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President found archway
to be monument worth
seeing
By AMY
SCHWEITZER
Hub
Staff Writer
KEARNEY — President Bill Clinton was
impressed by the Great Platte River Road Archway Monument, according
to those who toured the monument Friday with the
president.
"He said, 'I've been to (historical)
museums all over this country, and I've never seen anything like
this. It was done very, very well'," said Ronnie O'Brien, who gave
the president a guided tour through the archway. O'Brien is
assistant manager of the archway.
The president toured the archway with
former Gov. Frank Morrison, Kearney Mayor Pete Kotsiopulos, former
U.S. Sen. J. James Exon, and several White House staff and security
people.
O'Brien said that the president
commented on how beautiful the lobby looked.
Clinton rode up the escalator from
the lobby into the archway at 11:51 a.m., which was more than an
hour behind schedule. He still spent almost an hour in the
archway.
The president, described by his staff
as a self-proclaimed history buff, asked questions, stopped several
times to read historical information and even gave information to
the tour guide. "He knew more about the buffalo than I did," O'Brien
said. "He knew about the herds that remain today."
Several people with the tour said the
president especially enjoyed the three-dimensional bison stampede
video and the vehicles on display. "He talked about times he had
driven across country," said Jake Siewert, the president's press
secretary. "He liked the Model T they had set up."
O'Brien said he told those present
about his uncle's car, a 1923 Model T, and how much he loved to ride
in it but he wasn't yet old enough to drive it.
"He knew the make and model of every
car we have as soon as he saw it," O'Brien said.
Archway officials said that Clinton
also appeared "extremely moved" by the Morman scene and spent time
reading the Donnor Pass history.
"He's a brilliant person,"
Kotsiopulos said. "He's obviously well-read about our history. You
could tell that by what he conversed with Ronnie about. You could
tell he was a good student."
Kotsiopulos said Clinton spent most
of the tour talking one on one with O'Brien, and he talked with
Morrison and Exon about the project toward the end of the tour.
Morrison also gave Clinton a copy of the former governor's
autobiography, which is scheduled to be published in the
spring.
Eighteen fourth-graders selected from
every school in Kearney were in the archway during the president's
visit. They listened to the story of Ellen O'Brien, Ronnie O'Brien's
great-grandmother-in-law. Ellen O'Brien moved to Nebraska in 1861
and met Chief Many Blankets.
Clinton listened to the story for a
short time and greeted the children.
"It was wonderful," said Deb
Billington of Holdrege, the archway re-enactor who plays Ellen
O'Brien.
"He shook my hand, greeted the kids
and said, 'I'm very glad to be here.' The kids were thrilled,"
Billington said, adding that Clinton was with them about two minutes
as they sat in front of the display of a broken-down
wagon.
O'Brien added that the president said
"I want you to know how impressed I am with your storytelling and
what you are doing for education."
Billington said she had been waiting
in the archway with the children for about 1½ hours. To pass time,
she told them stories and led them in quiet Christmas
carols.
Near the end of the tour, Morrison
showed Clinton the windows that look out onto Interstate 80 and the
radar guns pointing at the traffic.
"It's a good thing I don't drive,"
O'Brien said he quipped while observing the speeds on
I-80.
When the tour ended, the president
spent some time in the archway gift shop and bought four books on
the Old West, said D.J. Knipping, merchandise supervisor at the
archway, who rang up the president's purchases. He said that the
president paid for the purchases with a credit card.
The president joked with his staff
about who had the credit card and who was going to sign the bill,
Kotsiopulos said.
The titles of the books purchased
were: "The Age of the Gunfighter," "The West, an Illustrated
History," "The Black West" and "Cowgirls — Women of the Wild West."
Kotsiopulos said Clinton seemed familiar with many of the books in
the gift shop.
As Clinton toured the gift shop, he
pointed out a Lionel Train sign and said, "I'm a collector of Lionel
Trains, I'd love to have that."
Morrison gave Clinton a Raku vase
with a American Indian petroglyph design made in the Southwest. The
president told the people in the gift shop that he collected the
pattern, Knipping said.
Archway staff also were told that
Clinton and his wife collect Christmas ornaments, so they gave him a
three-dimensional, 24-karat gold archway ornament. Clinton received
an archway tapestry throw and a denim baseball cap.
"They told us that he really likes to
shop, but rarely gets to get out to do much shopping," Knipping
said, noting that the president spent about 15 minutes in the gift
shop area. "I think he wanted to stay longer, but they were hurrying
him out the door."
"It was nice to hear him say he
enjoyed the arch," Knipping added.
The tribal chairmen of Nebraska's
four American Indian tribes — Santee Sioux, Winnebago, Omaha and
Ponca — gave the president a tribal blanket.
The president's staff said the whole
trip was fun for Clinton. "He really enjoyed his time in Nebraska,"
Siewert said.
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