Book Review: Abandoned Nebraska: Echoes of our Past

Abandoned Nebraska: Echoes of our Past by Trish Eklund, America Through Time, Fonthill Media, England, 2018.

The pictures in this book are much more impressive than the writing.  The writing is too scattered.  There are no chapter breaks no titles or headings.  Sometimes the next paragraph introduces an unrelated story.  It is hard to know exactly what is being talked about at times.

I did gleen a couple of stories.  John F. Kennedy University was in Wahoo.  They had a good women's athletics program but the University only lasted ten years, 1965-1975.  Dana College was a Lutheran Evangelical University which operated from 1896 to 2010 when it closed for financial reasons. It was located in Blair Nebraska.

There was a mental hospital where the Hastings Regional Center is now located.  It now provides rehabilitation services.  However at one tie the operation was much larger with much of the campu abandoned.  It is in Hastings.   Norfolk Regional Center has the same fate.  Established in 1885 it now only has a 120 bed facility for sex offenders.  It once housed over 1000 mentally ill patients.  

She does talk about several ghost towns and provides pictures of abandoned homes and schools.  The author really is a good photographer.  

Hohokam Ball Game

 I don't think the Hohokam played baseball, but they played something that may have been similar.  They had a big pit and balls made out of stone, but I am not aware if anyone known the particulars past this.  However the ball pits were part of a changing society.  Ball pits were used from 750 until perhaps 1250.  So the ball pits preceeded Casa Grande.  There are about 200 pits located in the Arizona area. 

this is a ball pit

two basalt rock balls

Around Casa Grande are many more edifices in addition to the Casa Grande.  Many have been exca vated and then reburied so as to preserve them for future study.

a mound with ancient dwelling not covered for preservation

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument Visitors Center: Native American Pottery and Relics

 The visitors center has an extensive collection of native relics, as well as informational bulletins about the people of the Casa Grande area.  Casa Grande Ruins is very impressive.

A model of the casa grande but also other lodges and a b all field in the area.

picture of an irrigation ditch

very large pot used for storage

pottery shards

seeds found in lodges

stome crusher

tool for harvesting saguaro

more pots

mortar and pestle

shell conch played for rituals but also evidence of trade

artifacts from different time periods

many pots

Compound B above

platform mounds

jewelry indicating their must have been trade

Where did the Hohokam go

tools

two stone balls, disks for play, animal figure and doll

Compound A includes Casa Grande

Casa Grande Ruins National Monument Hohokom Ruin in Arizona

 I have been wanting to visit this national monument for some time.  This is the grandest of the Arizona ruins, even though it was not built on a cliff.  More remarkable because the ancient Native Americans irrigated this area by diverting water from the Salt River.  The Hohokom are noted for their pottery and it comes in many different sizes.  There is a giant pot on display in the visitors center.  There is also an ancient ball field outside.