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This is a Landscape painting that I did last fall. “West of the Lowell Corner” is a fresco on wood panel. Lowell, Nebraska was a boom town in the 1870’s. At one time it was the most Western point on the Burlington and Missouri Rail Road. It’s about 2 miles south of the Platte river and around 15 miles Southeast of Kearney. There’s not much there anymore but in the early in 1870’s it was the third largest town in Nebraska with a population of over 2400. A railhead for the cattle drives from Texas and home of the U.S. Land Office for the area. There were four saloons and plenty of cowboys, gamblers, and homesteaders that often made for a violent mix. I was told years ago that just East of the town there is a boothill where more then a few unlucky or slow on the draw were laid to rest. My Great Grandma, Florence (Wilson) Saddler’s, family had homesteaded West and North of Lowell. As a girl, she went to Lowell on her birthday, to pick up a bicycle at the train station, that had been ordered for her from the Sears and Roebuck catalog.
Once the railroad progressed to Kearney and the land office moved, so did the people and with in a matter of a few years the population had dwindled to less then 50. The original train station is part of the collection of buildings at Pioneer Village in Minden, Nebraska.
To purchase this landscape painting, “West of the Lowell Corner” click here. To see more of my paintings click here to visit my gallery.
