Ogallala, Nebraska Petrified wood carvers August 25, 2016

       Thursday August 25  Our first museum we are stopping at is the Petrified Wood Gallery in Ogallala, , Nebraska. It features the petrified wood art of twin brothers Howard and Harvey Kenfield  who are 92 years of age. We were thrilled to find both of the brothers in the store when we stopped. I really enjoyed my visit with Harvey on how they got started and how they did some of the art work. Howard said they started collecting arrowheads at a young age, which led to collecting petrified wood and the art of cutting and polishing rocks.  In the early 1950's they were both drafted into the army and served together in Korea and they received honorable discharges and went back to their place of employment. Over the years  they began collecting Indian artifacts  and the pictures they made from the arrowheads are gorgeous. Many gem and mineral shows were attended by the

brothers and vacations were spent hunting petrified wood in western Wyoming.
       In 1976 each purchased one acre of land south of Ogallala, built homes for their families and the first Petrified Wood Gallery. After 42 years of employment, the brothers both retired in 1980 and the gallery was opened to the public. In 2000 the Kenfields donated
their collection to the Western
Nebraska Community Foundation with the stipulation that it will stay in Ogallala Over the years the gallery has been added to and in 2011, the gallery moved to a larger facility across the street,
418 East 1st Street. You won't be disappointed if you go there, we highly recommend it.
       From here we went to the Wagon Windlass Hill at Ash Hollow State Park, to this day the park bears the scars from the countless wagons that made the steep decent. The pioneers had so much trouble getting their covered wagons down the steep hills without losing them when they couldn't hold them back. They tied ropes to themselves and some of the oxen to try and hold back the wagons. A lot of people died trying to get through this part of the country. Visitors can follow a paved walking path to the top. An old sod house stands at the bottom of the hill, enclosed with a fence with a wagon wheel gate.
The sod house is really neat and old.