Who is Private George Shannon? What is the Private George Shannon Trail?

Hi, my name is Laurie Larsen, President of the "Shannon Trail Promoters." I would personally like to welcome you to the Private George Shannon Trail and invite you to locate the life size statues of Private Shannon in all of the above communities!

We are very excited about the Lewis and Clark Bicentennial and if you are checking out this web site you must be too!

Private George Shannon, born in 1787 in Pennsylvania was the youngest member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. In his early teens, George was sent to live with his mother's family, while he was attending school. This arrangement was to be short lived, for during a visit to Pittsburgh he met Captain Meriwether Lewis, who was awaiting the completion of the keelboat to be used on the western expedition. Despite his youth, while training at the Corps Camp Dubois (Illinois) staging area, the captains selected Shannon for the "Expedition through the interior of the Continent of North America..." as one of "those which are to Constitute the Permanent Detachment." 

On May 14, 1804, the expedition departed from Camp Dubois. Through the long, hot summer the men laboriously worked their way upriver on the first leg of their Pacific bound mission. On or around August 26, 1804 near modern Yankton, South Dakota, Shannon, the "tenderfoot" of the expedition was detailed to search for the expedition's two accompanying pack horses, which had strayed during the night. Shannon recaptured the horses, but upon returning to the river, he proceeded upstream, expecting to join his comrades at one of their night camps. Shannon did not realize he was ahead of the boats and was lost for more than two weeks. On September 11 he finally rejoined the party west of modern day Niobrara, Nebraska. 

ELEVEN COMMUNITIES, THE WYNOT AREA AND THE PONCA AND SIOUX TRIBES ON THE SHANNON TRAIL INVITE YOU TO FOLLOW THE GEORGE SHANNON TRAIL IN NORTHEAST NEBRASKA IN OUR BEAUTIFUL AND SCENIC COMMUNITIES AND VISIT ALL 12 LIFE SIZE FIGURES OF PRIVATE GEORGE SHANNON CARVED BY THE CARVING COWBOY JOE SERRES FROM WINNETOON, NEBRASKA.

If you visit Bloomfield, Crofton, Lindy, Santee( Ohiya Casino), Niobrara, Verdigre, Winnetoon, Center, Creighton, Wausa, Hartington, and the Wynot Area which is St. Helena, St. James, Bow Valley and Wynot, businesses that have the George Shannon sign in their store or window have passports and stamps for the Private George Shannon Trail.
If you collect all 12 stamps from the communites above you will receive a limited edition print of Private Shanon by artist Ray Kelly from Tea, South Dakota.

We hope you can take time to follow the Historic Shannon Trail and enjoy the beautiful scenry and sites along the way.

Sincerely,
Laurie Larsen
Shannon Trail President