Heritage Gateways

Brent C (B.C.) Moore Journals

May 27, 1997

Location: Lisco, Nebraska - Location: 41:29:50N 102:37:11W

Summary: OshKosh to Lisco --Pioneers on the pavement, friendly folks in Lisco

Journal entry: When I woke up in the gym, I noticed that with 200 sleeping adults and children, the place smelled like, well...like a gym.

We started out our walk and looked a mile across the field to notice that the wagons hadn't even made it out of the muddy field. We remained ahead of them all day... a real accomplishment. Our camp is in a pasture about 1 mile out of the small town of Lisco.

I needed to use a pay phone, and as I began walking into town, I saw a jeep Cherokee full of ladies who looked like they were heading into town. I knocked on the window and asked if I could get a ride. They were so nice, and not only took me into town, but Cynthia took me to the Lisco State Bank and introduced me to her husband, Tom Olson, the president of the bank. He took me to an office, and let me sit at a desk and use the phone to make my calls. I was really impressed with their generosity to a complete stranger. I found out that my tent from REI was somewhere in Colorado in a dark brown UPS truck on its way back to Utah. So I called REI and they agreed to ship it next day delivery to Scottsbluff.

When I emerged from the office, Tom's sister, Marj, was still waiting to take me wherever I needed to go. So we went to the "Superette," a small grocery store (the only store in town) and then back to the camp. I had some time to talk with some newcomers and to Amy before it was time to go back into town for the FISH FRY!!! Yes, we were fortunate to be staying in the town that boasts the best freshwater salmon fish farm in Nebraska. The American Legion cooked up an all-you-can-eat feast of the tasty fish. During dinner we got to meet lots of Lisco natives, and I got to introduce Amy to my new friends, Tom, Cynthia, and Marj.

Most folks here are ranchers. We are out of corn country and into cattle land. Many of the wives of the ranchers work out at the fish farm, "harvesting" salmon.

After dinner some LDS members from nearby Sydney put on a wonderful pageant about the Mormon pioneers. Most of the songs were original and they were interspersed with quotations from actual pioneer journals. They did a wonderful job of capturing the hardship and faith shared by the original pioneers.

A side note: Amy and I have realized that I have never asked her out on a real date. I decided to get with it and ask her to accompany me to the program at the school tonight. She gladly accepted.

Amy and I got a letter today from Rochelle, a woman from Hershey who brought her children to see the wagon train in North Platte. Amy and I happened to be around to befriend their family, and since then, we have become great friends. It was nice to hear from her -- she wants to bring her children to come out to see us again soon. Rochelle's story is pretty typical of people who see the wagon train pass by and feel a little of the wonderful spirit that is here.