Image used courtesy Ray Kelly Pvt. George Shannon

The details What: One-day bus tour of the Shannon Trail, including meals, Ohiya Casino stop, tour of Kreychik Elk and Buffalo Ranch in Niobrara, and Kolach Day Variety Show.  When: Thursday, June 12 Where: Departs Marina Inn in S. Sioux City. Cost: $75 inclusive Register: 403-373-2423 days or 402-373-2663 evenings for reservations. For more info, visit www.shannontrail.cjb.net. Other Events: Lewis & Clark on the Middle Missouri: June 11, 10:30 a.m., at Corps of Discovery Welcome Center, 3 miles south of Yankton on Hwy 81. 402-667-6557 for more info. A Tale of a Trail, a play about the Shannon Trail will be performed July 17-20 in Verdigre, and July 24-27 in Crofton. Call 402-373-2663 for info. While you're there visit these areas

A group of northeast Nebraska communities have taken their adopted son, Private George Shannon of the famed Lewis and Clark Expedition, and put him at the center of their own version of "Where's Waldo?"

Shannon, the youngest member of the Corps who is best known for his propensity to get lost, shows up in 12 different locations across this part of the Cornhusker state, immortalized in four to six foot tall cottonwood and elm sculptures created by chainsaw artist Joe Serres of Creighton, Neb.

Expedition journals document that Shannon was sent out near this area with interpreter George Drouillard on Aug. 26, 1804, to look for two stray horses. Becoming separated from Shannon, Drouillard returned alone. It would be 16 days before the Corps spotted Shannon again, barely alive, having subsisted on berries and a lone rabbit he shot with a stick from his gun because he ran out of ammunition.

Each carving of Pvt. Shannon is distinctive, depicting the youthful Corps member in various poses, such as sitting by a campfire, standing among a bed of prickly pear cactus, or scouting the area with a coyote nearby. The sculptures weigh anywhere from 250 to 500 pounds.

Visitors can obtain a passport in any one of the 15 communities along the trail and, after locating each of the 12 figures, have the passport stamped to become eligible to collect a limited edition print of Private Shannon by Tea, S.D., artist Ray Kelly. 

Finding the sculptures, however, requires a bit of sleuthing - a "Where's Waldo?" meets up with a scavenger hunt.

There is a map, but that doesn't necessarily help you find Shannon. There are businesses listed who take part in the game- but often you'll get a smirk and a giggle when you ask a proprietor where the sculptures are to be found. It's all a part of the strategy.

 

Photo by Jan Dehner This statue of George Shannon and a coyote stands in the park in Wausa.

While some of the communities on the Shannon Trail may not lie directly on the Lewis and Clark route, centering the project on Pvt. Shannon was a way to draw local visitors into the bicentennial celebration and promote tourism in the area.

"If we can help our area and the small businesses in any way, then we are successful and our time has been worth it," said Laurie Larsen, one of the promoters.

Shannon Trail visitors will have the opportunity to travel portions of The Outlaw Trail - National Scenic Byway 12 - that extends from South Sioux City to Valentine, Neb., and the adjacent villages in northeast Nebraska. While there, tourists can brush up on their Lewis and Clark history, but also can learn about the people, places and events that keep these communities alive today.

Two examples include the 1890s working post office in Winnetoon that doubles as an antique store, gift shop and workspace for a local woodcarver, or Kolach Days, a celebration of the area's Czech heritage, June 12-15 in Verdigre, Neb.

The Shannon Trail promotion received the Outstanding Tourism Awareness Campaign award in 2002 from Gov. Mike Johanns and is expected to draw at least 2,000 people to the area to tour the trail this year. Larsen hopes that number will continue to grow as more people travel the expedition's route in the years ahead.