NEBRASKAland

VOL. 55 / NO. 6 / JUNE 1977 Published monthly by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. Sixty cents per copy. Subscription rates $5 for one year, $9 for two years. Send subscription orders to NEBRASKMand, Box 30370, Lincoln, Nebraska 68503. commission Chairman: Kenneth W. Zimmerman, Loup City North-Central District, (308) 745-1694 Vice Chairman: Don O. Bridge, Norfolk Northeast District, (402) 371-1473 2nd Vice Chairman: William G. Lindeken, Chadron Northwest District, (308) 432-3755 Gerald R. (Bud) Campbell, Ravenna South-Central District, (308) 452-3800 H. B. "Tod" Kuntzelman, North Platte Southwest District, (308) 532-2982 Richard W. Nisley, Roca Southeast District, (402) 782-6850 Arthur D. Brown, Omaha Douglas-Sarpy District, (402) 553-9625 Director: Eugene T. Mahoney Assistant Director: William J. Bailey, Jr. Assistant Director: Dale R. Bree staff Chief, Information & Education: W. Rex Amack Editor: Lowell Johnson Editorial Assistants: jon Farrar, Ken Bouc, Bill McClurg Contributing Editors: Bob Grier, Faye Musil, Roland Hoffman, Butch Isom Art Director: Michele Angle Farrar Illustration: Duane Westerholt Advertising: Cliff Griffin Circulation: juanita Stefkovich Copyright Nebraska Game and Parks Commission 1977. All rights reserved. Postmaster: if undeliverable, send notice by form 3579 to Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Box 30370, Lincoln, Nebraska 68503. Second class postage paid at Lincoln, Nebraska Contents FEATURES THE HIGH PLAINS An Introduction to Nebraska's Panhandle 4 INDEX TO THE AGES 8 AN INDUSTRIOUS PEOPLE 12 THE UNTAMED PLAINS 22 CHRONICLE OF MAN 28 FOUR SEASONS OF FUN 32 JOURNEY INTO YESTERDAY 40 FORT SIDNEY LIVES ON 44 ON THE TRAIL 46 HEARTBREAK HOUSE 46 NIGHTMARE IN ROCK 48 HISTORY'S REMAINS 50 DEPARTMENTS TRADING POST 49 COVER: A real attention getter along Highway 71 north of Scottsbluff is this gathering of seven windmills (one is hiding behind second from right). Doubtless people ask why seven in one spot? jokers answer that six were not enough to do the job. OPPOSITE. This mule deer fawn along the White River in the northern Panhandle is now a warm, cuddly creature, but destined to be a wise and wily adult. Photos by Bob Grier.

NEBRASKAland proudly presents this special issue featuring the High Plains—Nebraska's Panhandle. It is the first of four regional specials, with August visiting the nd Hills; the October issue devoted to eastern Nebraska and December dwelling on south and south-central Nebraska. We divided the state into broad topographic regions: for much of life is determined by the character of the land. The Panhandle's industrious eople, its wealth of wildlife and scenic beauty are important chapters in the rich and colorful story of this region and state.

A Land of Change The High Plains

Text and photos by Bob Grier  

INDEX TO THE AGES

Seven topographic regions come together in Nebraska's western Panhandle; a vital mix of rock and soil, meandering rivers and scenic badlands. This diversity enriches the colorful pagentry of the region. The rocks them selves serve as a chronometer, revealing the very beginnings of western Nebraska's High Plains.

TO THE GEOLOGIST, rocks them selves serve admirably as signpost and chronometer, revealing a history back to the origin of the earth over five billion years ago. The oldest rock exposures seen in western Nebraska are young by comparison, and the story of this land's rich diversity really begins with their formation less than 135 million years ago.

All of present-day Nebraska and much of the central portions of the United States and Canada were once covered by a sea extending from the Gulf of Mexico to the Arctic Ocean. The waters teemed with organisms from protozoans to fishes, sharks, and marine reptiles.

Fine-grained sediment carried from highlands to the west was captured on the subsiding seabed and trapped by succeeding deposits, accumulating to a depth of several thousand feet. These deposits became soft shales, chalk, and limestone. Initial uplifting of the present Rockies and other mountain ranges to the west drove the sea eastward, and by the end of the Mesozoic period, some 70 million years ago, the Panhandle was no longer covered by the "ocean."

The Rockies continued to climb. The folding and faulting, caused possi bly by some kind of differential mo tion of the material in the earth's mantle, migrated to the east and the Bighorns, Laramie Range, Black Hills, and parts of the Panhandle, became active as well.

The soft shales and limestone were deformed and tilted by this activity, exposing them to the cutting force of wind and water. The Great Plains rose with the Rockies, elevated more in the west than the east. Succeeding inter vals of erosion and deposition by streams flowing across the inter mountain basins and out over the Great Plains followed, and the build ing blocks of the present Pine Ridge and Wildcat Hills were laid down over the marine shales.

This period teemed with life, and their fossils reveal much about early Nebraska. Crocodilian remains found in the earliest formations suggest that this was a tropical period, warmer and damper than what followed. The pre dominance of browsing ungulates found in later strata indicates a more forested habitat.

The bones of mammal predecessors of the elephant, the camel, the bison and the horse, have been found in the Panhandle, as well as fossils of extinct types such as the titanotheres, which included the Brontops, an eight-foot tall cousin of the rhinoceros.

At first small and hornless, the ti   8 NEBRASKAland JUNE 1977

tanotheres developed greater and greater proportions, becoming pow erful and heavy bodied. They devel oped massive, shovel-like horns ex tending beyond the snout; somewhat ineffective means of protection against larger contemporary carnivores. These great beasts became extinct in part be cause their teeth could not adapt to changing vegetation.

Another numerous fossil type is that belonging to a family of piglike forms called oreodonts which were the common herbivores in North America during the Middle Tertiary period; es pecially abundant from a period from 25 million to 40 million years ago. In strata of those ages, their remains out number those of all other forms to gether.

The camel, commonly regarded as an Old World animal, is American in origin, and its progenitors are recog nizable in the Oligocene period from 25 million to 40 million years ago. The Oligocene horse was here also, con siderably smaller than modern sheep and having three toes, and teeth adapted only for browsing upon soft vegetation. Their future development awaited the rise of the great grass lands.

During a period beginning roughly 25 million years ago, the climate in western Nebraska became subtropical and grassland replaced the forests. Browsing horses were still present, but true grazing types evolved to replace the older forms. A distinct relative of the horse, called Moropus, roamed the savanna or grasslands, equipped with a set of large claws which he probably used to uproot edible tubers.

Continued gradual uplift in the west supplied both sediment and gradient, and another great cycle of sedimenta tion spread a sheet-like alluvial apron ever farther to the east. Renewed ero sion, and lesser periods of deposit by the meandering streams, continued nearly to the present, setting the stage for the "Age of Man."

To a traveler faced with crossing western Nebraska from South Dakota to Colorado, the first glimpse of the Cornhusker state near the South Da kota line must come as quite a shock.

He has entered a land of gumbo and badlands known for its fine agates, bad water, and prong-horned antelope. This is the geologists's Pierre or Pierre Hills region, about 600 square miles lying along the South Dakota line in Sioux and Dawes counties. The Pierre was the last bed deposited by the marine waters. Today, it appears as a land forgotten by the advancing ages; weathered and eroded with low, round-topped hills and broad swales.

The Pierre landscape is broken by outcroppings of even more inhos pitable appearance, the twisting ridges and toadstool formations of buff to stark white known as the Nebraska badlands. Part of the Brule and Chad ron formations, this region was once called the titanotheriam beds for the large number of such fossils found in its formations. Toadstool Geological Park is made up of Brule and Chadron outcroppings.

To the south of the gumbo and badland lies the rough, broken land and scenic escarpments of the Pine Ridge. Its area is about 2,700 square miles covered with dense to medium stands of timber, primarily western yellow pine. Even quaking aspen might be found in small stands in the deeper canyons.

The Pine Ridge separates the Mis souri Plateau to the north from the High Plains that extend southward as far as Texas. The first white man found this region covered with the short per ennial grasses that gave this territory its name-The short-grass country." One pioneer, before the plow, character ized the plains as "a land of grass and wind." Less than 20 inches of rain falls each year on the High Plains of the Panhandle, and drought often cuts even that amount.

Moving ever southward, our trav eler crosses the Oregon Trail and the fertile valley of the North Platte River. To the west stands Scotts Bluff, to the east, Chimney Rock. This valley has been a travel route longer than man can remember. It was a gateway for thousands following their dreams west along the Oregon Trail, and home for the immigrant farmer who found that its rich soil compared favorably with his native Steppes of eastern Europe.

Rising from the valley, our traveler climbs through outcroppings and pine on hills as rugged as their namesake, the Wildcat. From here to the Colo rado border, his route is broken only by alternating plain and ancient val leys. The rhythmic movement of nu merous oil pumps, a mesa or two, and the hawk soaring effortlessly far over head mark his otherwise unnoticed passage into Colorado.

The stretching ribbons of asphalt and concrete which make rapid movement possible run side by side with pathways worn smooth under the feet of nomadic hunters pursuing the bison and mammoth. Young colts now frisk on rubbery legs upon a land once home for an ancestor they would not recognize. The Panhandle's rugged landscapes and wide horizons still exert a powerful attraction on people everywhere.

AN INDUSTRIOUS PEOPLE

HE PIONEERING SPIRIT that led our forefathers to this apparently hostile region known as Nebraska, remains deeply ingrained as a way of life in the Panhandle. Even men and women of uncommon strength and courage would collapse un der the prairie's changing moods; broken in mind and body by the loneliness of great distance, the often hostile weather, uncommon diseases and occasionally famine. Those that remained and endured shaped their dreams around this new land, build ing on its rich soil, adapting to its hardships. And in most cases, they and their chil dren grew to love this land.

The lyrical harmony of the Irish, the soft renderings of the Oriental, even the up pity sounding tones of Edwardian England could be heard, each extolling the virtues and sins of the prairie. And, there were many more in this new land as people from many countries came to try their hand at shaping their destinies.

Women arrived to share the good and bad, perhaps fetched to this frontier by a letter from a husband who had arrived earlier to make a stake. Many came while yet single, perhaps to marry an impoverished settler they knew only from the flowery letters he wrote, all the time hiding his true condition. The shock of finding the "gentleman" of her pleasant correspondence actually grizzled and hardened by the land, ragged, and smelling of horse dung and to bacco, sent many a disillusioned lady back east on the first available train. That so many did stay belies their boundless optimism and trust in the future.

Agriculture remains the economic main stream of life in the Panhandle. And, wheat farming is a major part of it. All parts of the re gion are planted primarily to wheat, with con siderable amounts of sugar beets also con tracted. The Panhandle is also heavily into ranching, and it is as much cowboy country as anywhere in the nation.

In many ways, life hasn't changed all that much in the past hundred years or so. It still comes down to man against the elements in many cases, and much of the success or failure hinges upon the uncontrollable. Yet, these very challenges make the people more self reliant, and a fear of good, honest work seems un heard of.

Although many of the Panhandle's residents are tied directly to the land, industrial plants are in evidence, and manufacturing fa- cilities produce everything from complete irri gation systems to down jackets and sleeping bags.

Today's headlines proclaim Alliance as the state's newest boom town as fast-paced growth generated by the demand for Wyo ming and Montana coal brings new prosperity and problems to this central Panhandle com

   

munity. The Burlington Northern Railroad re cently announced that its coal-freight opera tions would require an additional 900 employ ees in Alliance within three years.

Scottsbluff is the Panhandle's largest com munity with a population of over 14,000 pri marily employed or dependent on the live stock and farm produce business in the fertile North Platte Valley and surrounding table land.

To the south, the Panhandle's diversity is demonstrated with each revolution of that area's oil pumps, which draw the black gold from deep underground formations. Nebraska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission reports indicate that there are over 729 active wells in Banner, Cheyenne, and Kimball counties alone, with more than 100 exploratory drilling permits issued for those counties in 1976.

Wealth is indeed both on the surface and below, and the oil seems another facet of the rich heritage that preceded our "modern" life.

THE UNTAMED PLAINS

The Panhandle's flora and fauna have undergone great changes over the long history of this region, but much has survived civilization's on slaught. New species of wildlife that were unknown to the early settlers have come to this region as well. We need only look to find a natural world, but we must work to preserve it.

 

THE FIRST EXPLORERS on the high plains marveled at the sight of the wildlife multitudes stretching before them. Great, surging herds of bison seemed to cover the earth. Deer, elk and antelope could be found without effort. The fearsome grizzly bear suck led her young along the Platte, and the rocky bluffs harbored bighorn sheep.

In less than 200 years the great herds of bison would vanish, reduced from an estimated 60 million when the white man first arrived to a scattered handful. The deer, elk and antelope fared no better. By 1901 there were an estimated 50 deer remaining in all of Nebraska. And by 1925, after nearly 20 years of complete protection, only 187 pronghom could be found of the tens of thousands that once roamed the sea of grass. But, the prairie was also changing. Great expanses of grass fell before the plow, and land unsuited for cultivation fattened the herds of cattle brought up the trails from Texas. Pine, cedar and other wood sheltered and fueled the new expansion until by the late 1890's the Pine Ridge and Wildcat Hills were nearly lumbered out; only those trees too difficult to reach or old beyond use, remained.

The Panhandle of western Nebraska lies in a region of the great plains known as the short-grass prairie. At or^e time, all of the continent's mid section was covered by a luxurient savanna of tall grass, but as the Rock ies grew, they blocked moisture-laden air from the west, creating different re gions of vegetation based on varying annual precipitation. A transition zone of mixed prairie formed, separating the short and tall-grass prairies.

Most of the Panhandle receives less than 16 inches of rainfall annually, suitable for short grasses and some mixed prairie types like western wheatgrass, needle-and-thread, blue grama, hairy grama and buffalo grass. This short-grass rangeland supports the highest density of pronghom ante lope in Nebraska. Recent aerial surveys indicate a pronghom population ap proaching 5,000 head in the Pan handle, mostly on the Pierre Hills re gion north of the Pine Ridge and the Box Butte table.

The pronghom is a highly devel oped plains animal, with speed, stam ina and vision tuned by centuries of evolution for survival on the region's flatlands. The major part of their diet consists of forbs and browse plants.

 

When the bison roamed the grass lands in great number, the antelope benefitted from the damage caused by the bison's grazing and trampling of the grasslands. Today a similar rela tionship exists between range cattle and the pronghorn, with little com petition between the two on good range. The pronghorn consumes many of the undesirable range plants that are not normally utilized by livestock.

The Pine Ridge of northwestern Ne braska is a rich wildiife and scenic re source. The ridge enters the state at the Wyoming border in Sioux County, crosses Dawes, and enters South Da kota from Sheridan County. Western yellow or ponderosa pine covers the steep hillsides, and green ash, Ameri can elm, boxelder and cottonwood dominate the sub-irrigated lands along creeks and drainages.

There is little undergrowth in the heavier stands of pine, but in more open stands and park areas, mixed

 

prairie species prevail. The most abun dant grasses and sedges are blue grama, thread-leaf sedge, sun sedge, Kentucky bluegrass, needle-and thread, little bluestem and western wheatgrass.

Spring brings a beautiful display of flowers to the ridge, with the lavender pasque flower blooming even as some areas remain covered with snow. An other early bloomer is the wild canter bury bell. As the season progresses, yucca and prairie wall-flower bloom. The black sampson and bush morning glory add their colors to the numerous other flowers that dot the pine and grass landscape right up until the first freeze of fall comes to the plain.

Wild Merriam's turkeys were in troduced to the Pine Ridge in 1959 when 28 birds were released at. sites on Cottonwood Creek northwest of Crawford and Deadhorse Creek southwest of Chadron. The Merriam's historical range encompassed portions of Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado characterized by forested areas of ponderosa, juniper, pinon and oak.

Nesting birds and their summer broods were observed in about 80 per cent of the suitable habitat only four years after the stocking, and extending into Wyoming to the west and South Dakota to the north. Grasses, pine seed and insects form the bulk of the Merriam's diet, although pine seed is not produced by ponderosa on a yearly schedule. When available, how ever, pine seed is used with high fre quency and volume.

Magpies, mountain bluebirds, pinon jays, chickadees, robins and warblers are among songbirds found in the Pine Ridge, and golden eagles can be seen year around. They normally nest on the steep rock outcroppings throughout the region. The endan gered prairie falcon is known to nest in the Pine Ridge as well.

Bobcats, coyote, badger and porcu pine are among the larger mammals found in the Pine Ridge, and both white-tailed and mule deer range throughout the Ridge and western Nebraska. There has been a recent drop in deer numbers in the Pine Ridge, but the numbers appear to be relatively stable throughout the re mainder of the Panhandle.

Lake McConaughy and the North Platte River form a vital link for a unique population of rainbow trout that annually migrates up the North Platte drainage to spawn in the feeder streams as far west as Scottsbluff.

The trout migrations or spawning runs occur twice a year, primarily in September and November in the fall, and March and April in the spring. The North Platte coldwater streams are roughly divided between 30 miles of streams with suitable spawning habitat and another 30 miles that lack the necessary gravel beds for rainbow re production. The nonreproducing wa ter is classified as "nursery stream" and is stocked annually with McConaughy yearlings since it supports rainbow growth once stocked by the biologist.

After spawning, the adult rainbow return to Lake McConaughy. Once they've hatched, the young rainbow remain in the stream for one year be fore migrating downstream. The mi grating young change shape to a dis tinctive torpedo outline, and develop a black-tipped tail-characteristics sim ilar to migrating salmon of the north western U.S. before migrating as 7 to 10-inch "smolts".

The rainbow remain in McConaughy for two years before reaching maturity and migrating back to the feeder streams to spawn. This adaptation to the hostile environment of the North Platte with its higher temperatures and rapidly changing water quality has produced a quality rainbow, high ly esteemed by the anglers at both McConaughy and in the streams to the west.

The Clear Creek Refuge at the west end of McConaughy, and the Garden County Refuge on the North Platte, are important stops for the Canada geese that normally migrate through western Nebraska. A growing number of the large "maxima" strain of Canada

 

goose also overwinter on the Platte. Lake Minatare National Waterfowl Refuge and the North Platte River in the Panhandle normally host over 100,000 mallards during the peak of their migration.

The North Platte River provides a thin but extremely valuable slice of ri parian land in western Nebraska. The cottonwood and willows found along its banks provide much-needed winter cover for both game and nongame species. Muskrat, mink and beaver in habit the river and the sloughs and marshes nearby. White-tailed deer are perhaps more numerous along the river's meandering course than else where in the Panhandle.

Much of the river bottom land is ex periencing heavy grazing due to drought and poor grass conditions elsewhere, effectively destroying much of its ability to support the variety of wildlife found along the river's banks. Western Nebraska is marginal quail habitat, but the bobwhite can be found along the South Platte and else where if a series of mild winters al lows.

The Wildcat Hills south of the North Platte are similar in many re spects to the Pine Ridge, with a pre dominance of ponderosa extending along the ridges from the Wyoming line eastward. They once extended into Deuel County but were removed by pioneers. In places, the destruction has been so complete that few trees now remain.

South of the Wildcats, the Chey enne table stretches nearly to the Colorado border, broken only by the Lodgepole Creek drainage and the South Platte River to the southeast. Here a mixed prairie is composed largely of little bluestem, side-oats grama, Junegrass, and needle-and thread. Today, the Cheyenne table is extensively utilized for wheat and oil production.

From prehistoric to modern times, man has lived in Nebraska

CHRONICLES OF MAN

FIRST ventured onto the vast plains of North America as members of nomadic bands of big game hunters over 11,000 years ago. His forefathers had recently entered the New World in much the same manner-following herds of big game across a land bridge from Asia in what is now the Bering Straits.

While we cannot pinpoint his arrival in western Nebraska with certainty, we do know that he hunted the mam moth and long-horned bison very near here in Colorado and Wyoming as early as 9,500 B.C. At Dent, Colorado and several sites in Wyoming, mam moth remains have been found in as sociation with flint tools on the edges of prehistoric bogs.

That early elephant hunting culture has been given the name "Llano" and the few known Llano sites are perhaps the most exciting in all American arch eology. His projectile points, known as Clovis, have been found throughout the high plains, leaving little doubt that the mammoth hunter followed his nomadic lifestyle across western Nebraska.

The big game tradition was carried on after the extinction of the mam moth by a hunting culture based on the extinct long-horned bison. This was Folsom man, generally dating from about 9,300 B.C. to 7,600 B.C. His distinctive, fluted projectile points have also been found across western Nebraska.

We know more of a small band of big game hunters that moved through northwestern Nebraska at a somewhat later date from the remains of over 400 bison found at a site northwest of Crawford named for two area men, Bill Hudson and Albert Meng.

Dr. Larry Agenbroad from Chadron State College has studied the Hudson Meng site for over five years and his research indicates the Hudson-Meng bison are of an intermediate form be tween the extinct and modern bison.

"We've accounted for 438 animals so far," Agenbroad says, "apparently driven over a cut bank and butchered on the spot." A radiocarbon date from charcoal at the site indicates the hunt took place maybe 9,820 years ago.

"Every evidence we have geologi cally and archeologically says this was a one-time kill by a band of hunters we feel numbered about 75 individ uals. The kill site appears to be a cut bank along the edge of a small stream- 28 NEBRASKAland course, with the bone bed extending back to a vertical depth of some 24 feet below the modern surface."

The Hudson-Meng site is one of the first appearances of the Piano man in western Nebraska. His points drop the distinctive fluting of the Clovis and Folsom and include the Scottsbluff, Alberta, Hellgap, and Angostura points, among many others.

A discovery at the site, according to Agenbroad, is the association of a Cody knife, previously believed to be about 1,000 years younger than the Al berta points also found scattered among the bison remains.

"The exciting thing is that the Cody knife is thus anywhere from 1,000 to 1,600 years older than any previously reported, plus the fact that it was found with Alberta points, linking for the first time the Cody and Alberta."

The fall or jump hunting technique used at the Hudson-Meng site 9,820 years ago was added to the hunting repertory of the Plains tribes early in Piano times. It may be an improve ment on the "surround" used by Fol som man; in any case, it persisted along with the surround as a basic hunting technique from Piano times until about 1875 A.D.

Archeologists believe there was an increasingly larger population of big game hunters on the plains during this period, partly because Piano sites are more numerous. In addition to the Hudson-Meng site near Crawford, Piano man can be found at Signal Butte and Scottsbluff, as well as nearby at Hellgap and Agate Basin, Wyoming and Angostura, South Da kota. His sites are scattered across the Great Plains and beyond, indicating a continent-wide dispersal of big game hunters by, or earlier than 8,000 B.C.

The Piano culture was also the ter minal phase of the "Big Game Hunter" stage. The complex system of social organization inherent in the jump-kill hunting technique world survive on the plains until the historic events sur rounding white contact, but reliance on big-game kills would play a less im portant role in future cultures.

The big-game hunting cultures in western Nebraska dropped from view with the beginning of the so-called "great drought" that peaked about 6,000 years ago. This was followed by a period of transition, with increasing utilization of plant resources.

Archeologists believe the herding animals, and consequently man, drifted out of western Nebraska during the drouth until a period about 4,500 years ago.

They began a period of desert-like, archaic cultures which terminated in a semi-sedentary and agricultural people dependent on beans, squash and corn, as well as bison hunts, that car ried on until the advent of the horse in 1670 A.D. and the first contact with whites somewhat earlier, possibly by 1630 or 1640.

The desert cultures included such Uraits as intensive, unrestricted ex ploitation of ail species, small seed harvesting, fur cloth and woven or hide moccasins. Weaponry included the atlatl and a wide variety of small projectile points and knives.

The desert cultures developed a reli ance on big game hunting, possibly due to the return of the herds after the drought ended. Bison bones appear in upper levels of stratified Archaic sites such as Signal Butte. The general use of the bow about 500 A.D. put more emphasis on big game hunting.

Agriculture played an increasingly important role, also. Remains at Ash Hollow Cave near Lewellen reveal a Pawnee occupation from about 1,300 A.D. to nearly 1,400 A.D. The Pawnee raised some maize, beans and squash. The flint corn and northern beans used by the Pawnee and later tribes in western Nebraska can still be found under cultivation in the Panhandle.

About 1,400 A.D., the Pawnee at Ash Hollow and elsewhere in western Nebraska were displaced by the Apache, most notably in the general vicinity of the Dismal River, which gives its name to this occupation.

Good specimens of Dismal River and Pawnee pottery have been found on the northwestern plains. Signal Butte at Scottsbluff shows both the Upper Republican (Pawnee) and Dis mal River ware. The Apache lived in great numbers on the plains for many years, spreading into Oklahoma, Texas and westerly into New Mexico. It is believed that they controlled the plains from Texas through Wyoming during the 16th and 17th centuries.

THE WHITE MAN ON THE PLAINS

Spanish soldiers under Francisco Vasquez Coronado marched north from the valley of the Rio Grande in April 1541; the first known exploration by whites of the central plains. Coro nado had been led north by stories of a rich land "where even the poorest people ate from dishes of wrought plate and bowls of gold."

Coronado's search for the cities of gold brought him as far north as cen tral Kansas, where he found instead of gold an impoverished "Quivera vil lage" (probably Pawnee) near the present-day city of Great Bend, Kan sas.

His disappointment at the lack of plates of gold dissipated in an appre ciation for the soil of the region, which he described as "fat and black," and "the best I have ever seen for produc ing all the products of Spain."

Neither Coronado's gold nor the rich soil he described would become the source of the first great fortunes won and lost by the white man on the prairie. For a period spanning roughly 250 years, white expansion and ex ploitation would be generated by the rich trade in beaver fur.

The White River, which cuts across the very northwestern corner of the Panhandle, became an important stream for the fur trade that was con centrated in the Chadron area. It was likely the Spanish traders by the late 1600's first traded with Indian tribes that lived in western Nebraska.

A French exploration reaching the vicinity of Pierre, South Dakota in the 1740's reported seeing Spanish metal bits and other trade goods being used by the Indians, but there is little histor ical record of the Spanish material in western Nebraska.

We do know that the Spaniards moved north and northeast from New Mexico, and later Spanish traders out of Louisiana worked among the west ern tribes. As early as 1598, Onate's force had camped near present Den ver, naming the South Platte the Rio de Chato or "Flat River."

The white exploration of the region surrounding the Panhandle was matched by a large-scale exodus of displaced tribes from the northeast which took up residence in the Cha dron area. The first to arrive were the Oglala Sioux, who crossed the Mis souri to settle the Black Hills by 1775. The Brule Sioux, or Burned-Thigh People, moved to the headwaters of the White River by 1810, displacing Cheyenne, Arapaho and Crow, who in turn migrated southward to displace less powerful tribes.

The reports of the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1804 following the Loui siana Purchase, heightened the inter est in this region, and trappers on the JUNE 1977 29   White River included Jedediah Smith as early as 1823. The Bordeaux Trading Post was established east of Chadron in 1841, dealing primarily in buffalo robes, which became economically feasible with the introduction of steamboat transport on the Missouri by 1830.

On October 15, 1849, a large party of Crow under Chief White Bear looted the Bordeaux post of trading goods and the horse herd. A band of Brule Sioux camped nearby on Beaver Creek organized a rescue mission against the crow to retrieve Bordeaux's supplies and livestock.

The Sioux chased the Crow to a nat urally fortified butte southeast of Crawford called Crow Butte, where they killed one of the raiders before the remainder slipped away in dark ness. Few of Bordeaux's horses were recovered, but the incident became another legend added to the many that sprang from this region.

Bordeaux's map of 1857 marking the streams forming the White River drainage includes Deadman Creek, Ash Creek and Chadron Creek.

THE WHITE'S GREAT MEDICINE ROAD

The Oregon Trail was established as a well defined travel route between St. Louis and the mouth of the Columbia River by the early 1840's. Travel by im migrants across the plains to California and Oregon began in earnest by 1844. Ash Hollow near Lewellen was a no table stop on the Oregon Trdil, re membered most for the steep incline leading to the banks of the North Platte River.

Stansbury, in his Expedition to the Great Salt Lake, provides a traveler's eye view of the incline as well as the campground at Ash Hollow.

"Here we were obliged, from the steepness of the road, to let the wagons down by ropes, but the labor of a dozen men for a few days would make the descent easy and safe. The bottom of Ash Creek is tolerably well wooded, principally with ash and some dwarf cedars. The bed of the stream was entirely dry but toward the mouth several springs of delightfully cold and refreshing water were found, altogether the best that has been met with since leaving the Missouri. We encamped at the mouth of the valley, here called Ash Hollow. The traces of the great tide of emigration that had preceded us were plainly visible in re mains of camp-fires, in blazed trees covered with innumerable names carved and written on them; but more than all in the total absence of all herbage."

The next notable landmark on the trail was Court House Rock south of present Bridgeport. Stansbury de scribes both Court House and adja cent Jail House Rock as "two bald ele vations—to which the voyageurs, most of whom are originally from St. Louis, had given this name from a fancied re semblance to a well known structure in their own city."

Also singled out for praise was Chimney Rock, about which Fremont in later years recorded: "It consists of marl and earthy limestone and the weather is rapidly diminishing its height, which is now not more than 200 feet above the river, travelers who visited it some years since placed its height at upwards of five hundred feet."

The explosive westward expansion of a young nation brought unrelenting pressures on the tribes which earlier had tolerated, even enjoyed, the pres ence of trappers and traders. Now the white influx brought on what S.L.A. Marshall refers to as the "general hard ening of the frontier."

Three years after the signing of a treaty at Fort Laramie in 1851, in which the tribes agreed to pull away from the Oregon Trail in return for promised annuity payments and other benefits, a ridiculous encounter between sev eral Brule braves and a Mormon immi grant broke the shaky peace.

Upon learning that a lame cow he had abandoned earlier on the trail had been killed and butchered by several young Indians, the Mormon de manded payment for the cow or pun ishment of the youth. The Brule sought protection among a tribe of Teton Sioux under Chief Conquering Bear, who offered the Mormon 10 dol lars compensation. The Mormon in turn demanded $25 and quickly ap pealed to Lieutenant J. L. Grattan for assistance.

Grattan moved out with 30 men and two cannon, and in a heated con frontation, opened fire on the Teton, mortally wounding Conquering Bear and killing a number of Sioux. The outraged Indians fell upon Grattan and his men, killing all but one soldier who broke free and made it on the run to the Fort.

Ash Hollow became the scene of the Army's revenge for the death of Grattan and his men when Colonel William Harney and 1,300 soldiers marched west from Fort Leavenworth and attacked another band of Sioux under Chief Little Thunder. Little Thunder's band had not participated in the killing of Grattan, but Harney opened fire and nearly annihilated the band. When the smoke cleared, there were 86 Indians dead and 70 women and children taken prisoner.

Outbreak of the Civil War delayed any large-scale action by the Army in the west until the early 1870's when a greatly reduced standing army again looked to the frontier.

FORT ROBINSON

Fort Robinson was established in 1874 to garrison the troubled Red Cloud Indian Agency created by the treaty of 1868 and closing the Boze man Trail to white travel. Camp Rob inson, later designated a fort, was named in honor of Lt. Levi H. Robin son who had fallen near Fort Laramie on February 9, 1874.

At first only a tent camp set up out side the Agency stockade, Robinson was manned by eight companies of cavalry and eight companies of in fantry that arrived at the Red Cloud Agency in March 1874. Supplies for the Indians at the Red Cloud Agency were shipped to Sidney on the re cently constructed Union Pacific Rail road, then shipped overland in huge freight wagons to the Agency.

Crazy Horse, the great Oglala war chief, came to Fort Robinson in May of 1877 after General Cook's winter campaign policy prevented him from maintaining his people. After refusing to scout for an expedition to bring the Nez Perce to the reservation, Crazy Horse was taken to the guard house, where he was mortally wounded dur ing a desperate attempt to escape.

Another outbreak of a similar nature occurred during the winter of 1878 1879 when a band of Northern Cheyenne under Dull Knife was brought to Fort Robinson after escap ing a reservation in Oklahoma. When the Cheyenne resisted being taken back to the hated reservation, food and fuel were withheld in an effort to force their return.

The Cheyenne endured through five days of bitterly cold weather before breaking out and making their way into the canyons and bluffs around the fort. The struggle of Dull Knife and his band has been described as "one of the outstanding examples of forti tude, endurance, and heroism in the annals of history."

Fort Robinson continued to operate on the forefront between the two cul tures. Its role as a frontier fort termi nated with the bloodshed of Wounded Knee during the winter of 1890-1891.

The latter half of the century wit nessed the demise of a nomadic prairie hunting culture that had changed little over thousands of years. A fast growing nation would build its railroads and superhighways on the trails of the prairie tribes; its in debtedness to the culture it replaced not felt fully even as the nation cele brated its Bicentennial.

30 NEBRASKAland

Outdoor recreation is a year-around proposition in the Panhandle, with a wide variety of public areas available

Four Seasons of FUN

32 NEBRASKAland JUNE 1977 33  

THE RICH DIVERSITY of the Pan handle's topography is matched by a tremendous range of recrea tional opportunity available to those with kindred feelings for the land and its inhabitants. Best of all, there is a relative abundance of public land in the Panhandle—more than 20 areas are maintained by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission for public rec reation. The federal government owns an additional 150,000 acres of grass land and forest.

Spring arrives in western Nebraska slowly, as winter's vitality seems to slacken almost imperceptibly over many weeks. Recreation in the Pan handle also changes roles very slowly over the seasons, opening with anglers wading the North Platte Valley feeder streams for rainbow in late winter, or perhaps scouting the forested ridges of the Pine Ridge in preparation for an upcoming turkey hunt.

Streams such as Nine Mile and Red Willow, Stuckenhole and Pumpkin at tract the stream angler each spring and fall with the beginning of the rainbow migration from Lake McConaughy nearly 100 miles to the east. Angling success is best in March and again in November. Weather and other factors do alter the rainbow's time schedule, often delaying the run up to two weeks or longer.

Because of the vulnerability of the migrating trout in the shallow spawn ing streams, the use of landing nets in the tributary streams of the North Platte River in Keith, Garden, Morrill, Scotts Bluff and Sioux counties has been prohibited since 1974.

Wild Merriam's turkeys were in troduced in the Panhandle in 1959 with the release of 28 live trapped wild birds from South Dakota and Wyo ming. They rapidly expanded their numbers and range, and the first hunt ing season was held in the fall of 1962. Similar releases in other areas of the state and Panhandle containing suf ficient habitat have been successful on a smaller scale.

Spring brings a breakup of the larger winter flocks as the birds scatter to take up breeding and nesting territory. Both the spring archery and shotgun seasons are for toms only, which are usually hunted with the aid of a turkey call. Regulations require that each hunter during the spring season carry one of the common turkey calls, with the cedar box call perhaps the most popular.

Pre-season scouting trips can be ex tremely valuable to the hunter as the Fishing pole and straw hat mean school's out

34 NEBRASKAland birds often change feeding patterns and routine habits because of changing food availability or other influence.

Among areas popular with turkey hunters are the Ponderosa, Gilbert-Baker and Metcalf Wildlife Management areas, and the Nebraska National Forest land in the Pine Ridge. Cooperation by private landowners has been good and sportsmen will find the landowner a valuable source of information.

Spring walleye fishing picks up in mid April at Lake Minatare northeast of Scottsbluff, with anglers enjoying good success as the lake is filled in preparation for yearly irrigation demands. Walleye anglers find jigs and spinning equipment productive, fishing along the inlet and upper end of the lake. The spring crappie run usually occurs somewhat later at Minatare.

Catfishing begins in earnest on the west end of Lake McConaughy by late April, with good weather. Like the trout migration, local weather conditions can delay or speed the movement, but once in the river, channel catfish produce good fishing action as far west as Bridgeport.

Fee trout fishing is available on Soldier Creek near historic Fort Robinson. The picturesque badlands of the Oglala National Grasslands and the Nebraska National Forest nearby make both Fort Robinson and Chadron State Park ideal recreational base camps for short trips to the Black Hills and elsewhere. Fort Robinson has a lodge and fine restaurant in addition to cabins with cooking facilities.

Chadron State Park has cabins, swimming pool, trail rides and nature trails, and a modern group camp facility including lodge and kitchen and outlying dorm-like

JUNE 1977 35  

cabins. Complete campgrounds, pic nic areas and shelter houses with fire places are also available at Chadron State Park.

The short-grass prairie and badlands of the Oglala National Grasslands take on an uncharacteristic bloom of color during the early summer months. Winter's moisture brings renewed life to the grass, and pastel prairie flowers soon dot the rugged landscape. Travel can be haphazard through a region best described as pure gumbo after a rain or snow shower.

Toadstool Park picnic ground north west of Crawford offers a primitive campground in a setting of molded sandstone and balancing rock. Toad stool formations attract camera buffs and tourists as well as the naturalist and geologist.

Blue and Fairburn agates draw rock collectors from across the midwest to this region. Rockhounds are best de scribed as a friendly, helpful group only slightly more creditable when de scribing favored hotspots than a sim ilar group of fishermen gathered to discuss the day's action. Rock shops and tour brochures are a good starting place for those unfamiliar with the roads or terrain.

Lake McConaughy is a summer ad venture land for the water-sports en thusiast, with over 5,400 land and 34,700 water acres. The lake's vast shoreline provides some privacy, al though more popular areas become crowded with summer weekend and holiday crowds. Organized sailing re gattas, fishing contests and water-side camping are among a wide range of water-based recreation brought to this region by the large irrigation im poundment.

Much of the angling at Big Mac is directed at the rainbow trout. Trolling over deep water using artificial bait is a productive midsummer technique. McConaughy stratifies into layers of varying temperatures, and the use of downriggers or lead-core line to ex ploit this stratification has grown at Lake McConaughy.

Old standbys like the white bass, walleye, rainbow and the catfish have been joined by a strong fighting new comer—the striped bass. Since initial introductions by biologists in the 1960's, stripers have become a trophy fishery on McConaughy and other Nebraska reservoirs.

Stripers usually hit best during the 36

NEBRASKAland latter months of summer or early fall, but anglers report taking these attractive, exciting fish from early spring until late fall. Large artificials and minnows are popular baits, usually drifted over known sriper hangouts. Heavy line and ocean size trolling rods are favored by anglers after trophy stripers.

Another water-oriented sport is canoeing, and in the Panhandle, that usually means canoeing the North Platte, although even larger irrigation canals have known the dipping paddle on occasion. While it is possible to float the Platte from the Wyoming line, diversion structures make canoeing hazardous above Bridgeport. The best stretch of canoeing water lies below Bridgeport to Lake McConaughy.

Indian Summer days of early autumn bring an enjoyable respite from the Pan- handle's sometimes unpredictable weather. Tangles of grape take on a bur nished golden hue, and here and there* poison ivy is revealed by its scarlet fall colors.

As autumn advances, it spreads a brilliant cloak of color over the foliage of western Nebraska. Ash and willow, cottonwood and sumac, all dress their most colorful for the occasion. The quiet days and cool evenings find campers, hikers, and anglers out to enjoy the remaining days before winter.

Bridgeport State Recreation Area on the North Platte becomes a beehive as water skiers and boaters gather for one last outing. The cottonwoods around the scenic, blue sandpit lakes reflect the changing of seasons and harken the inevitable approach of winter.

Western Nebraska enjoys good hunting for numerous game species despite the inroads of habitat destruc tion here as elsewhere. Habitat loss has been responsible in part for a con tinuing decline in pheasant numbers in the Panhandle. However, relatively stable areas such as the Pine Ridge or grasslands continue to support good populations of turkey and antelope.

Waterfowlers after ducks and geese do well along the North Platte from the Wyoming line eastward to McConaughy. Clear Creek Waterfowl Management Area at the west end of the large lake provides public use waterfowl blinds for Canada Goose and duck hunting. The Game and Parks Commission manages a 2,500 acre refuge at the west end of Lake

JUNE 1977 37   NAME STATE PARKS STATE RECREATION AREAS STATE HISTORICAL PARKS WAYSIDE AREAS STATE SPECIAL USE AREAS FEDERAL REFUGE/FOREST AREAS NATIONAL MONUMENTS 8 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Fort Robinson Chadron Box Butte Bridgeport Lake McConaughy Eagle Canyon Gate 13 Martin Bay LOCATION 3 mi. W. Crawford, U.S. 20 9 mi. S. Chadron, U.S. 20 or 385 9Vi mi. N. Hemingford Bridgeport 4 mi. N. U.S. 26 on Eagle Canyon Road 31/2 mi. S., 14 mi. W. jet. of Nebr. 61 and 92 12 mi. N. Ogallala Omaha Beach Otter Creek Lake Ogallala Minatare Lake Wildcat Hills Walgren Lake Ash Hollow Blue Water Battlefield Cochran Lodgepole Clear Creek Gilbert-Baker Metcalf Nine Mile Creek Peterson Ponderosa Smith Lake Crescent Lake NWR Oglala National Grasslands Pine Ridge Division Nebraska Natl. Forest Red Cloud Picnic Ground Spotted Tail Campground Soldier Creek Management Unit Toadstool Park Picnic Ground Scotts Bluff Natl. Mon. Agate Fossil Beds Vi mi. S., 18 mi. W. Jet. of Nebr. 61 and 92 3/10 mi. S., 12 mi. W. Jet. of Nebr. 61 and 92 9 mi. NE. Ogallala 4 mi. E., 4 mi. N. Scottsbluff 10 mi. S. Gering, Nebr. 71 5 mi. SE. Hay Springs Vi mi. E., 3 mi. S. Lewellen 8 20,000 + 801 612 127 5,492 120 100 339 812 20 Lagoon 1,600 70 34,700 0 oc c 12 320 2,158 893 80 1,001 Vi mi. E., 3 mi. S. Lewellen 6 mi. S. Crawford, Nebr. 2 4 mi. E. Bushnell, U.S. 30 Vi mi. S., 3 mi. E. Lewellen, Nebr. 92 41/2 mi. N. Harrison 14 N. Hay Springs 3 mi. E. Minatare, U.S. 26, and 7 mi. N. County Road 8 mi. W. Crawford, U.S. 20 21/2 mi. S. Crawford on Nebr. 2 to access sign, 4 mi. E. 23 mi. S. Rushville, Nebr. 250 28 mi. N. Oshkosh on county roads N. of U.S. 20 between Harrison and Crawford S. of U.S. 20 between Chadron and Crawford 10 mi. S. Chadron, U.S. 385 61/2mi. S. Chadron, U.S. 385 6 mi. NW. Fort Robinson, U.S. 20 20 mi. NW. Crawford, W. of Nebr. 2 on access road 4 mi. W. Gering, Nebr. 29 30 mi. N. Mitchell, Nebr. 29 R-Nonpower or electric power; A-All craft allowed; P-Primitive camping; U-Unsupervised; S-Supervised ADDITIONAL INFORMATION Lodge, restaurant, rides, cabins, museums, fee trout fishing Group camp, rental boats, cabins On Niobrara River near scenic j*ine Ridge jandpit lakes on North Platte River South side Lake McConaughy, scenic area Large cedar tree planting Concessions nearby, at north end of _162 ft. high Kingsley Dam Near Clear Creek Waterfowl Refuge Boats, concessions nearby Concessions nearby Waterfowl refuge, concession, Scotts Bluff Natl. Monument nearby Game refuge with buffalo and elk Waterfowl refuge; Old Jules Country Prehistoric, historic geology area Qn Oregon Trail Undeveloped; inquire at Ash Hollow Headquarters Scenic Pine Ridge; Natl. Forest nearby Jjjghest point in Nebraska nearby Public waterfowl hunting area Scenic Pine Ridge; deer, turkey, dove hunting Deer, turkey, rabbit, dove hunting Dove, deer, rabbit, pheasant hunting; jout fishing .Deer, turkey, rabbit, dove hunting Deer, turkey, squirrel, rabbit, dove jaunting Grouse, waterfowl, rabbit, dove, jeer hunting Limited hunting for grouse, deer, .antelope; no camping or fires Deer, antelope, rabbit hunting; jgdlands scenic country Deer, turkey, rabbit, squirrel hunting Scenic Pine Ridge Scenic Pine Ridge; deer, turkey junting 'rout fishing; deer, turkey, rabbit junting Unique badlands formations 38 NEBRASKAland JUNE 1977

McConaughy and an adjacent 1,500-acre public hunting area.

Dove hunting has opened an exciting recreation opportunity in the Panhandle. The numerous small streams in the Pine Ridge, and shelterbelts and stock tanks elsewhere, provide excellent dove hunting during the birds' migration through the area.

Big-game hunting for antelope, deer and turkey annually attracts sportsmen from across Nebraska to the Panhandle. Both state and federal land is open to hunters, but the majority of hunting op portunity is* on private property. Pre-season scout ing trips pay off in new landowner acquaintances as well as providing timely information on game lo cation.

A recent drop in deer numbers in the Pine Ridge Management Unit has been met with concern by landowners and biologists. Management pro- cedures to allow growth of the herd are being made this fall. Elsewhere, in the Panhandle, good deer numbers continue to provide both recreation and venison for Nebraskans.

Winter sports continue to grow in the Panhandle with cross country ski ing, sleding, hiking and winter camp ing gaining new enthusiasts every year. A few common sense precautions are necessary to insure safety in the cold, but winter can provide a valuable rec- reational experience without the nor mal crowding often found during the summer months.

The Panhandle offers these things and much more, asking in return that we respect the land and its creatures, holding them dear to insure a place for our children and all the children to follow. For more specific information on any facet of outdoor recreation in Western Nebraska, contact the nearest office of the Game and Parks Com mission, at Alliance, North Platte, Bassett, Omaha, Norfolk or Lincoln.

10 15 20 25 SCALE IN MILES

NEBRASKAland

Panhandle visitors can retrace the footsteps of history in the Elephant's land

Journey into Yesterday

THE PANHANDLE is the land of The Elephant. Ydu'd never guess it at first glance. There are no floppy eared critters bathing playfully in the North Platte River; their shaggy ances tors, the mammoths, disappeared mil lenia ago. Yet it was in the Panhandle where thousands of people thrilled at their first glimpse of the great beast. It is in the Panhandle where you, too, can engage in the once-great Ameri can pastime or opportunity of "seeing the elephant."

No one is certain where the ex- pression originated, but by the 1850's, "seeing the elephant" had come to epitomize ail the wondrous, awesome things to be seen and the marvelous adventures to be experienced on the road West. Diaries of many who trav eled the Oregon and Mormon trails are filled with references to the beast. A mysterious creature in those days, the elephant often appeared in the guise of a fast-moving hailstorm, an Indian hunting party, or a vast buffalo herd.

Some of those great adventures are gone forever. A four-lane highway has replaced the somewhat wider and considerably more rutty Oregon Trail. Today we drive in a few hours the dis tance that was formerly achieved only by weeks of constant plodding. Yet we, too, can "see the elephant." We need only to slow down a bit, look around, and put ourselves, if we can, in the trailman's shoes. No special equipment is required, save a hint of the spirit of adventure which caused men and women to leave home, fam ily, and all that was familiar with the farewell: "Gone to see the elephant."

The most impressive, and fortu nately for us the most permanent, form of the elephant in the Panhandle are the strange geophysical formations we know as Jail, Courthouse and Chimney rocks. Imagine, if you can, weeks of tedious travel in the flat Platte Valley, interrupted only by the trecherous descent down what was to become "Windlass Hill" near Ash Hol low (see for yourselves at Ash Hollow State Historical Park near Lewellen). Imagine also the thrill of finally seeing something on the horizon; something vertical; something to focus on day af ter day after day. Chimney Rock in particular became almost a friend to those who traveled for weeks within its sphere. Here were rock formations with no rival in the East, or even in Eu rope!

The "rocks" near Bridgeport were a signal to the travelers; a promise of more of the elephant to come. They were not disappointed. As the trail wound past Scott's Bluff through Mitchell Pass, the few hardy souls who climbed to the top were rewarded with a magnificent view of the river valley and formations below. (The same feat is possible today, made con siderably less arduous by the National Park Service trail).

There are many wondrous "ele phants" in the Panhandle that were missed by those on the Oregon Trail, but which need not be overlooked by the modern adventure seeker. The Wildcat Hills offer a marked contrast to the cornfields of the Platte Valley, including a peek at those great curi osities of the plains, the bison. Wildlife can be encountered at many places, of course, including special concentra tions at the Crescent Lake and North Platte National Wildlife refuges.

Farther to the north, in Sioux County, lie the Agate Fossil Beds, a National Monument administered by the National Park Service. Here, rem nants of life long before man are re corded in stone. From these unique grounds, specimens have gone to mu seums all over the world. And, even if fossils don't give you a thrill, the drive should. A 30-mile stretch is without towns or signs of settlement; a perfect prelude to a step back in time.

Fort Robinson, near Crawford, will interest those with a bent for more re cent history. The place seems quiet now, unless you listen with your imag ination. Then the buildings resound with the bustle of Army life—early morning bugles and parade ground JUNE 1977 41   drills. And, if you listen very carefully, you will hear the quiet wailing which mourns the death of Crazy Horse and the last desperate hope that died with him.

North and east of Fort Robinson, near Chadron, the Museum of the Fur Trade outlines the history of the real adventurers, the fur traders who saw the elephant before it even had a name. A reconstruction of the Bor deaux Trading Post will allow you to walk, for a moment, in the mountain man's shoes.

Perhaps the most wondrous ele phant of all is the iand itself. From Pine Ridge country to the Oglala Na tional Grasslands near the South Da kota border, the land reveals itself in breathtaking beauty, in awesome rug gedness, in overwhelming immensity This land which was here long before us and which will be here long after, speaks best for itself. So slow down a bit, look around and see if you don't agree that the Panhandle is indeed the land of the elephant.

Journey into Yesterday

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Foundations of many buildings at frontier post still used under homes

Fort Sidney Lives On

44

PART OF THE history of Nebraska's old Army posts still lives on in Sidney, and it's on display in the restored home of the commanding officer of Old Fort Sidney. Located 2 blocks south of U.S. 30 on 6th Avenue in Sidney, the CO's quarters have been returned to their pre-1894 condition when the frontier post guarded the rail road and the Oregon Trail against maraud ing Indians. Authentic furnishings of the period take visitors back to the days when barracks and parade grounds surrounded the home and when sounds of bugles and marching feet drifted in.

Fort Sidney was founded in 1867 as a satellite of Fort Sedgwick, Colo., and pa trols originating there protected railroad workers from raiding Indians. Originally called Sidney Barracks, the post operated for some time out of nothing more than a collection of tents. The permanent adobe and-frame structures were not built until the WCTs.

In its early years, Fort Sidney was one link in the Army's chain of forts along the Oregon Trail, but it came into its own when the Indian wars moved north with the discovery of gold in the Black Hills. Adjacent to the railroad, it became an im portant supply post for the outfits trying to keep gold hunters out and the Indians pacified.

At one time, Fort Sidney covered one square mile, but when it was closed in 1894, most of the post's buildings were sold at auction and torn down or moved away. Many of the homes now in the area are built on foundations of the old fort's buildings. Today, only the commander's home, a bachelor officers' billet, and an old powder magazine remain of the origi nal structures, and only the commander's home is open to the public.

Inside, 19th-century tables, chairs, desks, and other items give the visitor a look into a small part of the lives of the men who were in charge of the historic post.

An antique clock hangs on the wall in the library in the same place it occupied when the fort was closed in 1894. The fam ily that bought thfe home removed the clock from the wall and passed it down from generation to generation until the home was restored some 70 years later. It was then returned to its old spot when the Cheyenne County Historical Association NEBRASKAland restored the home as its state centennial project.

The front parlor, decorated with a 100 year-old carpet and a horse hide rug, houses the first piano ever brought to the Sidney area. The large, square instrument is of 1880 vintage. The back parlor contains a rare ingrain carpet, a rustic secretary-type desk, and an old organ.

In the dining room stands an old table of 1878 vintage, a gift from the estate of a man who once served at Fort Sidney and later decided to make his home in the area.

Other items on display on the first floor include a hand-carved scale model of Fort Sidney at its peak, and a display of guns, sabers, and knives that once belonged to one of its commanding officers.

Kitchen furnishings include a rare old pie safe with a pierced-tin door, a stove with an oven that opens at both ends, and a pantry stocked with 19th-century labor saving devices such as a cherry pitter and a cabbage slicer. The pantry also includes a collection of old crocks, a copper boiler, a rug beater, and antique jars. A clock hang ing on the wall there still runs, and its tick ing can be heard all over the ground floor of the house.

Upstairs, visitors will see the master bedroom, which contains an old bedstead brought all the way from England by an early day Sidney family. Also on display there is a wedding gown of the late 1800's and a going-away dress.

Old trunks used by some of the original occupants of the house stand in the sew ing room, and some still contain clothes of former commanding officers and their families. A portion of the wall has been cut away and covered with glass to show the adobe construction of the building.

Another upstairs bedroom is furnished as a young boy's room, with a buffalo-skin rug and two old iron-frame beds. On dis play there is the boy's collection of ex pended cartridge casings, probably gath ered at the post's rifle range.

A third upstairs bedroom is made up as a girl's room, complete with a collection of valuable antique dolls. Included in the col lection are some with leather bodies and china heads.

A tour of the old home with its rustic furnishings gives the visitor a picture of the more tranquil moments of life at a frontier Army post. Most people have an idea of the hardships a tour of duty in Ne braska offered in those days. Motion pic tures and history books have seen to that. But it shouldn't be hard for the visitor to imagine the peaceful family life the com mander enjoyed here, and the parties and balls attended by the post's other officers, and the townspeople of Sidney.

The home is open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. from late May to mid-September, and its 19th-century flavor is especially appar ent on Sundays, when tour guides are decked out in costumes of the era. Special group tours can be arranged.

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On the Trail

Ingenious device allowed pioneers "easy letdown" after their tough trip

LOCATED 1/2 mile east and 3 miles south of Lewellen on U.S. 26, Ash Hollow State Historical Park is one of the most in triguing and unusual areas in Nebraska's State Parks System. Relics of bygone ages mingle with more recent yesterdays to present a kaleidoscope of time found in few places on the High Plains. Here have been found the bones of prehistoric rhinoceros, mammoths and mastodons, all ancient mammals that once roamed the Great Plains.

Archaeological excavations of Ash Hol low Cave tend to indicate that early man used the area as much as 7,000 to 10,000 years ago. The same things that drew pre historic man to the area also made it at tractive to the Plains Indians and later to the westward-bound pioneers. This pictur esque area provided the nomadic wan derers with the basic necessities of life shelter, good water, wood, fruits and ber ries.

The unusual geological strata known as the Ash Hollow Formation is a prime ex ample of the Pliocene history of the cen tral Great Plains just prior to the Ice Age. All of which means visitors can glimpse a bit of geology, paleontology, history of early man, and the story of the great pio neer trek West at this one significant area.

Ash Creek still bisects this canyon area, although the channel was changed with the construction of U.S. 26. Nonetheless, visitors can still see the original course of the creek and visualize the vast encamp ments of white-masted prairie schooners that crowded this "oasis" during the height of the westward migration along the Oregon Trail.

Road-weary pioneers rested amid this idyllic setting and repaired wagons and equipment damaged in the dangerous de scent of Windlass Hill just upstream, while their horses and oxen grazed the lush grasses. Today, you can still see the ruts etched by heavily laden wagons as they slid down Windlass Hill. Emigrant guide books of the period indicated that the Ash Hollow springs provided the best water of any stop along the Overland Trail.

Traders and trappers were probably the first white men to utilize the area, and the locale was already referred to as "Ash Hol low" as early as 1832. At least one trading post was built here, and perhaps more.

In 1962, the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission began acquisition of the 1,000-plus acres that now comprise the park. An interpretive center was built over the entrance of Ash Hollow Cave to pro tect its unique features, while providing information on the archaeology of the site and the geology of the bluff. Archae ological research has located a trading post, as well as another site of undeter mined use and age. A schoolhouse built in 1903 from native rock has been restored, and a nature trail and camping area have been developed.

Also a part of the park, Windlass Hill is located on a separate tract 2Va miles south on U.S. 26. Development there includes an interpretative shelter and information signs. A walkway provides access to the crest of the hill to view the deep ruts carved by those thousands upon thou sands of wagons that traveled the trail over a century ago.

Heartbreak House

Beauty now is attraction

IN NEBRASKA'S land of sunsets, the Brandhoefer "Mansion on the Hill," overlooking Ogallala, is now the Keith County Historical Society Museum. It is lo cated on U.S. 26 on the north edge of the town.

This museum showplace has been nick named "Heartbreak House." Legend claims its builder, L. A. Brandhoefer, Ogal lala mayor and bank founder, erected the three-story "palace" in the late I880's as a wedding gift for his bride-to-be. The finest carpenters and craftsmen were brought from Chicago, Denver, and New jersey to construct the classically styled home with its narrow windows and 10-foot ceilings. When Brandhoefer returned to Chicago he found his fiancee had married another. The house was sold and Brandhoefer left Ogallala forever.

Today, the partially restored Victorian mansion is open to visitors. Woodwork throughout the house is of solid walnut and cherry with hand-carved corner blocks. The first-floor living center with li brary, parlor, dining room, and kitchen boasts antique chandeliers and hand carved mantels over the tile fireplaces.

The mansion, with its romantic atmos phere and old-style charm, adds to Ogal lala's long list of attractions and is particu larly interesting to those who appreciate fine craftsmanship.

The Commonwealth now pays oven higher interest rates! 6.25 Passbook Savings 6.54 Annual Yield Comp. Daily 6.75 1 Yr. Qert. 7.08 Annual Yield Comp. Daily 7.00 2 Yr. Cert. 7.35° Annual Yield Comp. Daily 7.25 3 Yr. Cert. 7.62 Annual Yield Comp. Daily 8.00 4 Yr. Cert. 8.45 Annual Yield Comp. Daily A substantial interest penalty, as required by law, will be imposed for early withdrawal. THE COMMONWEALTH company 126 North 11th Street / Lincoln, NE 68508 / 402-432-2746 Chartered and Supervised by the Nebraska State Department of Banking HUNTER Sleeping Bag KING SIZE BAG For Big Persons And Those Who Prefer Extra-Roomy Sleeping Bags Reg. Sale $28.88 $23.88 • ( #ON-067-HSB ) - - HUNTER "Green Valley" Mod. 6055 King size bag. Finished size 39" x 85". 200 denier nylon outer shell, scenic pattern cotton flannel inner lining. 5 lbs. polyester fiberfill insulation gives comfort rating down to 25° F. Double pull zipper allows two bags to be zipped together. Shpg. wt. 7 lbs. MAIL ORDER CUSTOMERS, PLEASE READ NEBRASKA CUSTOMERS MUST INCLUDE SALES TAX 30% DEPOSIT REQUIRED ON C.O.D.s INCLUDE ENOUGH MONEY TO COVER SHIPPING COSTS and INSURANCE ( We Refund All Excess Remittances. ) BANKAMERICARD and MASTERCHARGE ORDERS ACCEPTED ( When accompanied with signature and all required information. ) RETAIL STORE ADDRESS: 1000 West "0" St. OUR TELEPHONE: ( 402 ) 435-4366 Deluxe STAG Family Camping Tents "Skyline" Series ( fON-067-STS ) 12' x 9' Size Reg. Sale $199.95 $188.50 f ( #ON-067-ST7 ) 16' x 9'Size Reg. Sale $239.50 $199.50 ( #ON-067-ST5 ) - - Model 20028. 12' x 9' size, sleeps 5. Ridge height 8', wall height 5', 702 cu. ft. area. ( 55 lbs. ) • ( #ON-067-ST7 ) - - Model 20030. 16' x 9' size, sleeps 7. Ridge height 8'-6", wall height 5 . 972 cu. ft. area. ( 65 lbs. ) P^M^. Back Packs ( #ON-067-JS2 ) JANSPORT SCOUT-2 2200 cu. in. total cavity Zipper panel to main cavity 2 side pockets with top zippers Hold-open bar Padded waist belt Pack/frame 3Vi lbs. Shpg. wt. 5 lbs. $44.50 WHITE STAG'S finest tents with all the most advanced tenting features. These tents feature "Super Canvas ", a tough, new tent material that with proper care will give you more camping service from your tent than ever before. Treated for water repellency. mildew resistance and fire retardancy. Equipped with rear emergency exit. Frame designed to flex with wind to avoid pole bending or breaking. • The two tents featured here have four large screened windows and screened door window to provide unexcelled cross ventilation. The special Reflecto roofs let in lots of light yet ward off the direct sun rays. Sewed-in floor, zippered storm flaps on windows and door, full size zipper door, spring loaded-color coded outside frame eliminates all inside poles to give a 100% usable interior. "HUMMINBIRD" Electronic Fish Locator /Sounder $144.50 $134.95 ( #ON-067-HBS ) The "Super Sixty DELUXE 0-60 ft. scale Operates on 12-VDC Wet or dry batt. Perm, transducer Operates at any boat speed Aluminum case Shpg. wt. 6 lbs. ( #ON-067-HFT ) The "Fish Tracker" ECONOMY 0 60 ft. scale Has many of the deluxe features Operates on 12-VDC wet or dry batt. Operates at any boat speed Perm, transducer Shpg. wt. 6 lbs. Reg. Sale $99.95 $89.95 ( #ON-067-JD5 ) JANSPORT D-5 3000 cu. in. total cavity 2-compartment main cavity Zipper panel access 4-outside pockets with zipper access 1-map pocket Leather crampon holder ) Pack/Frame 5% lbs. Shpg. wt. 6Vj lbs. $74.95 TASCO 7 x 35 Binoculars Reg. Sale $42.50 $39.50 Furnished With Case and Straps ( #ON-067-TBI ) 7-power, 35mm objectives. Center focus. Prismatic with coated optics. Field of view 525 ft. at 1000 yds. Rubber eyecups. Field case and straps. ( 3 lbs. ) SURPLUS CENTER Dept. ON-067 Lincoln, Ne. 68501 JUNE 1977 47   J'S OTTER CREEK MARINA NORTH SIDE LAKE McCONAUGHY HWY. 92-OPEN YEAR AROUND ALL MODERN MOTEL CAFE BAIT TACKLE GAS HUNTING & FISHING LICENSES CHRYSLER BOATS MOTORS SALES SERVICE ON & OFF SALE BEER PHONE LEMOYNE 308-355-2341 P.O. LEWELLEN, NEBR. 69147 JAY & JULIE PETERSON LIVE-CATCH ALL-PURPOSE TRAPS Wrtftor FREE CATALOG Low B9 $4.95 Traps without injury squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, mink, fox, rac coons, stray animals, pests, etc. Sizes for every need. Also traps fo snakes, sparrows, pigeons, crabs, turtles, quail, etc. Save on our lov factory prices. Send no money. Free catalog and trapping secrets MUSTANG MFG. CO., Dept. N-34, Box 10880, Houston, Tex. 77011 AUTHORS WANTED BY NEW YORK PUBLISHER Leading book publisher seeks manuscripts of all types: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, scholarly and juvenile works, etc. New authors welcomed. For complete information, send for free booklet R-70. Vantage Press, 516 W. 34 St., New York 10001 Andy's SUPPER CLUB CAFE, LOUNGE & SUPPER CLUB Live Entertainment Air-Conditioned Cabins Weekly Cabin Rates Party Rooms Available 785-9323 785-2455 ON BEAUTIFUL JOHNSON LAKE RR. 2, Elwood, Nebraska 68937

Most scarred of lands has history and other stories to tell. Eerie feeling is sensed by visitors to the area

Nightmare in Rock

WHEN SATAN details his subordinates earthside for on-the-job training, he probably billets them in the Nebraska Bad lands and Toadstool Park. The apprentices would feel right at home in the tormented geography of this unique spot in the northwest part of the state. But, you don't have to be the devil's advocate or even an imp to enjoy this weird landscape that lies 20 miles north of Crawford on Nebraska 2.

Part of the Oglala National Grasslands and administered by the U.S. Forest Ser vice, Nebraska's Badlands and Toadstool Park are concentrated in a small area that's just right for a day of leisurely exploring. If your eyes are stronger than your legs, there's still plenty to see from the picnic grounds on the east side of the park. The interior of the area is accessible only on foot or horseback.

A short trail leads from the picnic flat to a scarred hill overlooking the fantastic toadstool formations. The picnic site is fur nished with sheltered tables, fireplaces, drinking water, restrooms, and trash con- tainers. A well-kept prairie trail branches off Highway 2 and snakes across the plain to the park. A sign marks the turnoff, but watch for it. It's easy to miss.

A strange interruption in the beauty of the surrounding Pine Ridge, Toadstool Park is a remnant of nature's violent past. The folded hills erupt from a barren ex panse of clay and rock. Hills are scarred and gouged by centuries of wind and rain. Patiently the years have shaped and pol ished many of the hills into sharp pyra mids while rounding off others.

Debris-filled valleys and pockets add to the lunar-like landscape of this unusual spot. Toadstool Park is in a natural am phitheater at the base of the jagged hills.

Slabs of sandstone suspended on nar row pedestals of clay give the park its name. Wind and water have eroded the pillars until only narrow stems of sun baked soil support the rocky caps. The "toadstools" grow in infinite variety. Some weigh hundreds of tons while others are mere pebbles perched on slender stems. The park is cluttered with the remains of toadstools that gave up and collapsed. Others are still in the making.

The hills to the south are flecked with red while those to the north are trimmed in gray. The rocks are marbled with various coiors, and the base soil is veined with shards of white and purple rock. Orange lichens paint cabalistic symbols on the larger rocks.

Timeless erosive chisels are sculpting the rocks into fantastic shapes. Shrouded mummies gaze in stony silence at the gar goyle faces across the valley while night marish animals guard the pueblos of imag inary cliff dwellers. When light and shad ows are right, the hills and rocks change character. In morning light, they seem al most gay. At twilight, the mood changes to foreboding and menace.

Fossil hunters find happy hunting grounds. Buried in the hills and outcrops are the bones of strange animals that roamed Nebraska long before the coming of man. Extensive diggings and explora tions have uncovered fossilized remains of such things as the titanothere, a huge rhinoceros-like animal that lived in the Oligoncene Period. Other animals include the prehistoric camel, the three-toed horse, and the ancestor of all deer. Pa leontologists are positive that more will be found as exploration continues.

Geologists love the place. Revealed in the strata of eroded rock and sheer-sided canyon are the chronicles of ancient earth quake and flood, desert and lake, glacial cold and tropical heat spread over 4 mil lion years. Geologists believe the original soil of the Badlands was laid down about 39 million years ago. Layers of ash indicate that it was once the playground of active volcanoes.

Change is the only constant factor in this unusual area. Experts claim that some have occurred in the last 30 years. Records prove that the Badland is less arid and barren now than it was in 1930's. Plants are slowly edging into the channels and gouges of the hills. Possibly in a million years, the weird area will revert back to the lush garden of the past when the land was a fertile plain above a quiet lake. Locked in the rocky caps of the toadstools and the scarred faces of the hills are the secrets of the past and clues to the future.

Trading Post

Acceptance of advertising implies no endorse ment of products or services.

Classified Ads: 20 cents a word, minimum order $4.00. August 1977 closing date, June 8. Send classified ads to: Trading Post, NEBRAS KAland, 2200 N. 33rd St., Lincoln, Nebraska 68503, P.O. Box 30370.

DOGS

VIZSLA POINTERS, all ages. We also board and train hunt ing dogs. Rozanek Kennels, Rt 2 Schuyler, NE or phone (402) 352-5357.

IRISH SETTERS, German Shorthairs, Labradors (black or yellow) AKC $40.00, FOB Atkinson. We do not ship. Roland Everett, Atkinson, Nebr. 68713.

A.K.C. GERMAN Shorthair pup^-Field Champion Blood lines. Large selection--D. M. Kennels, Route 1, Gretna, Nebraska 68028-Phone 402-332-3237.

MISCELLANEOUS

FISHING EQUIPMENT-New expanded line for serious fishermen. Standard and custom flies, lures, rods, pre pared bait, etc. Rod and reel repair. Catalog. Dawn, Box 30401, Lincoln, Nebr. 68503.

WILSON OUTFITTERS.....NEBRASKA'S ORIGINAL OUTFITTERS! Featuring Quality Canoe-Camping trips. There is a difference! Write Wilson Outfitters, 6211 Sunrise Road, Lincoln, Nebraska, 68510 for details.

CANOES AND CARRIERS for rent. Transportation, guides, instructions on request. Dryland Aquatics, 1832 N. Park, Fremont, Nebraska, 68025. (402) 721-5801 or (402) 721-1749.

GUNS-Browning, Winchester, Remington, others. Hi powers, shotguns, new, used, antiques. Want Pre-1964 Winchesters. Buy-Sell-Trade. Ph. (402) 729-2888. Bedlan's Sporting Goods, Fairbury, NE 68352.

FAIRFIELD CAMPGROUND along Niobrara River-camp ing, hiking, scenery, trailrides. Near ideal canoe water. Ca noe rental, canoe trips, car shuttle, river information. Con tact Loring & Beryl Kuhre, )ohnstown, Nebraska 69214 Phone 402-497-3555.

48 NEBRASKAland

FISH FOR SALE: Channel Catfish, Largemouth Bass, Blue gill, Rainbow Trout and minnows for pond and lake stocking. Contact the Pleasant Valley Fish Farm, Route 1, McCook, Nebraska 69001. Phone (308) 345-6599.

DUCK HUNTERS ATTENTION: We have a limited supply of paper-asphalt-laminated burlap, ideal for duck blinds or boat camouflaging; width 40 inches, lengths up to 250 yards; price $1.25 per yard. Please add 20c per yard postage and handling for mail orders. May be bought direct at Ro man Packing Company, south Hiway 81, Norfolk, Ne braska or order by mail, address Roman Packing Company, Box 702, Norfolk, Nebraska 68701.

JUNE 1977

DUCK HUNTERS: learn how, make quality, solid plastic, waterfowl decoys. We're originators of famous system. Send $.50, colorful catalog. Decoys Unlimited, Clinton, Iowa 52732.

NIOBRARA CANYON canoe tours announces "Canoe the Niobrara 77"-Execellent canoe-camping trips by a local outfitter. Compare our prices with competitors. Write or call Steve Durbin, NCCT, 841 Candice Street, Valentine, Nebraska 69201. 402-376-1269.

FOR SALE: Excellent recreation area on Pine Creek just two miles north of Long Pine, Nebraska. Seventy-six and a quarter acres in the tract. A quarter-mile of trout stream plus fishing privileges on an adjoining half-mile of creek. Canyon and timber land on both sides of the stream abound with deer and turkey. James G. Fredrickson Real Estate Agency, Long Pine, Nebr. 69217, Phone (308) 273 4584.

TAXIDERMY

BIG Bear Taxidermy, Rt. 2, Mitchell, Nebraska 69357. We specialize in all big game from Alaska to Nebraska, also birds and fish. Hair on and hair off tanning. Al> miles west of Scottsbluff on Highway 26. Phone (308) 635-3011.

CREATIVE Taxidermy. Modern methods and lifelike work manship on all fish and game since 1935, also tanning, rugs, and deerskin products. Joe Voges, Naturecrafts and Gift Shop, 925 4th Corso, Nebraska City, Nebraska 68410. Phone (402) 873-5491.

KARL SCHWARZ Master Taxidermists. Mounting of game heads—birds —fish —animals —fur rugs-robes—tanning buckskin. Since 1910. 424 South 13th Street, Dept. A, Omaha, Nebraska 68102.

Protect your pets when asleep at night from automobiles MULTI-COLOR FIREBALL MIRACLE REFLECTING DOG AND CAT J PROTECTION COLLAR J ALL PATENT RIGHTS RESERVE 1 ©1976 A. J. INGRAM Thousands of dogs and cats are killed each year by automobiles because the motorist fail to see them at night in time to slow or stop. COLLAR REFLEX can ben seen on your dog or cat 200 feet or more away. Warns and allows any motorist enough time to stop. Also multi-colored collar gives your pet a new different dressed up beautiful look for daytime wear. Collar comes with or without flea, lice or tick protection. PET COLLAR SIZES 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20 inch $5.99 24 Inch $6.99 SEND CHECK OR MONEY ORDER TO: COLLAR REFLEX 249 West Jackson Street Rialto, California 92376 Sr DAYS % June 19-26, 1977 NORTH PLATTE For Family Entertainment: Buffalo Bill Rodeo, world's first and old w est rodeo started by ^ Buffalo Bill Cody. Miss Buffalo Bill Rodeo Queen crowned. June 22-25 8:00 PM. PARADES! NEBRASKAland Pa- rade. Floats, bands, marching units, out standing riding groups, antique and classic cars, plus the best dressed western kids. June 23 3:00 PM. HOW MEL TILLIS SHOW PLUS Buffalo Bill Rodeo. June 23 7:00 PM AWARDS! Buffalo Bill Award. Presented in person to a famous TV or W movie star for "out T standingcontributions to quality entertain ment in the Cody tradition." June 22 at Rodeo. CARNIVAL! The largest carnival in Western NEBRAS KAIand Fun - Frolic - Songs Dancing Girls - An era of the Old West comes to life] June 20 25 8:00 PM. OTHER EVENTS Art Shows - Square Dances - Shoot Outs, Cross Country Race, Platter Chatter, CB Camperee. Tickets and information available from NEBRASKAland Days, Inc. P.O. Box 706 Ph. (308) 532-7939 North Platte, Nebraska 69101 49   ... an outdoor tip from your Big [I] agent Jack Rabbit A /arge hare with long ears and powerful legs, the jack rabbit is capable of speedy and erratic flight. Very fond of alfalfa, they will nibble near- ly continuously from late afternoon until they retire the next morning. Although on a down- ward population trend for several years, the jack is not endangered. your Independent this messae INDEPENDENT INSURANCE AGENTS OF NEBRASKA SPORTSMEN'S COMPLEX, Inc ONE-STOP SERVICE OPEN ALL YEAR LODGING-GROCERIES-ICE-BAIT-TACKLE BEER SCUBA DIVING SHOP GAS TRAILER PARKING - SNACK SHOP - DUMPING STATION EVINRUDE MOTORS & REPAIRS BOX 136 KEYSTONE, NEBR. 69144 AT HIWAY JCT. 61 & 92 - 12 MILES NE OGALLALA, NEBR. AT MARTIN BAY 308-726-2521 Mercury Switch Bite-Lite designed for Nite Fishing lite blinks when fish bit Bite-Lite Corp 2000No.25thSt. oost E.Omaha,Ne paid 68110 SAVE 35% When you dial direct without operator assistance between 5 p.m. & 11 p.m. you save 35% on long distance day rates. Dial the distance yourself and SAVE. THE LINCOLN TELEPHONE CO. ATTENTION, CANOEISTS! You can now get a pamphlet on the Game and Parks Com mission's pilot project to provide access and campsites for canoeists on three Nebraska rivers. It includes maps of the sections of the Dismal, Platte, and Republican rivers covered by the project, as well as descriptions and general informa tion. If you do not already have a copy, you may also be interested in the new, full-color brochure entitled "Canoeing Nebraska Waters", which gives general information on canoeing various Nebraska streams. Either publication is available free from the Nebraska Game and Parks Comis sion, P.O. Box 30370, Lincoln, NE 68503.

History's Remains

Fame comes from fossils

50

EVERY DOG would truly have his day if turned loose in the world's greatest "bone yard" at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument in Sioux County on Nebraska 29. Hills have literally been formed by the layer upon layer of fossils buried in the sands of time. It would take a hundred thousand pups a hundred thousand years of digging to secret this "bone mine" that has been our treasure for 15 million years.

At Agate, Mother Nature has preserved for modern man a valuable vault as a con necting link with the prehistoric past. In 1878 after eons of silent waiting, the fos silized remains of the early inhabitants of the Plains were discovered by Captain James H. Cook. After that time, his ranch became a "mother lode" of strange ani mals to archeologists and paleontologists from the world over.

Captain Cook's discovery sent scientists scurrying for their shovels. Scholars brought expeditions to the massive trea sure-trove from near and far. The remains of ancient camels, prehistoric beavers, and giant hogs as tall as a man were carefully removed and taken to permanent resting places in museums and universities throughout the world.

Unique in the richness of its deposits, the Agate site brings together the mys terious ancient past with that of the cow boy and Indian of the untamed frontier. The same country that sheltered the pre historic beasts was also the locale for the last bitter battles between hostile Sioux and Cheyenne and plainsmen.

From this exciting past, rich in both an cient history and western lore, a national monument has emerged. When Agate Fossil Beds National Monument is fully developed, visitors will be able to take a giant step into the misty long-ago as they amble through the 3,150 acres of ageless memory.

Plans call for an open-air museum on Carnegie Hill, the site of the richest fossil deposits. It will house specimens taken from the quarry only a few feet away. Vis itors will be able to walk into a tunnel bore which will show ancient bones at the very spot they were deposited millions of years ago. The monument will also feature early ranching and Indian lore. In the meantime, a temporary visitor interpretive center has been placed on the area.

Nowhere in the world, perhaps, has there been found a vaster deposit of that era when great but vanished animals roamed the valleys 15 million years ago. It is an exciting part of Nebraska's rich heri tage, that's here for all to see.

Relive Nebraska's colorful past l Tioneer Indoors, climb the spiral staircase and step into the 1880s, where you'll see the tools, garments and gad- gets of yesteryear. Outdoors, stroll the boardwalks of the fascinating RAILROAD TOWN OF THE PRAIRIE PIONEER. Lose yourself among authentically restored homes, business places and vintage rail stock. Browse through the Midwest's finest collection of antique cars, trucks and farm machinery. A MUST FOR SUMMER SIGHTSEEING! BRING YOUR FAMILY OR GROUP Summer hours 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays; 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Sundays. Admission: Adults $1, Students 50, children 35. Outdoor Exhibits open Memorial Day through Labor Day. Write for free brochure and tour information to Stuhr Museum, Route #2, Box 24, Grand Island, Nebraska 68801. STUHR MUSEUM OF THE PRAIRIE PIONEER U.S. Highway 34-281 Junction, Grand Island, Nebraska 68801   For a family fun mini-vacation Stay As Many pays As You Like On One Admission Fee* Motel and meals for as little as $14 per aaul upancy), $6 per ch Camping $3 per day (double elpcupancy), $6 per child per day. Write or call Pioneer Motel-308/832-2750-for reservations 12 Miles Straight South of 80 at MINDEN, NEBR. TOP ATTRACTION RATES FOR TOUR GROUPS Here is the place where nearly three million people have enjoyed a stroll back through a century and a half, so arranged that you walk less than a mile. 1. Main Building: More than 10,000 items trace trans portation, communications, recreation, arts, etc., through the years as they appeared. Thirteen flying machines hang overhead. 2. Elm Creek Fort: Webster County's first actual dwell ing/community fort, moved to the Village and authen tically furnished. 3. People's Store: Replica of a general store, com pletely stocked with merchandise of a bygone era. 4. Bloomington Land Office: Original building where homesteaders filed, contains early maps, old land records, etc. Moved from Franklin County, Neb. 5. Fire House: Museum of fire equipment from hand cart to modern fire truck. Also houses a typical early day jail and huge 1 cyl. 1910 Diesel electric plant. 6. Lowell Depot: During restoration, 7 worn-out floors were uncovered in this century-old depot from Kear ney Co. 7. Grom School: Straight from before the turn of the century, actual schoolhouse is superbly equipped with original furnishings —including dinner buckets! 8. Sod House: Replica, painstakingly accurate, of the "little old sod shanty on the plains,'' contains actual items of home furnishings. 9. China Shop: Fascinating collections of china, pot tery, cut glass, and other precious keepsakes that came west in covered wagons. 10. Church: Built in 1884, Minden's first church house retains original altar, pews, pulpit, pump organ, etc., Sunday services still held during summer months. 11. Merry-Go-Round: Rides are still 54 This steam powered carrousel is oldest in the U.S.A. 12. Pony Express Station: The original log building that was Pumpkinseed relay station to the Black Hills. 13. Pony Express Barn: Authentically reconstructed, with model horses and historic saddles. 14. Agricultural Building: Two full floors trace the de velopment of farm implements year-by-year, actual tools that helped build our vast agricultural economy. 15. Antique Auto Building: One hundred autos (many of them early models of present makes) stand in chron ological order in this two-story building, 265 feet long. 15A. Antique Auto Building #2: Houses 100 cars on 22,000 sq. ft. of floor space (new building, not shown). 16. Livery Stable: Huge old two-story barn houses sad les, harnesses, fly nets, and horse-drawn rigs galore. 17. Antique Tractor and Truck Building: Largest col lection of farm tractors anywhere, as they developed over half a century. Farm and city trucks, stationary engines on second floor. 17A. Antique Farm Machinery Building: Includes seed ing, cultivating, and harvesting machines —headers, threshers, corn pickers, haying equipment, horse powers and steam engines. 18. Homes and Shops Building: Not just an "early day kitchen," but a five-generation evolution of kitchens, side by side for easy comparison! Also typical shops and offices from different periods, all carefully labeled as to era. 19. Horse Barn: Typical pioneer barn, moved from Warp homestead 9 miles south of Minden. 20. Home Appliance Building: Washboard to automatic, and every washer between! Also, stoves, refrigerators, bathtubs, past kitchen gadgets and utensils galore. 21. Hobby House: Absorbing collections of dolls, pitch ers, buttons, trivets, many, many other items. 22. Snack Bar: Serving coffee, ice cream, candy, and soft drinks. 23. Pioneer Motel: Sixty-six modern units with air con ditioning and TV, reasonable rates. See the Village and stay awhile. 24. Pioneer Restaurant: The fine foods you'd expect from Minden cooks, at popular prices. Seats 350. 25. Camp Grounds: Space for over 100 campers, trail ers, or tents while you visit Pioneer Village. Showers, facilities.