44 Nebraskaland • July 2023
oulda, coulda, shoulda.
Our lives can be full of them.
The story of one of mine began in 1999, the fi rst
time I visited Niobrara State Park. From the hilltop
overlooking the Niobrara River, I could see a rooftop poking
out of the trees in the riverbottom.
I was told it was the picnic shelter in the old park, the one
that opened in 1935 and was closed when the park moved to
its current location in 1987. I told myself I'd hike out and see
it someday, and said the same thing every other time I saw
the shelter, be it from that hilltop or from the window of a
Cessna on an aerial photo assignment.
Someday.
The story of Niobrara Island State Park began in 1889,
when citizens of Niobrara who settled in 1856 successfully
petitioned Congress to set aside a tract of land on the west
side of the Niobrara River for a park. The small stream on
the west side of the tract is what put "island" in the park's
name. The origin of that stream is unclear. Some reports say
Mormons who settled there in 1846 or '47 dug it, diverting
water from the Niobrara River to power a mill. Others say it
was just a small side channel of the Niobrara. Whatever the
case, it remains known as the Mormon Canal today.
A clubhouse was built, but interest in the park waned, and
in 1930, residents of the village voted to donate the land to
the Nebraska Game, Forestation and Parks Commission,
the precursor to Nebraska Game and Parks. Picnic grounds
and a 9-hole golf course were built, and fi sh were stocked
in the ponds. "Where the sky is blue and the earth is wide
and there's lots of fi sh by the riverside" read a headline atop
a story on improvements being made at the park in the
W
The picnic shelter at Niobrara Island State Park was built with massive, hand-hewn timbers and featured a stone fi replace at
one end. COURTESY OF NIOBRARA MUSEUM
The Last Relic
By Eric Fowler
