The program currently serves over 19,500 students from Nebraska and Kansas each year. Students visit the farm and discuss the role of a child on the farm in the 1880s. Students discover the world of the Pawnee Indians, study the tipi and its construction, handle toys and stone tools, and visit the Gus Fonner Memorial Rotunda to examine the clothing and bead work of American Indians. Students discover the importance of transportation to the early settlers, examine the different types of transportation available on the prairie, visit the livery stable, discuss railroad jobs, and operate a railroad handcar. Modern students use dip pens, slates, and 1880s textbooks to experience school life and social customs as they learn about the differences between today's classrooms and those of the 1880s.
Students learn about the important role road ranches played in the westward movement.
They study the construction of a log cabin, what life was like in a log cabin, and the work necessary to survive on the frontier. Students explore Stuhr's 1890s Railroad Town as they discover which buildings and services were essential to a new town, examine how people lived and died in a new community, and learn about the importance of the railroad to new towns. H.A.T.S. classes bring together all aspects of pioneer life in the Platte Valley in the 1800s. All rights reserved.