Chief Standing Bear Memorial Bridge
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The Chief Standing Bear Memorial Bridge - Niobrara, NE (42 46'12"N 97 59' 22"W Elev 379m) is on the Nebraska and South Dakota Border crossing the Missouri River. It joins Nebraska Highway 14 to South Dakota Highway 37.
The Ground Breaking Ceremony was held on Saturday the 20th April 1996 and the Dedication on Saturday the 29th August 1998. [1] The dedication ceremonies were held on the South Dakota side of the bridge at the overlook.
The Highway 14 Association a business and community group had lobbied for the bridge to replace the old ferry (Google Earth still showed the road aligned to the ferry route in June 2007). They felt that it would help improve the ecconomic siituation for the whole Highway 14 area[2]
Since then the Annual "Bridging the Shores" Celebration has been held on the last weekend in August with the following schedule:
- Friday night; Crowning of the Bridge Days Queen and Open Air Dance,
- Saturday - Parade, Kids Games, Free Entertainment, Barbecue and Fireworks,
- Sunday - Alternate Vessel Regatta, Duck Races, and Road Ralley(sic).
This runs concurrently with the Northern Ponca Powwow.
The bridge is a part of the Three Bridges Tour[3] along with the Mulberry Bend Bridge and the Meridian Highway Bridge
In September 2000 the bridge was used as a filming base for an IMAX film about Lewis and Clark for National Geographic[4] as it crosses over the Lewis and Clark Trail.
