Squirrels, Salvage and Pawnee City NE
What do squirrels, a salvage yard and Pawnee City, Nebraska have in common? I experienced all three in one recent trip. The story begins with my husband Keith. He was perusing YouTube videos of salvage yards, looking for a rear door for his 1938 Chevy panel van. When he saw one on a video at Watts Salvage Yard in the town of Wymore, Nebraska. He said, “Can we go?” I said, “Why not?”
Marysville Kansas squirrels and the Pony Express
I have always been fascinated by the Pony Express Barn & Museum and was excited when Keith and I checked out a beautiful stone barn that served as the original site where the Pony Express changed mounts.
We were there after hours and unable to go inside, but I still enjoyed this unique history.
During our drive round town, we noted one fiberglass squirrel statue after another. We soon had to ask when dining at the delectable Bite Me Barbeque Restaurant, what the Black Squirrels on Parade was all about. This parade has 51 five-foot tall black squirrels designed and painted by local and regional artists all over town. We learned that Marysville Kansas is known as “Black Squirrel City”. The local legend is a circus or traveling carnival in 1912 had a cage of black squirrels as a attraction, and a young man freed them. The escapees flourished and now are up around 1/5th off the local squirrel population.
They have since become adored and the local mascot. The town has fully embraced them, thus, Black Squirrel City!
I also have to mention a tile mural that is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. It is a mural that moves as you walk alongside it. The animated Lifetile, a mural in motion. This optically animated art was designed by Rufus Butler Seder and is amazing.
Salvage Yard
Crossing over the Nebraska state line, Watts wasn’t hard to find and it was as big and extensive as Keith had hoped. I brought along a project my latest book True Farm Girl Adventures to work on. He did convince me to wander out and see some of the treasures that abounded in this vast scrap yard.
It took a lot of work but he found some of what he was looking for. My friend Linda Spanberger had been down for Easter when he was obsessing over the door. She asked me a couple of times if we had headed to Nebraska yet. When I invited her along she declined but got pictures and videos anyway.
Pawnee City Nebraska called to us
Coming from the town of Pawnee Illinois, how could I not stop in Pawnee City? It is almost like a sister city! When we got into town, Keith hit an antique shop while I toured the courthouse. This lovely building had some cool Indian history. The Pawnee Indian nation settled here before eventually being forced to move to Oklahoma.
The local Sheriff even took me to the closed 3rd floor to see the former jail.
Thankfully they didn’t keep me, and I got a chance to see more of the lovely town. My favorite view was from the 2nd story balcony!
Driving through town we spied Bill Sunneberg’s Pedal Clinic, a pedal museum with over 500 items in a former church.
I wasn’t able to connect with Bill while in town, but did a phone interview with him for an upcoming story in Toy Farmer about this 96-year-old collector. The museum is open to tour, I want to come back and see it in person, not just hear about it!
So, there you have it, the connection between the squirrels, salvage and Pawnee City!
