and photographers flock to that place and set their shutters slow for beautiful pictures of that beautiful little waterfall.

JOHNS: It's about a quarter of mile hike, nice and easy, pretty level.

It's a great hike.

It follows Stone Creek.

To have a actual natural waterfall that wasn't built or developed is kind of rare.

We have two observation towers.

We have a wooden observation tower.

It's the shorter tower that provides some nice views of the park.

And then we have our larger 85-foot Lincoln Journal Tower right next to the restaurant and that gives you a great viewing opportunity of the Platte River.

DILLON: When my husband and I go hiking, which we do almost every night, depending on what time you go we see deer constantly.

The deer know they're safe there so you can get really close to them.

Turkeys, it's just an amazing place to view wildlife.

We end our hikes with a climb up the tower, beautiful, amazing view.

Any friends that we have that come from out of town or that aren't from the area, we always have to go up the tower and see the view of the river because it is the most spectacular view in the area.

JOHNS: The park is changing a lot right now with a venture park additions.

We tore out the swimming pool and put in the spray park.

SWENSON: We decided to put a spray park in there and it's turned out very well, it's been very popular.

It's been more popular than the swimming pool was, in fact.

JOHNS: The first Venture Park addition that we did was Crawdad Creek.

We added these ponds that swirl down into the lake to help give us naturalists exploring opportunities.

It also helps oxygenate the water as it spills down into the lake which helps our fish and animals that live in the lake.

(water trickling) DOUG WELLS: So what we're gonna do is I'm gonna talk to you a little while about the creek and ecology of it and then we're gonna see what we can catch.

And the record so far for this year is 12 different species, if you can imagine that.

So you'll be able to go in any of the ponds and also in the edge of the lake if your parents are okay with that.

DILLON: I personally thing any time a kid can get outside, enjoy the outdoors, have a love for nature which is what Platte River State Park is doing for kids, that it's amazing.

JOHNS: When they come they learn a little bit about Crawdad Creek ecology.

So it gives them kind of a basis of the ecology of what they might find if they were to go explore maybe in a stream in their backyard or near their grandparent's farm or maybe at a city park.

It kind of gives them an idea of it's more than just a stream.

It's like, wow, there's invertebrates, there's amphibians, there's reptiles, there's fish, there's all these different things that could live there.

Hopefully it opens up their eyes and teaches them to explore and learn and check out what's really there.

WELLS: These toads spend most of their time on land so not like the frogs that are in the water most of the time.

So they have this cool adaptation.

This part right here, it actually can hold water.

It's like a little sack.

So when people pick these things up and they let go of their water 'cause they're scared, they think they're peeing on them but they're not, it's just water.

JOHNS: Our Jenny Newman Lake is a catch and release lake for all ages.

So many people have such great success at fishing because the fish always get put back.

WELLS: Oh, nice bluegill.

Oh boy, I'm gonna have to get my tape measure for that.

That's probably about a eight, nine inch bluegill.

That's pretty nice.

BOY: Can I throw this in?

WELLS: Sure.

(water splashing) DILLON: My son is going into a field where he wants to work in the game and parks.

That's his goal.

He's going to school to hopefully work in fisheries and I have no doubt that being in the state parks and growing up in the state parks has given him that love for the outdoors that has spurred that interest.

WELLS: Okay, you guys are doing great.

All right, let me step in the center.

Okay, so like I said, I'm gonna put the turtle down and then the turtle is gonna sense who's got the most positive energy, okay.

(water splashing) (bird pecking on tree and birds chirping) JAKE RODIEK: Mahoney was originally farm ground.

Irene Philpot was initially contacted the commission to offer the land for sale to potentially create a state park.

Platte River State Park which was opened in 1982 was kind of a model.

When the park was first purchased it was cornfields and terraces and not a tree in the manicured area.

A lot of the woodlands was additional acres that were purchased afterwards.

But everything, the cabins and pool and activity center and lodge, it was all farm ground and on the campground.

SWENSON: It opened in 1991.

The park had aggressive development from day one but it turned out to be so popular that we've continued to find ourselves in a trend of having to build more and develop more.

ALAN BARTELS: I live in Central Nebraska and I travel the whole state for my job.

One thing I hear out west of Grand Island is that Mahoney is kind of like an amusement park and it really is in terms of all of things that are available.

RODIEK: The location is very, very convenient for being in between the two largest cities in Nebraska.

There was a lot of thought and planning that went into the park when it was originally created and designed.

BARTELS: More than three quarters of a million people live within an hour of this place but you don't know it because of all the natural beauty that is here.

(birds chirping) RODIEK: We've got three little kids running around as well, enjoying the park just like I did growing up.

I grew up in parks.

Was originally in Kearney.

My dad was a park supervisor for Kearney Park and Recs and actually my grandfather was a park superintendent in Chain O'Lakes State Park in Illinois.

So growing up we'd always go to their house, go to their park house living on site and seeing how grandpa and dad did things.

And the excitement and passion that they showed really instilled in myself to be able to continue on that.

Just going out with the family and taking them down to the ponds, interacting with the water and trying to catch a fish or two, that's my favorite thing.

Just that family time is invaluable to the park system and creating those memories.

So that's my favorite thing.

My little daughter, Brooklyn.

Keep reeling, all right.

She's a little fishing fanatic.

She want's to go everywhere dad does which is awesome to see.

She'll hop in and take all of her fish off the pole and pretty impressive for a little four-year-old.

(relaxing music) RODIEK: We get groups that are coming out and are experiencing the park for the very first time.

They've never gone fishing.

They've never walked down a nature trail.

Being able to introduce those people to the experiences that I'm passionate about and that I grew up doing is the most fulfilling part of the job being out here.

And some of the best memories are the kid catching a fish for the first time or getting his hands wet.

He's never gone and put his hand in a pond.

It's completely foreign to him that we're able to provide those things.

Or the first time somebody gets up on a horse, to see that spark in their eye and see that excitement really drives home the fact that we're doing it for the public.

And it's a public resource that we're very proud of, that we're stewards of.

It's our responsibility to manage it for everybody else that's part of Nebraska and anywhere else that wants to come enjoy the state parks that we have to offer.

SWENSON: We've got high-energy activities that appeal to those that are looking toward the adrenalin rush.

We got the solitude that's there for someone who is just looking to escape and discover themselves again, relax, remove the day to day stresses that they may be experiencing.

(zipline chain rustling) RODIEK: There's six courses that run through the trees and you go through eight or 10 different obstacles and then you zipline down out of the course.

SWENSON: If you're here during the summertime, obviously it's summertime activities.

(water splashing into bubbles) (water splashing and children laughing) RODIEK: Our Owen Marina down in Baright Lake, it's open to catch and release fishing, so the whole family can come down.

It's kind of a fun afternoon hangout spot where you can go down, rent a paddle boat and have some ice-cream, feed the fish and enjoy the park.

(relaxing music) (children chatting) (golf club hitting golf ball with a clang) RODIEK: The observation tower out here in Mahoney is a key area, kind of a staple of the area.

It has a great viewshed over the Platte River and the Salt Creek coming in.

It's got, I believe, 107 steps all the way to the top so it can be a challenge and a workout.

Everybody's impressed of the view when they get to the top, being able to see the surrounding landscape, see the river and the cabins and the rest of the park.

(relaxing music) RODIEK: The campground hosts are some of our best advocates in the park system.

They come in and help us inform guests of some of the campground rules, help new guests that are coming out to the park that have never camped before or have questions about the park or the local area.

They really are our eyes and ears and face as people come into the campground.

Joanie Stone is one of the very first people to come out and camp in Mahoney's Campground.

In her mind she wants to give everybody the opportunity to experience what she has over all the year.

JOANIE STONE: My husband and I started the program here at Mahoney.

We traveled across the United States in our camper because he was from the East Coast.

And so we saw this being used in other parks and we started it with just some of our family campers and RVers at that time.

Now it's open to anybody that applies.

We've seen a lot of changes made through the years and they're good changes.

And this park is growing.

It'll always grow with different activities and so forth.

I've had people as far as California come up to me and say you don't know what a beautiful park you really have.

I said, yes, I do.

SWENSON: Mahoney was the first real true year-round park operation that we offered to the citizens of Nebraska.

They can come out and do those wintertime activities.

They can sled.

They can skate.

They can cross-country ski.

Do rock climbing indoors, play on the indoor playground if it's cold outside.

RODIEK: We have a full sheet of ice for families to come out and enjoy and make those wintertime memories.

We actually have the ability to create and groom the snow now and we make snow all winter and try and keep that as long as we can.

(children chatting) SWENSON: So the wintertime at Mahoney, a lot of activity, you have a beautiful landscape, see a long ways across the bluff, especially if there's snow sprinkled across those bluffs.

It's a very beautiful scene.

If you transition to other parks, I'll use Smith Falls as an example, if you walk over to the trails or the Falls Trail you're gonna see the falls and you're gonna see a partial frozen splendor.

AMY KUCERA: The Falls doesn't freeze over.

Instead the surrounding parts of it ice over and it's just really a winter wonderland back there during that time of year.

SWENSON: You come to that eighth state park, Smith Falls State Park, 1992 is the year, it's the baby in the group of eight.

But it certainly is worthy of a designation as a state park because of that iconic waterfall that exists there.

KUCERA: It features a 63-foot-tall waterfall as well as other waterfalls here at the park.

Walking trails, we've got a camp ground and of course the Niobrara River, the National Niobrara Scenic River.

(water trickling) KUCERA: Smith Falls and Smith Falls State Park is named for the original homesteaders that established their home here in the late 1800's.

ALAN BARTELS: It's rumored that Doc Middleton, the notorious horse thief would block off that narrow little canyon and put his stolen horses in there and there is plenty of forage in there for those horses to survive on for a few days and plenty of crystal clear Ogallala Aquifer Sandhills water.

When the heat kind of died down on the stolen horses he could go back there and get those animals.

Whether or not that's true nobody knows but that's one little bit of folklore that the people of Cherry County spread around to this day.

KUCERA: So the Krzyzanowski family moved here in 1941.

Fred Krzyzanowski who is the owner now and his wife, Joanna still live here on the park property.

And Joanna is actually an employee of Nebraska Game and Parks Commission and works here at the park.

Smith Falls State Park is unique in the aspect that it is owned by the Krzyzanowski family and leased to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

I've been told when Fred Krzyzanowski purchased the land in 1941 he wasn't aware that there was a waterfall here.

JoANNA KRZYZANOWSKI: The landowner said that there was a falls on the place, that to look out for it, Fred lost some cows, and they went and found the cows up by the falls.

KUCERA: And later on as the river became more popular for canoeing and floating he opened this area up for people to camp and do primitive camping.

It really became a popular place for people.

(birds chirping) KUCERA: It's a biologically unique area.

The forest here also has a lot of rare flora and fauna, including a one of a kind aspen tree.

The aspen tree is a hybrid of the big tooth and the quaking aspen and it's a relic from the ice age that managed to exist here because of the microclimates created by the cool air from the waterfalls.

In the summertime we get thousands of visitors on the weekends on the water enjoying the Niobrara River, of course and this is a major stopping point.

I've referred to it as the Grand Central Station of the Niobrara River just because we have so many people here enjoying the waterfall on a hot day.

The water comes from the Ogallala Aquifer.

It just starts about a quarter of a mile upstream.

It begins with what we call the source.

It just comes up from the ground and starts flowing and all the waterfalls here are actually from the Ogallala Aquifer.

One of my favorite parts is seeing people go under the waterfall.

Usually you hear a couple of screams.

People don't realize how cold that water really is but it's refreshing.

It's a unique experience.

In the past they used a cable car which is still in existence.

It's not in use anymore but there's a lot of people have a lot of good memories of taking the cable car across the river.

JoANNA: The cable car was built for Margaret to go across the river to meet the school bus to go to school at Kewanee School.

(water trickling) KUCERA: There's two trails here at Smith Falls State Park.

There's the Smith Falls Trail that leads to Smith Falls and then there's the Jim MacAllister trail that will take visitors through the forest and across by the other waterfalls here at the park, including Turkey Feather Falls and Wachiska Crossing.

There's a staircase that takes you all the way to the top of the bluff here and it opens up into the prairie, the Sandhills Prairie which is pretty unique to see all the different types of landscape here in just that one trail.

(steps on trail) KUCERA: The Jim MacAllister Trail is taken care of by volunteers and park staff and we do have volunteers come here to remove invasive cedars.

Our volunteers ended up taking the trees and creating foot bridges, cedar foot bridges that line the Jim MacAllister Trail which makes it even more impressive that we could use those cedars in a way that is beneficial to all of us.

SWENSON: If you follow the Niobrara River which is a lot of the reason you're probably at Smith Fall State Park, there's a series of small waterfalls all along that corridor.

KUCERA: I guess I'm what people term a river rat, I've always been one.

And when the position opened up here for park superintendent I just knew this is where I wanted to be.

This is just a very special place and if I could help people to understand how special it is and help to preserve that I knew that was the direction I wanted to go in my life.

Hardin Falls, one of over 240 waterfalls on the scenic stretch of the Niobrara River.

How's the river today?

How's it going?

GROUP: Good.

How are you?

KUCERA: Good, where are you guys from?

GROUP: Omaha.

KUCERA: Omaha, awesome.

Right here.

GROUP: Wow!

Even better.

(Amy cheering) KUCERA: Have a great day.

My friends and I always when we came down, we had a saying that was called live the rive.

It's kind of summarizes the experience.

And when people ask us what time it is we just tell them it's river time.

SWENSON: I know for a fact that we're gonna be doing some very tasteful development up there to make that a much greater feature, much more accommodating to the river users and people that love to go in that environment.

In the next century of state parks maybe we will be talking about how wonderful that turned out.

KUCERA: The sunsets here are spectacular because the sky is filled with color and it never fails to impress me, especially the colors and the way that the water plays on those colors in the evening time.

And then it makes way for a beautiful starry sky.

(cicadas singing) (birds chirping) BARTELS: Nebraskans of today can be thankful that our forefathers more than a century ago had the foresight to protect these special places in Nebraska.

And now they're gone but it's our responsibility to protect these places for future generations.

(birds chirping) (car cruising on road) SWENSON: Mr. Rettig, they call him The Legend.

How do you replace a legend?

Mark's approaching kind of the end of his career and he's gonna move forward to great things.

RODIEK: That we have a lot of birthday parties and a lot of family activities up there, so it's a great edition where we added the.

(upbeat music) CAMERAMAN: The greatest shot we've ever.

RODIEK: We got a deer running right through the background so that's awesome.

(laughing) (upbeat piano music) WELLS: You gotta hold onto the pole and then you just let go of the button.

But that's all right, these things are designed to get wet.

It's not a problem.

(camera scraping on rocks) (axe hitting on wood) Captioning by FINKE/NET CAMERAMAN: Oh, wow.

Copyright 2020 NET Foundation for Television (axe hitting on wood) (relaxing playful music)