Courtesy Photo­Image Ft. McPherson memorial

We salute Mrs. William (Deb) A. Riley, Sr. of North Platte, who has contributed $300 to Scout Logan Mull's efforts to renovate the Ft. McPherson statue.

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The donation was made in memory of her late husband, North Platte's first African-American Locomotive Engineer and a Golden Spike Hall of Fame Inductee.

"Many times, my husband and I rode our motorcycles past the site, and were always saddened to see it such bad shape," Deb said.

"I know my late husband Bill would be proud of the young man that's decided to do something about it," she said.

Logan Mull of Maxwell is renovating the grounds around the statue as his Eagle Scout campaign. He recently asked the Bulletin to help put the word out that he needs about $600 to complete the project.

An account is established at Equitable Bank in North Platte – the Logan Mull Eagle Scout Project. The bank agreed to match contributions.

We salute Equitable Bank too.

The statue stands on East Ft. McPherson Road, about a half-mile northeast of Ft. McPherson National Cemetery. It marks the site of the original Ft. McPherson, established in 1866 and commonly known as Cottonwood Springs.

The statue is a Union soldier. It is well anchored and protected by an iron fence, but was overshadowed by a nearby cedar tree. Cars could hardly park on the shoulder of the road so motorists could take a good look at it. A new 85-foot turnout has been built to accomodate visitors. A new bench, fence, historical marker signs and ornamental trees are planned.