Willie Keils Grave State Park


There's really just one reason to stop at this state park: it's home to the grave of Willie Keil, a 19-year-old boy who dreamed of heading out on the Oregon Trail from Missouri in 1855, but died of malaria days before leaving. His father, having promised, decided to pickle the boy in homemade whiskey inside a lead-lined coffin and bring him along anyway, and here he remains. (The rest of the family didn't stay long; rains drove them to Oregon.)


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

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