One of the great things I like about Geocaching is that it can take you to places in American history that you've never heard of or realized that they existed. A couple of weeks ago we came upon a place just like this. An iron pillar on a bluff high above the road marks the 40th Parallel. Set in 1855, the marker denotes the Kansas/Nebraska state line and was used in surveying the two states, as well as portions of Colorado, Wyoming and South Dakota.
I thought that was interesting enough but after we returned home I started researching more about the 40th parallel in Kansas/Nebraska. I guess it has been a while since I took history in school because "Kansas, Nebraska, 1854" didn't ring any bells. Well, there is a little thing called the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854 and this pillar set the mark that would end up being a dividing line in our country. Just hard to imagine, standing up on that bluff with my son (Wife and daughters down the hill), what the landscape would've looked like 152 years ago and the future struggles and triumphs our country would experience.
Other resources
Kansas-Nebraska Border
Kansas Photo Tour |