NEBRASKAland Magazine is dedicated to outstanding photography and informative writing with an engaging mix of articles and photos highlighting Nebraska’s outdoor activities, parklands, wildlife, history and people.
Issue link: http://mag.outdoornebraska.gov/i/625084
JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2016 • NEBRASKAland 55 Pressey's final (and largest) donation of land in 1943 was a "pretended" document, and that the original deed had been tampered with two months after Harry's death. The suit was later dismissed by the Custer County District Court, and a motion for a new trial overruled. For the most part, however, the park has kept a low profile. Locals know it. Others, less so. "Thousands upon thousands of people" may be a stretch – determining traffic at a free park is tricky – but the New Jersey native's impact on central Nebraska is undeniable. In 1971, a small plaque was installed at the entrance to the park in Harry's memory. And in 1978, the mayor of Oconto declared May 6 as the annual "Harry E. Pressey Day," "Whereas, we owe a deep debt of gratitude to the man who made Pressey State Wildlife Management Area available to all of us." A Return to Pressey WMA On a recent trip back home to Broken Bow, I detoured south to Pressey Park. In an hour the sun would dip below the hills, but right then the light was perfect, the sky empty and dark blue, the trees swaying in a dusty, yellow haze. A host of 15 or 20 campers milled about near the picnic shelter, their tents and camper trailers set up beside the road. They smiled and waved as I kept past them. I drove until I hit a sign that said "No Vehicles Beyond This Point." I parked the car, unleashed my dog and waded into the South Loup River. The water was warmer than I had expected. I pushed out into mid-stream, dug my toes into the cool sand. The campfires and the hidden campsites and those coy summer smiles – they're all here, rushing past me beneath a mid-summer sun. Out there, on the highway and in the cities and towns connected by it, so much has changed since Harry's time. But right here, in the middle of the spring-fed South Loup River, water lapping at the cattails and the cottonwoods guarding the banks, so much is the same. Just like Harry envisioned, here I am, a man with his dog more than seven decades later, enjoying his gift, reliving the memories I've created here. Still today, the words of Harvard Lomax ring true: "And life seemed brighter, the road less arduous, the burden lighter from the effects of its optimistic atmosphere." And all of it for free. ■ Carson Vaughan is a freelance writer originally from Broken Bow. He is currently writing his way across the lower 48 states in a renovated 1968 travel trailer. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Chicago Tribune, National Geographic, Travel + Leisure and more. To read more of Carson's work visit CarsonVaughan.com, and follow his travels at LocalColorXC.com. Today, Pressey Wildlife Management Area is still an oasis attracting all manners of species of wildlife. PHOTO BY JUSTIN HAAG