Ryan Christensen knows he could never fully understand what the Poncas experienced on that long march south to Oklahoma from northeastern Nebraska, so he doesn’t try.

But he’s glad to be walking on this graveled former rail line near the path Chief Standing Bear once traveled.

“It’s more just like an educational experience for me,” the 19-year-old English student said. “It kind of gives you a different perspective.”

Nearly a dozen Peru State College students walked along the Chief Standing Bear Trail south of Wymore on Thursday, a field trip for a class that has spent much of the spring semester learning about Standing Bear’s quest for home and justice.