The Campbell Brothers Great Consolidated Shows made Fairbury, Nebraska, its winter headquarters?
The circus in 1889 by brothers Al, Ed, Charlie "Doc" and Virgil Campbell, nephew Fred Hatfield and brother-in-law Lee Green. By 1898, the show featured tightwire acts, clowns, juggling and a wide variety of animal, including Venus and Topsy, performing elephants. The boasted 30 wagons and more than 100 people. They then purchased a circus train that included nine cars. The winter quarters were located on Fourth Street between A and B Streets, complete with arena, workshop and office. The elephant barn, located south of Fairbury, remains intact. The show lasted until July 1912 when depression struck and the boys could not afford to go on. A mural, depicting the circus coming to town, is located on the side of the Globe Rexall Building in downtown Fairbury.
Two of our nation's greatest pathfinders and trailblazers, Kit Carson and John C. Fremont, stopped in Jefferson County to carve their names on a cliff?
They camped at what we know today as Quivera Park southeast of Fairbury on their trip across the country in 1842 near what would become the Oregon Trail the next year. On one bank of Rock Creek, the two and several of their party carved their names in a sandstone cliff. The cliff was used by travelers for many years for the same purpose and many names are still visible although some have been destroyed by erosion. A bronze cast was made of the pair's names and is on display at nearby Rock Creek Station State Historical Park.