Omaha, Nebraska

Day 10, we toured Council Bluffs, Iowa. First stop was Squirrel Cage Jail, which served as the county jail from 1885 until 1969.

There were fewer than 18 revolving “squirrel cage” “human rotary” or “lazy Susan” jails built and the one in Council Bluffs was the only 3 story jail.












When we arrived at the Western Historic Trails Center, we viewed a Lewis and Clark short film, viewed the museum, and walked the l/2 mile down to the Missouri River.

After lunch, our costumed tour guide took us to see some Lewis & Clark sites, including a monument. On the way, he pointed out Iowa’s Loess Hills, hills made almost entirely of windblown soils which were formed at the end of the ice age. The winds picked up soils that had been ground as fine as flour and formed dunes along the Missouri River. The local people call the soil “sugar clay” because the exposed loess will erode like sugar when saturated. The Loess Hills landform is 60 feet in height, about 640,000 acres of land in western Iowa. Although deposits of loess are found across the world, nowhere else but China are those deposits higher than they are in Iowa.

Our last stop of the day was Boys Town.
What a fabulous tour. I always loved the movie Boys Town with Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney. Spencer Tracy won an Emmy for that movie and donated it to Boys Town where it is on display. To actually see the campus and museum and hear the story of how Father Flannagan founded a place in 1917 for troubled boys to grow and become a productive member of society was moving for all. Some of the men admitted to a tear at the end of the short film about some of the boys that have been helped. Father Flannagan always felt that there were no bad boys, they just needed guidance and an opportunity. The campus was not built by the Catholic Church. Father Flannagan wanted a place for all children, white, black, Catholic, non-Catholics. The children, once there, do have to practice a religion, it doesn’t matter what religion. There are homes on campus where trained couples live with 8 of the troubled children. They range from ages 8-18. They have either all boys, or all girls. There are also dormitories. The children have planned activities most of the time, but also enjoy free time. A large majority of the children eventually go on to college.
















We also visited the Immaculate Conception Parish Dowd Memorial Chapel, which is on campus.
Because Boys Town is its own town, and they do not want to take away from the local churches, they will not marry or bury outsiders. Permission is granted for alumni and employees.

Father Flannagan died from a heart attack at about age 57, very young. He traveled the world wide promoting peace and help for children. Today, Boys Town is on its third Director and receives government funding for many of the children. The photo below was taken just a few days before Father Flannagan died.