(upbeat music) Coming up on "Nebraska Stories," a visit to one of the most beautiful public gardens in our state, (upbeat music) Omaha's devastating Easter tornado of 1913.

(upbeat music) two farmers on a mission to save rare goats, (upbeat music) and a look back at Hastings' popular Fisher Rainbow Fountain that has a new look for the next generation.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (somber guitar music) (somber guitar music) [Gary] When I was growing up, every kid just lived in the park out here.

(somber guitar music) Well, I grew up clear at the west end of town, so we'd hop on our bikes, ride down here, and we played underneath the big cottonwood trees, which seemed to me they were big then and they're all still here and it sure looks different now than it did then.

[Narrator] What was once Gary Zimmer's childhood playground, is now the Gilman Park Arboretum in Pierce, Nebraska.

I got outta college and I never dreamt that I'd end up back in Pierce, because my dreams were running some big park somewhere else, but, had a lot of good memories out here.

[Narrator] Gary spent 40 years as the park superintendent and considers the arboretum one of his biggest accomplishments.

Now you'll see some big cotton woods up here, but other than that, I planted everything down here.

[Narrator] It started from a very simple idea.

[Gary] People were walking out here, just for exercise, and they just had a trail, just a dirt trail that they were walking around and I got to thinking, why not give 'em something to look at while you're there?

But that simple project soon became a huge undertaking and eventually, a tourist destination and point of pride for the area.

(somber guitar music) [Gary] I've been told that we are the most diverse arboretum in the state, that we have more different kinds of plants than any other arboretum in the state.

This isn't a real what you'd call a landscape arboretum, where everything you know is designed in the perfect landscape.

It's more of a specimen arboretum, where people can look at one particular tree and say, "Whoa, I really like that."

And they can go home and Google it and find out more about that tree.

You know, the lace bark elm should not be growing here, and I gave it a try and it's just plumb happy.

I mean, it obviously likes where it's at.

It's pretty protected here and I'm always watching for something new.

I love trying new things.

You know, garden is just full of butterflies.

When people think about arboretums, I think most of them are thinking about trees.

That's pretty much what you figure in arboretums gonna be.

But an arboretum is so much more than just trees.

(somber guitar music) [Narrator] Of the $140,000 spent on the arboretum, only one third was paid for by the city budget.

Grant's, donations and memorials have paid for the rest.

A testament to Pierce's community spirit.

(somber guitar music) (somber guitar music) There's one memorial here that's particularly meaningful.

[Gary] This is our historic bridge.

It was on our county road, about eight miles west of Pierce over Willow Creek, but the county wanted to replace it, 'cause it's so narrow, they couldn't get farm equipment across it and they found out when they went to replace it, that they couldn't destroy it, because it's on the National Registry of Historic Bridges and it's got such a story behind it because it's so historic and so rare.

And the plants around it, I have fond memories of that because the gardens around it were designed by the late Jim Cluck.

And he was killed in a car accident several years ago.

But Jim came, and him and me, spent two days planting all the stuff around here.

So every time I walked through this, I think of Jim.

He was a very good friend of mine and I still miss him.

It's been a long time ago.

These gardens around the bridge are kind of dedicated to him.

(somber guitar music) [Narrator] Gary has been planting this area since 1993.

Now most of his days are spent caring for the trees that have grown up here just as he did.

I could probably spend a couple hours just on this one tree.

(chuckles) (somber music) Makes me feel old because, you know, you look at a tree like that and "Wow, I planted that."

(chuckles) Well, it's definitely a source of pride for the community.

There's people out here walking every day and every night and it brings people into town.

I think it means a lot to the community for that.

And it definitely means a lot for the community, just for a place to come after a day's work and just quietly walk and enjoy the nice weather and flowers blooming and things like that.

All the work was definitely worth it.

There's no question, no question about it.

(gentle music) (scary music) NARRATOR: One newspaper called it, The Devil Cloud.

One of seven tornadoes ripping across Eastern Nebraska, on March 23rd, 1913, Easter Sunday.

By nightfall, these tornadoes left paths of death and destruction never seen before or since in the state.

BRIAN SMITH: It's the worst tornado event to ever occur in Nebraska's history.

NARRATOR: In just two hours, powerful twisters ripped through Omaha, Ralston, Yutan, and Otoe, called Berlin at the time, 168 deaths in Nebraska and Iowa, mostly Nebraska, hundreds injured.

The Omaha, Yutan and Berlin tornadoes today rank as the three deadliest in Nebraska history.

Damage was estimated at 10 million dollars, which would be more than 200 million today.

BRIAN: The number of people that got killed, the fact that you had seven tornadoes in a fairly close area like that, fairly long track tornadoes, made it very significant.

(emotional music) NARRATOR: It's hard to imagine the night after the tornadoes.

Friends and relatives desperately searching for loved ones, alive or dead, rescuers following cries for help, digging through piles of rubble that used to be houses, and lo oters grabbing what they could from these same ruins.

Homeless, injured survivors wandering unrecognizable streets, cold, rain-drenched, often without much clothing.

Houses and public buildings turning into makeshift hospitals, relief stations and morgues.

Passing cars turned into ambulances.

Imagine the resources that would have existed in 1913 to deal with a disaster of this magnitude, then take away most of the power and phone lines, blown away by the tornadoes.

Imagine a frantic, chaotic atmosphere, that the next morning, Governor John Morehead, touring Omaha, would describe as, "Like my conception of Hell".

Help quickly arrived for Omaha and other stricken communities.

Special trains, buggies and ca rs brought doctors and nurses, from near and far, including this large group from Des Moines.

In Omaha, soldiers, state militia from throughout Nebraska, arrived to help restore order.

Six temporary relief stations were set up in the hardest hit areas of the city.

JONI FOGARTY: They were cooking meals, and feeding those in their care.

They were tending to their medical needs, changing bandages, helping with personal hygiene.

They were trying to find out the names of these people, and where they lived.

NARRATOR: Omaha's auditorium became a central relief station, serving free meals of bread, soup and coffee, also serving as a dormitory for the homeless and a storage depot for supplies.

There was an outpouring of support, donations of money and items of all kinds.

TRAVIS SING: Omaha received outside aid from Studebaker Automobiles, International Harvester.

Money came from Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada.

And also money from Johnstown, Pennsylvania because Omaha had donated money and supplies after their flood in 1889.

(emotional music) NARRATOR: Different groups held fund-raising events, concerts and other benefits, local newspapers helped generate support and ran long lists of donors and donations, contributions as small as 50 cents or a pillowcase were recognized.

Yutan was reportedly swamped with donations of clothing and groceries from nearby towns.

ERIN HAUSER: I think here in Wahoo, within 24 hours, the businessmen called a meeting and raised $500 just that night, just among the businessmen.

And then the ladies started getting involved, you know, gathering clothing, gathering food.

HARL DALSTROM: So I think in 1913, we see the same thing that we see today.

We see that people really do come together in these circumstances, and do so effectively.

NARRATOR: And there was mo ney to be made off the storm.

Picture postcards and books were for sale within days.

(Omaha Easter Tornado song) NARRATOR: Maybe the most unusual fo r-profit account of the storm, came in the form of a song.

(Omaha Easter Tornado song) NARRATOR: Hans Parkinson of Omaha wrote and published the Omaha Easter Tornado.

The sales pitch: your co llection of pictures, stories and other archives of that event is not complete without this impressive and inspiring song.

(Omaha Easter Tornado song) NARRATOR: It's not surprising that there would be interest in sheet music, whether it's Om aha or the rural communities.

Pianos are easy to find amongst tornado debris.

ERIN: I think that was probably one of the very first big purchases that they had, you know, they didn't have television or anything, so that was the source of their entertainment.

HARL: Those pianos that were flying through the air, destroyed or put in odd places by the tornadoes, those reflected the material culture.

(emotional music) NARRATOR: Piles of debris were everywhere.

Omaha designated the weekend of April 4th and 5th, two weeks after the tornado, for clean up.

In a seemingly remarkable effort, 5,000 volunteers were organized into groups and assigned to working in different areas of the tornado zone.

Each was led by a contractor, or someone else accustomed to directing the operations of large gangs of men.

TRAVIS: There were school children that were out helping with the recovery effort.

There were Creighton medical and dental students who were out helping with the recovery effort.

NARRATOR: Men and women started at 7 A.M. Saturday, clearing rubbish, raking lawns and piling up twisted, splintered furniture.

One newspaper noted, side-by-side in the debris, the millionaire worked with his bankrupt brother.

The effort was so successful, the majority of the work was done after the first day.

TRAVIS: The city just really came together to each other's aid.

HARL: I think the remarkable thing is how quickly Omaha did recover and move on about its business, and I suspect the same generalization would hold true for the rest of the area of Eastern Nebraska, Western Iowa was impacted.

JONI: I think it is an American story.

Because it speaks so deeply to who an American is.

And we're all in this together, and we're gonna rebuild, and we're gonna help each other.

(rooster crows) - [Chad] Welcome to Willow Valley Farms.

We're going to take you guys on a goat walk, I walk these goats twice a day.

- [Dennis] Chad Wagener is a modern day goat herder.

He starts and ends every day by walking these goats out to pasture, and then back again.

- Time for breakfast.

(goats bleat) Time for breakfast.

There, they know what time it is.

They're like, "Let's go daddy."

- The goats he cares for are family to him.

He knows each one, and many have names like "Blessing", "Sophie", "Sylvia", or "Broken Horn".

- This little guy is just a couple days old.

What are you doing?

Welcome to planet Earth.

(Chad to goats) "Let's go!

Good job!"

- Chad will tell you each goat is unique, with it's own personality.

But as a breed, they're also unique.

These are San Clemente Island goats.

There's estimated to be fewer than 1,500 of them in the world, and the single largest herd, 250 of them, are here on this farm in rural Gretna, Nebraska.

- I take it for granted sometimes, but then I also sit back and I think wow, look at these goats.

- The goats get their name because about a century and a half ago there were believed to be as many as 18,000 of them living on the small San Clemente Island off the coast of California.

When they started to overrun the island's natural ecosystem, an eradication program was started, until only a small breeding population returned to the mainland.

So how does this breed of goats get from a small island in the Pacific Ocean more than 1,000 miles away to a 40 acre farm in the Elkhorn River Valley in Nebraska?

Chad and John Carroll are the reason.

The couple started contacting breeders across the country to obtain the goats, slowly building their herd of one of the rarest goats in the world.

Chad had been in pharmeceutical sales before turning his attention full time to the goats.

John has been a medic in the Air Force, a registered nurse, and is now an attorney in Omaha.

And he quickly adds, a goat farmer.

- We started out with two goats, you know it's like two goats, and then we got to 20 and now we're at like 250 plus.

When I see Chad out there shepherding the goats They follow him everywhere, they're like one unit.

It reminds me of like, Italy, or those European countries where shepherds took their flock, or their herd, and walked around.

- Those walks allow the goats to stretch their legs, Chad says, often climbing up to munch on tree leaves along the way.

It's exercise for the goats, and Chad says for him, it's a daily therapy session in the middle of a field.

He calls it his "happy hour".

- [Chad to goats] Let's go!

- I'm part goat, maybe that was my calling, to do this.

I think it's because I spend a lot of time with the goats, they know my voice, they know my smell because I smell like them most days.

I think the reason these goats are so comfortable with me is, I spend a lot of time just doing this, I sit down with them, in their environment.

I want to be one of them and understand what it's like to be one of them.

Just as much as I hope they want to be like me one day.

- There's a word Chad uses often when describing his relationship with the goats.

- I use the word "symbiotic".

Not only with the goats, but with all the living things.

The trees, the bees, the butterflies, the plants.

Especially these guys.

Whether it's good for the soul, good for the health of these goats and the planet, or the soul and the health of us as humans, it's very symbiotic.

- It's not just about the good feelings they get, though.

Chad and John are doing this to make a difference.

They want to see the San Clemente Island breed of goats increase in numbers and flourish.

They're looking for more serious breeders who want to share that mission.

- We recognize that, now that we've got the numbers, we need to find people who really don't want just two or three, you know, and just eating weeds and things like that, we want them to really want to breed them.

- They believe another way to increase the number of these goats is to show they have value.

John and Chad have a long term plan they think will do just that.

- [Chad] As with any critically endangered animal, we need to come up with a value-add or purpose.

Of course they have a great set of genetics, but what we specifically want to do is create that value by building a dairy and showing non-San Clemente Island goat breeders and milkers that these guys can be milked and make a really good cheese.

And that would be a value-add which would help for the sustainability of this goat and keep them from going extinct.

- It would be the first ever commerical milking goat dairy for San Clemente Island goats.

There would be a storefront, a milking parlor, and a cheese room.

- For those that want to make a boutique, niche cheese the butter fat is very high, and I think it actually will make a really high quality cheese.

- The dairy would also serve as a real world classroom, and the subject matter would be San Clemente Island goats.

- The whole Maya Angelou "When you get, give.

When you learn, teach."

So bring different groups and educate them, whether it's children, at-risk children, LGBTQ youth, local elementary kids, bring them in and let them see us cheese, let them help us milk and do some of that in this area.

- We've just got to figure out how to make this happen, and it takes money, you know and learning how to do it and all that, so we're just inching our way that way.

- John and Chad may be the best chance the San Clemente Island goats have to survive, which is exactly why they call this their passion project.

- We feel like if we can do this, we're going to find an outlet for these goats to save them.

- I think that if you ask almost any one of our family members, they think John and I are crazy.

Why are you doing this, what are you doing that for, why are you spending all that money on it?

And I think that one day we'll prove them wrong.

When I have that goat dairy up and you and I are sitting there eating goat cheese, maybe drinking a glass of wine, we'll toast to this interview and we'll toast to our family and say, "told you so".

(inspiring music) (inspiring music) (inspiring music) (gentle classical music) (gentle classical music) (gentle classical music) (gentle classical music) (gentle classical music) (gentle classical music) (gentle classical music) (gentle classical music) (gentle classical music) (gentle classical music) (gentle classical music) (gentle classical music) (gentle classical music) (gentle classical music) (gentle classical music) (gentle classical music) (gentle classical music) (gentle classical music) (gentle classical music) (gentle classical music) (gentle classical music) (piano music) (piano music) (piano music) (gentle jazz music) (Lorraine) I can't remember being in a city where I've seen a fountain like this.

(Elizabeth) Fisher Fountain is what brought my family to Hastings.

(Sally) And it was just part of the community always.

(car engine revving) (car engine revving) (gentle jazz music) (gentle jazz music) (Elizabeth) The 1930s were an extremely hard time for the citizens of Hastings in Adams County but there was still hope and optimism seen during this time with the 1932 Adams County Fair.

The electrical exposition was held and the electrical fountain was the showstopper at this exposition.

This display created quite a stir because water which was so sought after during this time was shooting out in breathtaking directions with colors and lights.

(gentle jazz music) (Sally) Well, we used to go over there and because it was so hot, we'd go over and that was our wading pool.

And at that time, all the neighborhood would gather around.

We had a wonderful time.

We'd play games around there.

That was just our kind of center of where we gathered.

(Fred) We moved here in January of '52 and as soon as the fountain went on that spring, we got hooked.

It was so beautiful, so colorful.

And then as our family grew, it just became a part of our daily lives.

(bombs exploding) (bombs exploding) (bombs exploding) (Marlene) It was just devastating to have to see the fountain devastated and I think it was the emotional trying time.

(Sally) It was pretty devastating (faint people chattering) 'cause that was part of our childhood.

First, it was pure anger.

And then we just decided, hey, this is not gonna stand.

(majestic classical music) (Elizabeth) Well, our community came together and overcame this adversity and raised the money to be able to restore the fountain and have it continue as a symbol of hope and prosperity in our community.

(majestic classical music) (Lorraine) We're just so grateful that it's restored and it has remained in good shape and that there are so many people who enjoy it (Fred) And that's the important part, that the whole community and nearby people wrap their arms around it.

It's a beautiful, wonderful addition to our community.

(majestic classical music) (majestic classical music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) Watch more "Nebraska Stories" on our website, Facebook and YouTube.

(upbeat music) "Nebraska Stories" is funded in part by the Margaret and Martha Thomas Foundation, and Humanities Nebraska, and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment.

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