FAIRBURY - The history and heritage of Jefferson County will be celebrated the weekend of June 1-3 with the annual Rails and Trails celebration at two historic sites.
Rock Island Rail Days will be held at the historic Rock Island Depot Railroad Museum in Fairbury and Rock Creek Trail Days will be held at Rock Creek Station State Historical Park, site of the McCanles-Wild Bill Hickok shootout in 1861, at 57416 710 Road southeast of Fairbury.
The two events celebrate the impact of transportation on the county and the heritage handed down from early Jefferson County settlers. Events at each site are geared towards hands-on historic demonstrations and exhibits.
Events at the Rock Island Depot Railroad Museum include a model railroad display and swap meet, garage sale, food and music. Free miniature train rides will be given and the museum will be open from 1 p.m.-5 p.m. Friday; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday and 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday.
A Rock Island Reunion will be at the Elk's Club on Friday night, beginning with a social hour at 5:30 p.m. and dinner at 6 p.m., followed by a program and reminiscing. The program will include a presentation on “Operation Lifesaver” and “A Look Back at the CRI&P.”
This year, a special program called “Railroad Songs and Tales of the Western Rails” will be presented at 2 p.m. Sunday in the lobby of the museum.
Deborah Greenblatt and David Seay of Avoca will present the program using a fiddle, guitar, other instruments as they explore the musical history of the railroads.
The old Burlington Depot from Kesterson, located about four miles south of Fairbury, will also be open during the celebration. Newly restored, the depot sits on the museum grounds.
Denise Andersen and Mary Ann Willis, both of Fairbury, will perform railroad music on the violin and piano for museum visitors both days of the celebration in the main lobby of the museum as well. All events at the museum are free.
Events at Rock Creek Station State Historical Park include demonstrations showing black powder gun use, brain tanning and primitive clothing, dutch oven cooking, mounted cowboy action shooting, blacksmithing, weaving, frontier games, frontier cabin life, spinning, fire building, frontier survival skills, story telling and Pony Express runs.
Rock Creek Station was a stage and toll bridge station on the Oregon Trail in the 1850's and 1860's and the site of one of Wild Bill Hickok's first shootings.
The park was established in the 1980s and the buildings on the East Ranch excavated and rebuilt. A visitor's center allows visitors to the park to view exhibits based on those excavations and the history of the Oregon Trail.
A re-enactment of the tragedy that left Jefferson County pioneer D.C. McCanles and two others dead will be staged at the East Ranch, site of the original shooting, by the Blue River Regulators, a historic re-enactment group from southeast Nebraska. The re-enactment will be held at 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.
Mounted cowboy action shooting will be held at 10:30 a.m., 12:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. at the East Ranch prior to the re-enactment each day. In addition, the park's Visitor Center will be open from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily and the historic demonstrations will occur throughout the day.
A buffalo stew cookout will be held at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 3, at the West Ranch. Tickets ($7 for adults and $5 for children) are available at Rock Creek Station Visitor's Center at 402-729-5777, Fairbury Chamber of Commerce office at 402-729-3000, and Fairbury Livestock Cafe at 402-729-3341, until noon on June 3. A Nebraska park permit is required for all events at the park. They are available at the Visitor's Center.