♪ ♪ >> COMING UP ON "NEBRASKA STORIES," THE BEAUTIFUL MUSIC OF EVERYDAY OBJECTS, A RIDE ON THE COWBOY TRAIL, A NEW LIFE FOR OMAHA'S OLDEST NEIGHBORHOOD THEATER, REMEMBERING DEWITTY, NEBRASKA'S LARGEST AFRICAN-AMERICAN SETTLEMENT, AND A DEWITTY DESCENDENT SHARES A POEM WRITTEN BY HER FATHER IN 1912.

♪ ♪ ( piano music ) >> I'M STACEY BARELOS.

I'M A COMPOSER, PERFORMER AND EDUCATOR IN OMAHA, NEBRASKA.

♪ ♪ >> WHEN I WAS, I THINK, NINE, MY MOM FORCED ME TO TAKE PIANO.

I THREW A BIG FIT, BUT SHE SAID I HAD TO DO IT FOR A YEAR.

AND THEN I JUST KEPT WITH IT.

BUT MAYBE IT'S BECAUSE I GOT INTO MODERN MUSIC, THAT THAT WAS MY WAY TO GET BACK AT HER.

I DON'T KNOW.

( chuckles ) ♪ ♪ >> WHAT?

I MEAN, INSTANTLY, IT'S THUNDEROUS.

YEAH, I MEAN THAT'S -- WITH THESE GIANT STRINGS, THESE SUPER GIANT STRINGS HAVE SUCH RICH OVERTONES.

♪ ♪ >> WHEN YOU PLAY ON THE KEYS, YOU'RE THINKING VERY SPECIFICALLY ABOUT HARMONIES, AND MAYBE I LIKE THE INSIDE OF THE PIANO, BECAUSE THEY DON'T HAVE THE SAME SORTS OF RULES ABOUT GETTING THE CORRECT THEORETICAL IDEAS.

♪ ♪ >> IT OPENS IT UP SO MANY WAYS, AND I MEAN, YOU CAN HEAR HOW PEOPLE ARE LIKE, 'WOW, WHAT'S THAT SOUND?

HOW ARE YOU DOING THAT?

I WANT TO TRY THAT,' RIGHT?"

♪ ♪ >> I SUPPOSE EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC IS ANYTHING THAT EXPERIMENTS.

AND THAT MIGHT BE EXPERIMENTING WITH THE HARMONIC TRADITIONS.

SO I THINK THAT'S WHAT A LOT OF PEOPLE THINK OF, THE SORT OF ATONAL MUSIC, AND THEY DON'T LIKE IT AND SO THEY FEEL TURNED OFF BY IT.

BUT EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC CAN ALSO BE JUST USING INSTRUMENTS IN NON-TRADITIONAL WAYS, OR USING NON-TRADITIONAL INSTRUMENTS.

( toy piano ) >> YOU KNOW, I SAW SOMEONE PLAY TOY PIANO MAYBE 10 YEARS AGO AND I LOVED IT.

♪ ♪ >> I'VE COMPOSED SOME FOR THE TOY PIANO, AND LAST YEAR I ACTUALLY WENT TO TWO TOY PIANO CONFERENCES, INTERNATIONAL TOY PIANO CONFERENCES.

ONE IN ITALY AND ONE IN KOREA.

BUT I THINK IT JUST COMBINES SO MANY OF MY INTERESTS.

NON-TRADITIONAL SOUNDS, NON-TRADITIONAL MAKING SOUNDS.

>> IS EVERYBODY READY TO MAKE SOME NOISE?

WE'RE GOING TO PLAY MUSIC IN YOUR OWN HOMES.

I THINK WE'RE GOING TO MAKE SOME ACCOMPANIMENTS TO SOME SILENT FILMS.

WE'RE ALSO GOING TO WORK ON YOUR INSTRUMENT, OBVIOUSLY.

SOUNDRY IS THE EDUCATION ARM OF THE OMAHA "UNDER THE RADAR" FESTIVAL AND THAT HAPPENS EVERY SUMMER.

>> I WANT TO SEE WHAT I HAVE OVER HERE.

I'LL BE RIGHT BACK.

YOU GUYS CAN LOOK AROUND, TOO.

>> SOUNDRY IS FOR ADULTS, AND IT'S AN EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC WORKSHOP, AND WE DO A VARIETY OF THINGS.

>> OKAY, SO WHAT I FOUND FOR A LONGER SOUND, I HAVE THESE WOOD BOWLS I USED FOR A PIECE AND JUST PLAYING THE BOWLS AGAINST EACH OTHER.

>> WE CREATE INSTRUMENTS, AND WE IMPROVISE.

>> I HAVE A SUGAR CONTAINER WITH ME.

>> I THINK A SUGAR CONTAINER IS GREAT.

TRY TO MAKE AS MUCH SCISSOR SOUND AS YOU CAN.

READY, GO.

( sound of scissors opening and closing ) >> IT'S GREAT TO SHARE THESE IDEAS WITH OTHER PEOPLE, AND THEN WHAT THEY SEND BACK MY WAY IS ALSO AMAZING.

♪ ♪ >> SO, I THINK EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC IS FULL OF POSSIBILITIES.

♪ ♪ >> I MEAN, IT'S WHAT I LOVE, AND I THINK IT'S WHAT I DO BEST SO I'M ALWAYS TRYING TO GO OUT THERE AND SHARE NEW THINGS TO PEOPLE.

YOU KNOW, I DON'T FEEL LIKE I'M THE PERSON TO SHINE NEW LIGHT ON MOZART.

THAT'S JUST NOT MY SHTICK.

BUT SHARING EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC, I FEEL PASSIONATE ABOUT IT AND -- IF NOTHING ELSE, EVEN IF PEOPLE DON'T LIKE IT, I HOPE IT MAKES THEM THINK ABOUT IT, WHAT MUSIC CAN BE.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> AMONG THE MORE POPULAR RECREATIONAL TRAILS IN NEBRASKA IS THE COWBOY TRAIL.

BUT, LONG BEFORE IT WAS A PLACE FOR HIKERS AND BIKERS...

...IT WAS AN IMPORTANT RAIL LINE.

>> OPERATED BY THE CHICAGO AND NORTHWESTERN RAILROAD, THE ROUTE WAS KNOWN AS THE COWBOY LINE AND RAN FOR ABOUT ONE HUNDRED YEARS BEFORE BEING ABANDONED IN THE 1990s.

>> "WELCOME TO WESTERN NEBRASKA!

MY NAME IS TRISHA AND WE LOVE THE COWBOY TRAIL!

>> THE ABANDONED ROUTE WAS EVENTUALLY PURCHASED BY A NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION CALLED RAILS TO TRAILS AND THE LAND WAS GIVEN TO NEBRASKA.

♪ ♪ >> SINCE THEN, THE NEBRASKA GAME AND PARKS COMMISSION HAS BEEN CONVERTING THE OLD RAIL LINE INTO A RECREATIONAL TRAIL.

WHEN FINISHED, IT WILL STRETCH FROM NORFOLK TO CHADRON AND BECOME PART OF THE GREAT AMERICAN RAIL TRAIL THAT WILL SPAN THE ENTIRE NORTHERN U.S. LARRY WENZL FROM NORFOLK RIDES THE TRAIL JUST ABOUT EVERY DAY.

>> ABOUT EVERY 8 TO 10 MILES THERE'S PLACES TO STOP, BEVERAGES YOU CAN HAVE, AND GOOD FOOD.

>> PEOPLE ALWAYS WANT TO FIND OUT YOUR STORY AND WHAT BRINGS YOU OUT INTO THEIR LITTLE NECK OF THE WOODS.

THAT IS SUCH A FUN THING TO MEET SO MANY NICE PEOPLE.

A LOT OF TIMES WE SPEND TWICE THE AMOUNT OF TIME THAT WE WANTED TO AT OUR STOPS AND END UP MAKING FRIENDSHIPS.

AND THEN COMING BACK THE NEXT YEAR LOOKING FORWARD TO SEEING THESE SAME PEOPLE IN THOSE SAME LOCATIONS.

>> THE TRAIL IS WELL KNOWN OUTSIDE OF NEBRASKA, TOO.

>> THEY'RE FROM ILLINOIS, IOWA, MICHIGAN, AND ALABAMA.

SO WE ALL MET HERE TO RIDE THIS.

WE'LL RIDE FOR SEVEN DAYS.

A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO SOMEONE SENT ME A VIDEO OF IT.

AND WE'VE RIDDEN ACROSS INDIANA AND WE'VE RIDDEN ACROSS IOWA SEVERAL TIMES AND IT WAS JUST ON HIS BUCKET LIST.

>> TONY STUTHMAN RUNS A SMALL OUTFITTER BUSINESS.

>> A FAMILY CAME OVER LAST SUMMER FROM SWEDEN.

THEY WERE ACTUALLY AMTRAKING ACROSS THE UNITED STATES, AND THEY DECIDED IN THE MIDDLE TO STOP AND RIDE THE COWBOY TRAIL ON BICYCLES.

SO THEY RENTED BIKES FROM US AND WE SHUTTLED THEM AND THEN THEY GOT BACK ON THEIR WAY AND CONTINUED BY AMTRAK.

♪ ♪ >> THE TRAIL IS IMPORTANT TO ALL THE COMMUNITIES IN NEBRASKA.

IT BRINGS IN PEOPLE FROM OTHER PLACES.

>> IT PROMOTES THE CITIES AND PROMOTES THE PEOPLE OF NEBRASKA TO OTHER FOLKS AS WELL.

THE GUY FROM MARYLAND THAT I PICKED UP LAST WEEK, HE SAID THAT HE'S ACTUALLY CONSIDERING NEBRASKA NOW AFTER HE FINISHES LAW SCHOOL AS A PLACE THAT HE MIGHT WANT TO LIVE FROM JUST THE TIME HE'S SPENT RIDING THE TRAIL.

THIS TRAIL IS TRULY LIKE A REGULAR COWBOY.

YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE GOING TO GET THERE.

IT CHANGES WITH EVERY TURN.

BUT THERE'S A LOT TO SEE.

IT'S A BEAUTIFUL TRAIL.

I THOROUGHLY ENJOY IT.

I'M JUST EXCITED ABOUT RIDING IT EVERY DAY.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> THE FIRST FOUR YEARS OF THIS THEATER'S HISTORY WERE IN THE SILENT AREA.

>> ALMOST EVERYONE ENJOYS GOING TO THE MOVIES, AND IN OMAHA THAT OFTEN INCLUDES A TRIP TO THE DUNDEE THEATER.

FOR NEARLY 100 YEARS, THE DUNDEE HAS FILLED ITS SCREEN WITH MOVIES BOTH BIG AND SMALL.

>> SO DECEMBER 1925, THE DUNDEE OPENS.

IN 1929, SOUND ARRIVES, AND THAT BRINGS IN THIS NEW ERA FOR CINEMA IN THIS BUILDING, AS WELL.

WHAT YOU WOULD'VE FOUND AT THE DUNDEE FOR A WHILE WOULD'VE BEEN MAYBE WHAT YOU WOULD'VE EXPECTED.

YOU KNOW, FILMS THAT ARE COMING OUT OF HOLLYWOOD AT THE TIME.

IN THE 1960s, A NUMBER OF CHANGES HAPPENED.

IN THE EARLY 1960s, THE DUNDEE REBRANDED AS AN ARTHOUSE.

AUDIENCES COULD COME AND SEE FELLINI'S 8 1/2 .

1965, THEATER SHUT DOWN A LITTLE BIT AND THEN REOPENED FOR WHAT BECAME A HISTORIC 118-WEEK RUN OF THE SOUND OF MUSIC .

♪ >> THE HILLS ARE ALIVE WITH THE SOUND OF MUSIC.

♪ >> WE STILL HEAR FROM SO MANY PEOPLE THAT REMEMBER SEEING THE SOUND OF MUSIC AT LEAST ONCE AND USUALLY MORE THAN ONCE AT THE DUNDEE.

♪ ("ROSE TINT MY WORLD" BY RICHARD O'BRIEN) ♪ >> AND THEN YOU GET INTO THE '80'S.

YOU STARTED SEEING AMERICAN INDEPENDENT CINEMA, SO YOU SEE MORE INTERNATIONAL FILMS, THE MIDNIGHT'S PROGRAM THAT HAPPENED HERE.

>> WE USED TO WALK TO DUNDEE THEATER TO WATCH MOVIES WHEN I WAS YOUNGER.

>> I USED TO COME WHEN I WAS A TEENAGER FOR MIDNIGHT MOVIES.

IT'S ALWAYS KIND OF HELD A SPECIAL PLACE IN MY HEART.

>> IN 2013, THE DUNDEE THEATER CLOSED ITS DOORS AND WENT DARK.

UNTIL SUSIE BUFFETT'S SHERWOOD FOUNDATION PURCHASED THE THEATER AND GIFTED IT TO FILM STREAMS.

>> CAN I GET A SHOW OF HANDS OF FILM STREAM MEMBERS TONIGHT?

AWESOME.

>> FILM STREAMS IS A OMAHA ARTS GROUP DEDICATED TO PRESERVING FILM MAKING AS AN ART FORM, ACHIEVING PART OF THAT AT THE DUNDEE THEATER.

>> WE JUST FELT IT WAS SO IMPORTANT THAT THIS CONTINUED TO OPERATE AS A MOVIE THEATER.

>> RENOVATIONS IMPROVED THE ORIGINAL DUNDEE WHILE RESPECTING ITS LEGACY.

>> IT'S THE LAST OF ITS KIND IN OMAHA, LONGEST SURVIVING SINGLE-SCREEN NEIGHBORHOOD CINEMA.

AND TO HAVE SEEN IT GO AWAY, TOO, I THINK, WOULD'VE FELT LIKE WE'RE REALLY LETTING SOMETHING GO THAT COULD'VE BEEN SAVED.

>> THE NEW DUNDEE THEATER OPENED ON DECEMBER 1, 2017.

>> WITH FILM STREAMS RENOVATING AND REOPENING THE DUNDEE THEATER, THE WAY THAT PEOPLE IN THIS COMMUNITY, THE WAY THAT FOUNDATIONS AND COMPANIES HAVE RESPONDED TO THAT VISION, AND THE IDEA OF THE DUNDEE BEING SOMEPLACE THAT'S REALLY SPECIAL HAS BEEN INCREDIBLE.

THIS IS A REALLY SPECIAL BUILDING, JUST THAT FILM HISTORY ALONE, AND THEN WHEN YOU ADD TO THAT, THE EXPERIENCES THAT HAVE BEEN HAD HERE -- YOU KNOW, WHEN A YOUNG PERSON COMES IN HERE AND SEES A MOVIE FOR THE FIRST TIME, THEY'RE SITTING IN A ROOM THAT GENERATIONS OF OMAHANS HAVE ENJOYED.

THIS WAS A BUILDING THAT SO MANY PEOPLE HAD MEMORIES OF GOING TO THE MOVIES HERE.

AND WE'RE, I THINK, JUST REALLY RELIEVED TO KNOW THAT IT WAS GONNA' BE SAVED AND IT WAS GONNA' BE AROUND.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> WHEN DRIVING DOWN A HIGHWAY, HAVE YOU EVER FOUND YOURSELF WONDERING ABOUT THE AREA YOU'RE DRIVING THROUGH?

AUTHOR STEW MAGNUSON IS ONE SUCH PERSON AND HE'S TURNED HIS CURIOSITY INTO A BOOK.

>> I WANTED TO WRITE ABOUT HIGHWAY 83 BECAUSE MY DAD GREW UP ALONGSIDE IT.

MY GRANDPARENTS LIVED THEIR WHOLE LIVES IN STAPLETON, NEBRASKA, AND MY GRANDMOTHER, WHENEVER I WOULD BORROW A BICYCLE TO GO RIDE OUT TO THE SOUTH LOUP RIVER, SHE WOULD ALWAYS CALL OUT AFTER ME, "BE CAREFUL!

THAT HIGHWAY RUNS FROM CANADA TO MEXICO!"

AND AS A 12-YEAR-OLD, I'M THINKING, "WOW, THAT'S REALLY INTERESTING!

>> U.S. HIGHWAY 83 IS AMONG THE LONGEST HIGHWAYS IN THE UNITED STATES AND IT RUNS THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEBRASKA.

>> I WANTED TO WRITE THIS BOOK AS A HYBRID TRAVEL/HISTORY BOOK.

IT WOULD BE MY EXPERIENCE, TRAVELING THE HIGHWAY, AND THEN, I COME ACROSS INTERESTING HISTORICAL VIGNETTES -- ONE OF THESE ROADSIDE SIGNS, AND THEN I WOULD TAKE THAT, AND TURN IT INTO A CHAPTER, THAT IS A PIECE OF AMERICAN HISTORY.

>> IT WOULD BE THE LACK OF A HISTORICAL MARKER THAT WOULD SET MAGNUSON ON AN UNEXPECTED JOURNEY.

>> I ALWAYS WONDERED, WHY ISN'T THERE A HISTORICAL MARKER FOR DEWITTY/BROWNLEE, WHICH IS THE LONGEST, MOST SUCCESSFUL, AFRICAN-AMERICAN RURAL SETTLEMENT IN NEBRASKA.

>> SOUTH OF VALENTINE AND ONLY A FEW MILES OFF HIGHWAY 83, TODAY BROWNLEE HAS A POPULATION OF ABOUT 15 PEOPLE.

ORGANIZED IN 1887, IT WAS A THRIVING TOWN OF WHITE SETTLERS.

WHEN THE KINKAID ACT OF 1904 WENT INTO EFFECT, THE TOWN NOT ONLY GREW - IT BECAME A HARMONIOUS, BI-RACIAL COMMUNITY AS BLACKS SETTLED ALONG THE LOUP RIVER.

>> I WANTED TO COME TO THIS AREA, TO BROWNLEE, DEWITTY, BECAUSE THIS IS MY DAD'S HOME.

HE WAS BORN IN OVERTON AND FROM THE TIME HE WAS 10 YEARS OLD GREW UP HERE IN DEWITTY.

HE TALKED ABOUT IT ALL THE TIME.

I GREW UP THINKING I KNEW A PLACE THAT I HAD NEVER BEEN.

THIS IS MY FIRST TRIP HERE AND I THINK IT'S EVERYTHING THAT HE SAID IT WAS.

>> CATHERINE'S FATHER, WILLIAM, WAS THE YOUNGEST CHILD OF CHARLES AND ESTER MEEHAN, A BI-RACIAL COUPLE WHO EMIGRATED FROM CANADA IN 1885 TO LIVE IN NEBRASKA.

>> GRANDPA WANTED LAND AND I THINK ALL OF THE HOMESTEADERS WHO CAME WANTED LAND.

SOME OF THEM HAD LAND IN CANADA, BUT THEY WERE VERY SMALL PORTIONS.

THEY LIVED IN AREAS THAT WERE NOT LARGE FARMING HOMESTEADS.

THEY WERE PROBABLY WHAT TODAY WE WOULD CALL TOWN.

I THINK MY GRANDFATHER THOUGH WANTED AN OPPORTUNITY TO BE ABLE TO GIVE MORE TO HIS FAMILY THAN HE HAD IN CANADA AND NEBRASKA I THINK JUST SUITED HIM.

IT WAS THAT OPPORTUNITY.

>> AFTER THE KINKAID ACT OPENED LAND IN CHERRY COUNTY, THE MEEHANS, ALONG WITH SEVERAL OTHER BLACK FAMILIES, BEGAN SETTLING ALONG A 14-MILE STRETCH OF THE NORTH LOUP RIVER IN 1906.

THEY CALLED THEIR SETTLEMENT, DEWITTY.

>> IN ALL OF THE STORIES THAT DAD TOLD, HE SELDOM TALKED ABOUT ANY DISCRIMINATION HERE.

ONE OF THE THINGS THAT HE TYPICALLY SAID ABOUT DEWITTY -- ABOUT NEBRASKA IN GENERAL, BUT DEWITTY SPECIFICALLY, WAS PEOPLE WERE PEOPLE.

YOUR NEIGHBORS WERE YOUR NEIGHBORS AND I CAN JUST HEAR HIM SAYING THAT.

I THINK REALISTICALLY, THERE PROBABLY WERE DIFFERENCES THAT WERE DIFFICULT FOR PEOPLE TO OVERCOME ON BOTH SIDES, BUT THE IMPRESSION I GOT IS THAT PEOPLE REALIZED THAT THERE ARE NOT MANY OF US OUT HERE, BLACK OR WHITE, AND WE NEED TO FIGURE OUT HOW TO GET ALONG BECAUSE WE NEVER KNOW WHEN WE ARE GOING TO NEED ONE ANOTHER.

>> WHEN RACE RIOTS WERE HAPPENING IN CITIES ACROSS THE UNITED STATES, INCLUDING OMAHA, THE BLACK AND WHITE PEOPLE IN THE COMMUNITIES OF DEWITTY AND BROWNLEE LIVED TOGETHER IN PEACE.

>> YOU HAVE THE STORY OF AN INTERRACIAL COUPLE.

YOU HAVE INTEGRATED, ONE-ROOM SCHOOLHOUSES.

YOU HAD THE TWO COMMUNITIES COMING TOGETHER ON THE FOURTH OF JULY TO CELEBRATE THIS VERY QUINTESSENTIAL AMERICAN HOLIDAY, AND THEY PLAYED BASEBALL GAMES, AND HAD A RODEO, AND A PICNIC, AND SO ON, AND THIS IS WHAT YOU FIND IN THE HISTORICAL RECORD.

THE MEMOIRS YOU READ OF THE SETTLERS JUST MENTION ALL THESE THINGS.

THEY DON'T MENTION ANYTHING ELSE.

>> BY 1910, THERE WERE 82 RESIDENTS IN THE DEWITTY SETTLEMENT AND OVER THE YEARS, NUMBERS MAY HAVE REACHED AS HIGH AS 150.

AT SOME POINT, DEWITTY WAS RENAMED AUDACIOUS AND ALL CONTINUED TO GO WELL FOR AT LEAST A COUPLE MORE DECADES.

BUT THEN THE DUST BOWL YEARS BEGAN AND BY 1936, THE LAST RESIDENT OF DEWITTY MOVED AWAY.

IT WOULD TAKE ANOTHER 80 YEARS FOR THE UNIQUE HISTORY OF DEWITTY TO BE RECOGNIZED.

>> "WHY ISN'T THERE A MARKER HERE?"

THEN I, KIND OF TOWARDS THE END OF THE RESEARCH OF THE BOOK, I STARTED TO GET A'HOLD OF SOME OF THE DESCENDANTS, AND I SAID, "I'M JUST GOING TO LOOK INTO THIS."

>> WITH A LITTLE RESEARCH AND CROWDFUNDING, STEW AND CATHERINE WERE ABLE TO GET A HISTORICAL MARKER FOR DEWITTY.

ON A COOL APRIL MORNING, A FORMAL DEDICATION WAS HELD ALONG HIGHWAY 83.

>> I NEVER LIVED IN NEBRASKA AND I NEVER VISITED CHERRY COUNTY BEFORE, BUT I GREW UP WITH THE NAMES DEWITTY AND AUDACIOUS CONSTANTLY IN MY EAR.

MY DAD WILLIAM MEEHAN SEEMED TO CARRY NEBRASKA WITH HIM.

IN SO MANY WAYS THIS FEELS LIKE COMING HOME.

I HEARD MY FATHER AND COUSINS COMMENT THAT THERE WAS NO PREJUDICE OUT HERE.

THE PEOPLE WERE JUST PEOPLE, AND NEIGHBORS WERE NEIGHBORS.

>> HOW ABOUT THAT?

>> AN IMMEDIATE KINSHIP FORMED BETWEEN SOME 200 PEOPLE AS THEY GATHERED ON THE REMOTE NEBRASKA HIGHWAY, CROSSING COLOR LINES AND COLLAPSING TIME.

>> IT'S HEARTWARMING.

I THINK THAT THE ANCESTORS WOULD BE REALLY, REALLY PLEASED, VERY HAPPY, TO KNOW THAT THIS MANY YEARS LATER, A CENTURY LATER, THEY'RE STILL REMEMBERED.

>> AND OF COURSE, NO NEBRASKA HOMETOWN WELCOME IS COMPLETE WITHOUT A POTLUCK.

>> I ONLY THOUGHT THAT IT'D BE MORE THE PEOPLE WHO WERE DIRECTLY CONNECTED TO THE ACTUAL PEOPLE WHO LIVED HERE.

I DIDN'T THINK THAT THERE WAS GOING TO BE SUCH A LARGE RESPONSE FROM THE COMMUNITY ITSELF.

>> YES, THIS HAS JUST BEEN A PHENOMENAL EXPERIENCE.

THIS IS MY FIRST TIME HERE AND WE'VE BOTH JUST BEEN PLEASANTLY SURPRISED AT HOW FRIENDLY THE PEOPLE ARE.

THAT'S WHAT HAS JUST ACTUALLY BLOWN US AWAY, IS THAT EVERYONE HAS JUST REACHED OUT AND EMBRACED US, OF ALL RACES.

THE MAJORITY OF PEOPLE THAT HAVE BEEN HERE ARE ACTUALLY BROWNLEE DESCENDANTS, AND THEY EMBRACED THE DEWITTY DESCENDANTS JUST LIKE THEY WERE FAMILY.

>> COMING BACK HERE, AND SEEING THE WAY THAT MY ANCESTORS WERE TAKEN IN BY THE OTHER HOMESTEADERS, I THINK THAT REALLY DOES TAKE HEART BECAUSE IT SHOWS THAT WE HAVE COME A LONG WAY.

>> THAT WE -- OUR FAMILY MADE IT OUT HERE AND BUILT A TOWN AND WERE EDUCATED.

>> IT'S VERY HUMBLING AND REALLY, IT GIVES YOU PERSPECTIVE OF HOW DIFFICULT IT WAS AND HOW MUCH THEY ACHIEVED.

>> I'M NOT SURPRISED.

THE HOPEFUL MESSAGE IS HERE.

LORD, IN OUR TIMES, YOU KNOW, WE ARE HAVING TROUBLE AS A SOCIETY HOLDING TOGETHER, SO THIS IS JUST A LITTLE GLIMMER, A LITTLE RAY THAT WE CAN LIVE TOGETHER.

>> THERE'S EVIDENCE THAT I HAD A GOOD TIME!

>> IF GOOD THINGS COME IN SMALL PACKAGES, THEN MAYBE WHAT STARTED IN TWO LITTLE NEBRASKA COMMUNITIES BETWEEN PEOPLE WHO FOUND THEY HAD MORE IN COMMON THAN NOT, CAN SERVE TO REMIND US OF WHAT IS POSSIBLE.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> "NEBRASKA."

>> FROM THE MIGHTY OLD MISSOURI TO THE DRY PLAINS OF THE WEST, FROM DAKOTA'S LAND TO KANSAS IS THE STATE THAT I LOVE BEST.

'TIS THE PLACE WHERE FIRST THE HOUSES WERE OF RICH PRAIRIE SOD.

IT IS BEAUTIFUL NEBRASKA, THE HOME OF THE GOLDEN ROD.

'TIS THE HOME OF MAMMOTH RANCHES AND OF MIGHTY FIELDS OF CORN.

'TIS THE LAND OF PEACE AND PLENTY.

IT'S THE STATE WHERE I WAS BORN.

ITS STREAMS ARE SWIFT AND MIGHTY AND THE PLATTE HERE MAKES ITS HOME.

'TIS THE LAND OF COZY FIRESIDES FROM WHICH WE NEVER CARE TO ROAM.

IT HAS TOWNS AND ALSO CITIES OF WHICH WE NEED NOT BE ASHAMED.

THE CAPITAL IS LINCOLN, FOR OUR GREATEST PRESIDENT NAMED.

THE HILLS ARE NATURE'S TEMPLES.

THE VALLEYS ARE OUR PRIDE.

'TIS KNOW AS A TREELESS STATE, BUT WE HAVE TREES BESIDE.

THE PEOPLE ARE PROGRESSIVE AND CO-OPERATION RULES.

AND WHEN IT COMES TO TRAINING, WE'VE THE VERY BEST OF SCHOOLS.

WHAT NEBRASKA IS AND WILL BE, I HAVE NOT THE WORDS TO SAY, BUT IT'S THE WORTHY PRIDE OF A COMMONWEALTH AND THE GEM OF THE U.S.A.

WRITTEN BY MY DAD, WILLIAM H. MEEHAN, AT 19 YEARS OF AGE, APPROXIMATELY 1916.

♪ ♪ >> WATCH MORE "NEBRASKA STORIES" ON OUR WEBSITE, FACEBOOK, AND YOUTUBE.

"NEBRASKA STORIES" IS FUNDED IN PART BY THE MARGARET AND MARTHA THOMAS FOUNDATION.

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