Rebecca Winters!

Rebecca Winters
Landmark #21 Scotts Bluff County Visited: June 11, 2017 Plaque?  YES! 🙂
What is it? A tall sign by the side of the road!
What makes it historical? THE PLAQUE SAYS: Rebecca Winters, daughter of Gideon Burdick, a drummer boy in Washington’s army, was born in New York State in 1802. She was a pioneer in the Church of the Latter Day Saints, being baptized with her husband Hiram in June 1833.

Membership in the Church brought persecution in Ohio, Illinois and Iowa. In June 1852 the family joined others of their faith in the great journey to Utah. It was a pleasant trip across Iowa through June, but in the Platte Valley the dread cholera struck. Rebecca saw many of her friends taken by the illness, and on August 15 she was another of its victims. She was buried on the prairie near here with a simple ceremony.

A close friend of the family, William Reynolds, chiseled the words, “Rebecca Winters, Age 50” on an iron wagon tire to mark the grave. The family continued on with the wagon train and settled in Pleasant Grove, Utah.

Burlington Railroad surveyors found the crude marker and changed the right-of-way to save and protect the grave. In 1902 a monument was erected by Rebecca’s descendants. Rebecca Winters is a symbol of the pioneer mother who endured great hardships in the westward movement.

OTHER TIDBITS: That pretty well sums it up!

How can I Help the Helpers? HERE’S HOW:

How do I find it? Listed Directions:
U.S. 26
2 miles east of Scottsbluff, NE 69361

Annotations:
3702 Rebecca Winters Rd
Scottsbluff, NE 69361

From Lincoln: ~399mi (643km) — 6.7hrs
From North Platte: ~175mi (282km) — 3hrs
From Omaha: ~448mi (721km) — 7.5hrs
From Scottsbluff: ~4mi (7km) — 0.1hrs

When should I go? Whenever the mood strikes you!

Click here to see more Nebraska historical landmarks!

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