[Marysville The Advocate] Much of those 250 years are right here

Reflecting on the 250th anniversary of the United States, it’s clear our nation’s past includes lots and lots of interesting history that occured in Marshall County, which dates to the highly tense period of pre-Civil War days, known as Bleeding Kansas. Local high school history classes should largely be devoted to learning American history throug their county’s history, which is a microcosm of America’s development. It’s all right here. Teachers and students can read about it through newspaper accounts and then visit the actual locations where important segments of history occurred to reinforce those documented stories. There’s the Pony Express Barn and Museum, Alcove Spring Historic Park, the ruts of the Oregon Trail visible at Alcove and in local farm fields still today, the Marshall County Historic Courthouse where the story of slavery advocate Frank Marshall’s story is well documented. To learn indigenous history, there are fantastic interpretive panels at nearby Barneston and Blue Springs, Neb., telling the story of Ponca Chief Standing Bear and the Otoe-Missouria tribes that once inhabited what is today northern Marshall County and south-central Nebraska. And there’s the replica of Marshall’s Ferry at Trails Park, west of Marysville near the banks of the Big Blue River. The Koester House Museum has its library and stories of early business development and the immigrant spirit. And the historic depot documents how trains and rail employees from so many local families helped make America what it is today. Plenty of sources of local history remain available through volunteers at the Marshall County Historical Society at the historic courthouse. The vibrancy of this county, and thus of the broader nation, would really stick in the minds of our youth if the school district were to revamp its curriculum and try to regularly integrate more local sources and places. Local schools send children once or twice a year to local museums and historic sites. Why not make greater use of those museums for history classes devoted to digging into these quintessentially American stories? It’s important for young Americans to feel ownership of their history. What better way than to see how it happened here. America is what it is today because of all of us and our communities. Let’s keep history alive. Happy 250th!