Ride the line

Sept. 15, Gothenburg-Cozad, 18 miles, SSE wind, 85/65—Cozad promotes itself as a 100th-meridian town. Until GPS showed the line passing just west of town near the airport, 100 degrees west longitude was thought to run through downtown on Meridian St. Nobody seems to mind the difference.

I was able to visit the 100th Meridian museum thanks to Judy, head of the Cozad Chamber of Commerce, who probably should be running a small country. Then Judy tag-teamed with Bonnie, who showed me the Henri museum. Robert Henri was a moderately famous painter and the son, it turned out many decades later, of riverboat gambler and town founder John Cozad, who moved east after killing a man (possibly self-defense), changed his children's names, and claimed they were adopted.

I won't travel too far down the history geek road, only mention that the first pioneer trails to cross the West (Oregon-California and Mormon), first transcontinental railroad, first transcontinental highway (Lincoln highway in 1913), and first transcontinental fiber-optic line all used this Platte River corridor. Now Interstate 80 has managed to make it look like everywhere else.