Horse Thieves Hang in Nebraska

August 12, 2014

Found a place to nap

The door was locked at the office of Chadron State Park in Nebraska.  We were planning to ask for permission to park someplace in the shade for a few minutes while we ate our sandwiches and took a short nap.  So, we assumed nobody was there and we started walking away.  The door opened behind us and a lady asked if she could be any help.  She explained that the door was locked because there were a couple of pickup thieves on the loose in the park and police were looking for them.  The door was locked in case these desperados showed up.  She explained that one of the villains had only one leg so they did not expect him to run far.

In jest, I asked if they hang pickup thieves in Nebraska like they did horse thieves back in the good old days.  She explained that she did not know, but hanging horse thieves is still the law in Nebraska — and that there might even be a hanging tree right here in this park.  She also explained that it would be OK for us to nap in the park someplace and that as far as she knew, the thieves were unarmed.

We found a nice spot, ate our sandwiches and took a nap.  Afterward, as we were about to leave, we noticed a sign giving directions through the park to a scenic view uphill on Pine Ridge.  So, thieves or no thieves, I just can’t bypass scenic overviews — so, up we drove.  On a very clear day, we should be able to see the Black Hills way up in South Dakota.  But, it was a little hazy so the Black Hills eluded us, but we did enjoy a magnificent view of the Buffalo Gap National Grasslands and the city of Chadron nearby.   We watched a small airplane circling again and again over the park below and decided it must be the law looking for the one-legged thief and the other scoundrel.

View of grasslands

On the way down from the scenic view, we followed another route.  About halfway down, we encountered a group of cars from the Sherriff, Highway Patrol, and Park Rangers, etc. -- all with lights flashing.  Most of these police vehicles were empty which suggested that the officers were out on foot — trying to run down the accused criminals.  When we approached the entry to the park, we were stopped and our motorhome was searched in case we were harboring the desperados.  Finding no one-legged men, we were allowed to go. 

Police searching for one-legged pickup thief

In the town of Chadron, we followed a historic marker sign to an old hotel.  As I was taking a photo of the sign, a couple of folks with Indian ancestry, kindly stopped so that they would not interfere with my photo.  After they passed, I noticed that one of them had an artificial leg.  Could he be the one-legged man?  Nah!