John Neihardt is one of those Nebraskans whose reach far outruns his fame. The Nebraska Legislature named him Poet Laureate in 1921 — in perpetuity, which is how he held the title until his death in 1973. His 1932 book “Black Elk Speaks,” drawn from interviews with the Oglala Lakota holy man Nicholas Black Elk on the Pine Ridge Reservation, has been called the most influential book ever written on Native American culture and religion.
The Bancroft site is where Neihardt lived and worked from 1900 to 1920, and his tiny study is the only building left from the original property — this is where he wrote the first part of his five-epic-poem “Cycle of the West.” The visitor center holds a museum and research library, and the grounds include the Sacred Hoop Prayer Garden, which Neihardt himself designed as a living symbol of the Hoop of the World from Black Elk’s vision. Two bronze statues on the grounds show Neihardt interviewing Black Elk.
Admission is free. The first Sunday in August is John G. Neihardt Day, proclaimed by the Legislature, and the annual celebration is the day the whole town shows up. Bancroft is a town of about 500 in Cuming County — this is a detour, not a destination park, and it’s all the better for it.