Fifth Capital Trip

This was a must stop on
our trip!

 Our fifth trip returned west where we began in Lincoln, Nebraska.

 The state capitol looks like a skyscraper more than a conventional statehouse, but is topped with a dome.  According to notes from our tour August 8, 1977, the distance from the floor to the inside of the lower dome is 112 feet (11 stories).

 

Nebraska's unique place among the 50 states is that it is the only one with a unicameral legislature - which means it has one deliberative body.

The capitol can be seen
for miles.

There is an observation deck around the upper dome that we walked around.  While I haven't seen the picture in years, I recall posing for a picture near the top of the building which Dad took from the ground.

Dad noticed on the state map David City wasn't far from Lincoln, so we made a visit and I got an autograph from my city's mayor!

More foreshadowing came the next day with a visit to Pierre, South Dakota.  Nine years later, I was working there covering the state government and other things for KELO-TV. 

South Dakota's flaming
fountain on the capitol grounds.

 When I returned the flame was still burning.  We learned the water was 92 degrees and gushed from the ground 1,620 gallons every minute.  (The fountain doesn't have enough gas to burn anymore, but it is still hot enough for a hot tub.)  Originally, the hot water heated the capitol and Pierre.

 If you want to see the fountain burning - advance to 28:05 of the South Dakota History video to watch.  More difficult to find when we visited were 27 rare blue chips in the Italian mosaic floor.

The practical North Dakota
capitol.

August 10 we drove up to the unassuming North Dakota capitol.  It's unique, and left a lasting impression on us.  In a small brochure we picked up about the capitol, we learned a lot about the northern Plains state, "No other capitol building in all the world approaches it in such considerations as simplicity, practicality, and usability."  

Page 3 of the brochure notes 80% of the North Dakota statehouse is usable space compared to 28% of Minnesota's and Nebraska's 50%.

The building cost $2 million to build, in 1977 the state was installing central air conditioning at a cost of $2,500,000.

Wyoming was our last stop.  It was proud to call itself the "Equal Rights" state because women had the right to vote before other states in the union.  That was key to statehood as states were required to have a certain number of registered voters.

In addition to the statehouse, we were given a guided tour of F. E. Warren Air Force Base and recorded a variety of wildlife we saw on the trip - Bison, Burros, Antelope, Deer, and a Bald Eagle.