ShannonTrail.com

Articles about George!

VerLynn Kneifl
Crofton, Nebraska

Tuesday, January 2, 2007
Story last updated at 11:15 PM on Jan. 1, 2007
Point Of View: Name New Bridge After Shannon
By: Laurie Larsen, VerLynn Kneifl, Pamela Hamburg and Linda Stephenson
We propose that the most appropriate and desirable name for the new bridge spanning southeast South Dakota and northeast Nebraska at Yankton is “The Private Shannon Bridge.”
In the waning years of the 18th century, the United States became locked in a race with foreign powers for control of the uncharted lands west of the Mississippi. President Thomas Jefferson believed the very survival of the young republic might lie in the balance.
In the spring of 1804, the Lewis & Clark Expedition set out to follow the great western rivers to the Pacific. As the expedition proceeded upriver through what is now the Vermillion area, Private George Shannon, the youngest member of the party, was sent to locate two horses which had strayed overnight. Having found the horses, he hurried on, mistakenly thinking the boats were ahead of him. He had taken no provisions and soon ran out of ammunition.
Lost on the Nebraska side of the river, he was discovered 16 days later on the bank of the Missouri River in what is now Gregory County in South Dakota, thus symbolically “bridging” the two states.
William Clark described the event as follows: “The Man who left us and has been a head ever since joined us nearly Starved to Death, he had been 12 days without any thing to eat but Grapes & one Rabbit, which he Killed by shooting a piece of hard Stick in place of a ball.”
Shannon passed through this area three more times, once on the expedition’s triumphant return to a world that had given them up for dead, then with the party assigned to returning the Mandan chief, Sheheke, to his village after a visit to Washington. Three men in the party were killed and 10 wounded when they were attacked by the Arikara. Shannon was among the wounded, his leg broken by a musket ball. Gangrene set in. He was put ashore at Fort Bellefontaine near St. Louis, where his leg was amputated just above the knee.
Shannon assisted Nicholas Biddle in writing the first narrative account of the expedition, thus preserving details that might otherwise have been forever lost to history. He went on to become a prominent lawyer, judge and legislator. Married and the father of seven children, he was a colorful character who once shot a loudly-ticking clock that was keeping him awake, quietly paying the innkeeper for its loss the following morning.
We propose that the new bridge be named “The Private Shannon Bridge” for the following reasons:
(1) It pertains directly to historical events that occurred in this area, appropriately focusing on the very river the bridge will span.
(2) The Lewis & Clark Expedition is one of the most dramatic and colorful events in American history, a drawing card in an era when tourism is an important part of our economy.
(3) As one of the first veterans wounded in action west of the Mississippi, Shannon represents U.S. military veterans everywhere.
(4) “The Private Shannon Bridge” is an intriguing name, easily pronounced, immediately recognizable by history buffs, with enough mystique to prompt curiosity in those who are unaware of Shannon’s identity.
As an active participant in an event that was instrumental in transforming a young republic into one of the most powerful nations in the world, Private Shannon is part of our local and national heritage.
Laurie Larsen is from Bloomfield, Neb.; VerLynn Kneifl is from Crofton, Neb.; Pamela Hamburg (Western Trails) is from Yankton; and Linda Stephenson (Linda’s Angel Crossing) is from Yankton.

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Shannon promoters hope name can bridge two states
http://norfolkdailynews.com/main.asp?SectionID=3&SubSectionID=104&ArticleID=1895

By JERRY GUENTHER

It’s a nonbinding vote, but the Shannon Trail Promoters hope Northeast Nebraskans and southeast South Dakotans will make their preferences known.

From a list that once spanned more than 350 possibilities, the list of potential names for the new bridge over the Missouri River between Nebraska and South Dakota near Yankton has been narrowed to 10.

After Jan. 1, the public will be allowed to vote for which name they like best.

The name the Shannon Trail Promoters wants chosen is The Private Shannon Bridge.

Laurie Larsen of Bloomfield, founder and president of the Shannon Trail Organization, said she hopes many residents will vote for the Private Shannon Bridge, which would honor residents of both states.

It not only is appropriate for the region, but it could help boost tourism and promote history, she said.

The other nine names being considered are Veterans Memorial Bridge, Meridian II, The Discovery Bridge, D.B. Gurney Bridge, John B.S. Todd Bridge, the PanAmerican Bridge, The Pierre Dorian Bridge, the Yankton Memorial Bridge and the Sesquicentennial Bridge.

After Jan. 1, the public will be allowed to vote online at www.namethebridge.com. Larsen said that even though the final vote is nonbinding, she hopes a strong showing of support for Pvt. Shannon will convince the Yankton committee to name it after him.

“The way I see it, local history is pretty important, along with tourism,” Larsen said. “If the bridge would be called the Private Shannon Bridge, it could bridge both states and help promote them. Using a regional theme of Pvt. Shannon would be fun to do, plus people coming across would wonder who he was if they don’t know Lewis & Clark history. They could stop and ask questions. It really is a neat story.”

Shannon, the youngest member of the Lewis & Clark expedition team, was missing after being sent to locate two horses that had strayed overnight.

Having found the horses, he rushed on, mistakenly thinking the boats were ahead of him. He ended up being lost for 16 days.

First lost on the Nebraska side of the river, he was discovered sitting on the river bank in what is now Gregory County in South Dakota.

Shannon would pass through the area three times. Once on the original expedition, its return and then one more time when he was charged with returning the Mandan American Indian Chief Sheheke to his village after a visit to Washington, D.C., where Sheheke met President Thomas Jefferson.

Larsen said the group was turned back by the Arikara Indian tribe. Shannon was wounded in the altercation and had his leg broken by a musket ball. Gangrene set in and he later had his leg amputated just above the knee.

Shannon, who married and became the father of seven children, would go on to become a prominent lawyer, judge and legislator.

He assisted Nicholas Biddle in writing the first narrative account of the expedition, thus preserving details that might otherwise have been lost to history.

“We’re not trying to cause conflict,” Larsen said. “We just want to have a name that’s fair to both sides.”

The bridge is mostly being paid for by federal funds, with 70 percent of the funds from allocations to Nebraska and 30 percent from allocations to South Dakota. Many of the names included in the top 10 list have more direct correlation to South Dakota interests.

An official with the Nebraska Department of Roads said Nebraska’s share is bigger based on where the state boundary over the Missouri River lies.

Larsen said some of the Lewis & Clark Re-enactors who performed earlier this year indicated that if Private Shannon Bridge is chosen as the name, they would come back to perform for the christening of the bridge.

“There also would be a lot of relatives of Pvt. Shannon who would come back,” Larsen said.

Shannon Trail Makes CNN

Straying off the Lewis and Clark trail

Monday, October 13, 2003 Posted: 3:15 PM EDT (1915 GMT)

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A statue of Pvt. George Shannon stands next to a plaque commemorating the Lewis and Clark expedition in Lindy, Nebraska.

NIOBRARA, Nebraska (AP) – Forget Lewis & Clark.

Some towns in northeast Nebraska are celebrating a lesser-known member of the Corps of Discovery expedition who was definitely the most directionally challenged person in the group.

Pvt. George Shannon almost died of starvation during the expedition when he got lost for 16 days while in present-day northeast Nebraska just south of the Missouri River.

No one knows for sure the route Shannon walked before being reunited with the explorers on the river.

That hasn’t stopped 15 Nebraska communities in the area from creating and promoting the 240-mile Shannon Trail.

They are trying to draw thousands of Lewis and Clark buffs away from the river as they retrace the expedition on its 200th anniversary.

Laurie Larsen, a Bloomfield woman who leads the Shannon Trail Promoters, was looking for a tourism hook for those cities not on the Missouri River.

“I knew that Shannon had gotten lost in this area,” Larsen said. “It just kind of took off from there.”

In the name of poor Pvt. Shannon, what has evolved is a scavenger hunt of sorts for families looking for a day’s adventure.

Statue stamps

Statues of Pvt. George Shannon are grouped together at the studio of wood sculptor Joe Serres in Winnetoon, Nebraska.

Each community along the trail has put up a carved-wood statue of Shannon. Each features the private in a different pose during his lost days, and some are hidden in the communities — some better than others.

The statue locations range from more obvious places, like in Hartington, where he’s standing in the open with a compass, or in Niobrara, where the statue is along Nebraska Highway 12, holding an American flag.

In searching for other statues, visitors will find themselves a little off the beaten path — much like the predicament Shannon faced. Larsen said the most difficult statue to find is inside a park in Crofton.

The most elaborate statue features Shannon and an American Indian just outside Santee, on the Santee Sioux Indian Reservation.

“Shannon is sitting on a stump and the Indian is standing over him, kind of saying, ‘What the heck are you doing here?”‘ Larsen said.

The other statues are in Bloomfield, Center, Creighton, Lindy, Verdigre, Wausa, Winnetoon and Wynot.

Businesses in each community offer to stamp a passport marking that particular statue. If all 12 statues are marked, the bearer will receive a limited edition print commemorating the Shannon Trail.

A play, titled “A Tail of the Trail,” about Shannon’s own journey through the area had its initial run in Verdigre and Crofton this summer with plans for more performances next year.

In the audience for this summer’s run was Shannon‘s great-great-nephew, Bob Shannon Anderson of Marysville, Ohio.

Anderson intends to take part in an entire 31/2-year re-enactment of the westward Lewis and Clark expedition, playing the role of Pvt. Shannon, who was the brother of Anderson‘s great-grandmother.

Anderson, a widower with five children, plans to wear handsewn Army period uniforms throughout the trip, including when he gets lost in northeast Nebraska for 16 days starting August 26, 2004, just like Pvt. Shannon did 200 years earlier.

“I’m going to leave the same place he did and start walking,” Anderson said. But the 62-year-old Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. retiree admitted he might walk the bridge across the Missouri River instead of trying to swim across the river.

Bad rap

The valley where the Niobrara and Missouri Rivers meet in northeast Nebraska is the area where Pvt. Shannon got lost.

At age 18, Shannon was the youngest member of the Lewis and Clark expedition. During his 16 days alone, he survived on wild grapes and the one rabbit he killed.

“I might eat a little bit better than he did,” Anderson said. “I’ve already got a pot belly.”

While he also doesn’t plan to carry a tent or stay in motels, he might cheat by accepting lodging offers at people’s homes.

Anderson said he is not daunted by such a long re-enactment.

Unlike his hapless ancestor, “I know I can come home at any time,” he said.

“He just left and thought it sounded really good to him, probably the same as any other teen-ager,” Anderson said. “He thought, ‘What a great adventure.”‘

One historian says Shannon has gotten a bad rap, mainly since other corps members also strayed off. They just weren’t gone as long as Shannon.

“He simply misjudged it and thought the party was ahead of him, and kept rushing forward,” while the others were behind him the whole time, said Gary Moulton, a history professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Not all misfortune

Shannon‘s troubles didn’t end once he was reunited with the expedition above Pickstown, South Dakota. He got lost again when the Corps of Discovery was in the Three Forks area of Montana in 1805.

Moulton also disputes that Shannon got lost a second time, preferring to say he was separated from the group for a few days.

“People make a little much of it,” he said.

Shannon later lost a leg in a battle with the Arikara Indians and became known as “Peg Leg” Shannon.

His life was not all full of misfortune. He assisted Nicholas Biddle in preparing the first edition of the Lewis and Clark Journals. He also became a lawyer and later a senator from Missouri. He died in a courtroom while sitting as a judge, and was buried in Palmyra, Missouri.

Even Shannon‘s final resting place is lost. The exact location of his grave is not known because a railroad eventually was built through the cemetery.

Growing up in Ohio, Anderson remembered family stories about Shannon‘s accomplishments but nothing about him getting lost or losing a leg.

Anderson doesn’t think the family was trying to cover anything up, but it “was something that wasn’t mentioned.”

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