About 1871 what is known as Youst Cemetery was established on the homestead of Samuel B. and Mary Elizabeth Hunt Youst. Youst, S.B. Chapman, and Richard M. Hunt were the first settlers on Beaver Creek, arriving from Lucas County, Iowa in 1870. After the village of Hampton was established in 1880, approximately one mile to the north, many early residents were buried here. Civil War veterans buried in the cemetery are Samuel B. Youst, Lewis M. Hunt, Stanford May, G.W. Hiatt, Benjamin Conner, Alva Misner, and Fred Smith.
]]>The Union Pacific's old passenger depot had been empty ever since a new depot opened in April 1918. The railroad allowed the old depot to be used as a canteen, and the Red Cross welcomed its first soldiers with small care packages on August 12. Nine units of ten workers were scheduled to stand ready to serve troops from 8:30 am unitl 10:05 pm daily. The canteen served troops as they headed to war in Europe and as they returned home after the war. According to the final report on August 8, 1919, the Grand Island canteen had served 57,890 service men at a cost of $3,429,37 to the local Red Cross chapter.
]]>The “Petty Officer 1st Class Charles Jackson French Post Office” is named in honor of an Omaha sailor. Born in Arkansas, French moved to Omaha to live with his older sister after his parents died. He enlisted in the Navy in 1937, serving as a mess attendant and returning home after fulfilling his four-year commitment. As an African American man, French served at a time when prejudice and discrimination were ever-present in the military. He proudly reenlisted four days after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
During the Battle of Guadalcanal, Japanese destroyers sank the USS Gregory on September 4, 1942. With 15 of his injured shipmates adrift in a raft, French tied the line to himself and swam more than six hours in shark-infested waters towing his shipmates to safety.
Heralded as the “Hero of the Solomon Islands,” French was posthumously awarded the Navy and Marine Corps Medal on May 21, 2022. Risking death so that others might live, French demonstrated the courage to defend American freedom, so that democracy may continue to grow and prosper for generations to come.
]]>Here in 1846 an oppressed people fleeing from a vengeful mob found a haven in the wilderness. Winter Quarters, established under the direction of the Mormon leader Brigham Young, sheltered more than 3,000 people during the winter of 1846-1847. Housed in log cabins, sod houses and dugouts, they lacked adequate provisions. When spring arrived more than six hundred of the faithful lay buried in the cemetery on the hill. Winter Quarters became the administration center of a great religious movement.
In the spring of 1847 a pioneer band left Winter Quarters to cross the Plains to the Great Salt Lake Valley. Thousands of other followed this trail. In 1855, Young was forced to utilize handcarts for transportation. The first company, comprising about five hundred persons, left here on July 17 and reached the Valley on September 26, 1856.
The town of Florence, established in 1854, was built upon the site of Winter Quarters. James C. Mitchell and Associates of the Florence Land Company established a thriving community. The Bank of Florence, built in 1856, stands today as a symbol of our historical past.
]]>In 1863, the Winnebago Indians were moved from their home in Minnesota to a barren reservation in Dakota Territory. Groups of Winnebago soon moved down the Missouri River to the Omaha Reservation in Nebraska. In March, 1865, the Winnebago used their own funds to purchase land from the Omaha. That land is now the Winnebago Reservation. In early 1865, about 75 members of the Winnebago Tribe enlisted in the Nebraska Volunteers. Known as Company "A", Omaha Scouts, the unit took an active part in quelling the Indian uprising of 1865 and 1866. This army service exemplified the Winnebago's desire for peace and good relationships between the Indians and the white settlers. In the summer of 1866, upon the return of the Winnebago veterans, a homecoming festival was held. Shortly thereafter, Chief Little Priest died of wounds received in army service. An annual memorial celebration is held in remembrance of his sacrifice. The year following his death, Little Priest's service flag was raised as a symbol of the tribe's allegiance to their country. This ceremony remains an important part of each celebration. Later the gatherings became known as the Annual Pow-wow. To the honor of these brave and noble forebears with their rare wisdom and foresight, do we, the remnants of once a proud nation, dedicate this marker.
]]>The stones surrounding this marker are the remains of the homestead dwelling of Reverend Dennis B. Clary, a pioneer Methodist Minister, who received final patent for his homestead May 22, 1899. Mr. Clary was born September 1st, 1822, in Maryland and immigrated to Nebraska in 1885. Using a horse drawn cart fashioned from available materials, he hauled stone to this site for a two room house. For years this was a land mark in Ash Hollow and marked the location of Windlass Hill. It was a popular stopping place for settlers traveling from the North Platte Valley area to the railroad at Big Springs, some twenty miles to the south.
The wagon road used at that time is still visible nearby. The Oregon Trail passed here, and the area surrounding the house was used by early travelers to repair damages caused by the hazardous trip down Windlass Hill.
This site was used July 29 - 30, 1967, as the stage setting for the "Ash Hollow Centennial Pageant" when a nearby sod house was reconstructed. Funds from this successful historical event provided this marker.
]]>From 1867 to 1869 the first photography studio of William Henry Jackson, renowned photographer, artist, and explorer of the Old West, stood on the northwest corner of this block. His autobiography, Time Exposure, reports that in 1869 Omaha had the vitality of "a boom town." Jackson first crossed Nebraska in 1866 on the Oregon Trail, working as a bullwhacker with a freighting outfit. His sketches of the trip vividly depicted the trail experience. In 1870 he joined the Hayden Geological Survey, which took him and artist Thomas Moran to Wyoming's Yellowstone region. By revealing Yellowstone's wonders, Jackson's photographs and Moran's paintings contributed to the establishment of our first national park. Jackson's camera also focused on the infant towns along the Union Pacific Railroad, Nebraska's Pawnee Indians, the cliff dwellings of Mesa Verde, and the Mountain of the Holy Cross in Colorado, which inspired a poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. In 1898 Jackson captured scenes of Omaha's Trans-Mississippi Exposition. Although his life spanned nearly a century, Jackson's photographs and sketches of the glorious landscapes of the nineteenth-century West are his enduring legacy.
]]>Willa Cather first came to Webster County from Virginia in 1883 at the age of nine. The vast open prairies of Nebraska made a lasting impression on her. "This country was mostly wild pasture and as naked as the back of your hand. I was little and homesick and lonely and my mother was homesick and nobody paid any attention to us. So the country and I had it out together and by the end of the first autumn, that shaggy grass country had gripped me with a passion I have never been able to shake." Her life task became portraying how the pioneers tamed the wild land.
The 610 acre Willa Cather Memorial Prairie preserves an example of the native grassland that once covered Nebraska. Throughout the summer, numerous wildflowers grow amid tall native grasses in an ever changing display of color. Here, life typical of the prairie flourishes as it did before the first settlers came.
The prairie was purchased by the Nature Conservancy with a grant from the Woods Charitable Fund of Lincoln, Nebraska.
]]>Named for the beautiful, spirited wild horses so numerous in this area when white men first visited these lush plains, this Spring symbolizes the hope and faith its discovery brought to the early pioneers. Though the rich land beckoned them, men seeking homesteads had been reluctant to settle this land, so strange and forbidding because of its lack of known water sources.
In the early days this Spring served to quench the thirst of the wild horses, buffalo and other wild animals of the region. Later, its clear, cool waters refreshed the hot and thirsty cowboy, trail weary from the long trek between Stinking Water Creek and the Platte River.
It was never an abundant source of water but it was sufficient to supply the needs of the early settlers until they could dig wells for themselves. The precious, life-giving water from this Spring, so far from any stream, provided comfort and courage to the men and women who established their homes in this part of the frontier, and it is to them that this marker is dedicated.
]]>Westerville, nestled in picturesque Clear Creek Valley, was the first town in Custer County. It was named for James H. Westervelt on whose land the townsite was platted August 11, 1880. The town became an important early trade center after pioneer families, both black and white, homesteaded here during the 1870's.
Westerville had many firsts in Custer County - the first frame church, the Methodist, whose bell echoed across the valley; the first newspaper, The Custer Leader, and the first doctor, lawyer, banker, monument cutter, and general stores. A sod house, hotel, blacksmith shop, livery barn, and flour mill aided early development. The County Agricultural Society was organized here and held the first two county fairs in Westerville, 1881-1882. The first county teachers institute also convened here.
Westerville was bypassed as the county seat and, when the railroad was built farther south in 1886, the town gradually declined. After 100 years, the village is an active community center which remains proud of its heritage. The modern farms which dot the peaceful valley pay tribute to the courage and perseverance of Westerville's early pioneers who now rest in the cemetery overlooking the village.
]]>This cemetery north of Genoa in Woodville Township is the center of Platte County's West Hill area. Land for the cemetery was first purchased in 1876 from Will Irwin. The first grave was opened in 1878 for Joshua Middleton, victim of a prairie fire. His grave was marked by four pine trees.
Nearby are several other sites of historical interest. North of the cemetery was the West Hill post office (established, 1875; discontinued, 1900), named by postmaster Hiram Eley for West Hill, England. Area residents once gathered here to receive their mail and discuss community affairs.
One mile south and one-fourth mile east of the cemetery is the site of the former West Hill Methodist Church, organized in 1877 by the Reverend James Linn. The West Hill Baptist Church, organized in the early 1900s, was formerly located one mile directly west of the cemetery. Three-fourths mile beyond the Baptist church was the District 68 schoolhouse. The West Chicago General Store, built one mile east of the cemetery in the 1900's once served as the chief grocery supplier for the community.
]]>This building was constructed by community effort in 1871 of native limestone as the Congregational Church and served in that capacity until a new brick church was constructed 1887-1890. The nearby stone parsonage, first occupied in 1867, was sold in 1870 to provide funds for the 1871 church. The old church provided space for the chapel, classrooms, and library for the Weeping Water Academy which was established in 1885, as its founders felt their children could not receive adequate training in the local public schools of the day. An active promoter of the school was the Rev. George Hindley. Due to his efforts, the school became and remained identified with the Congregationalists, although the work was largely nondenominational. Three formal courses of study were offered including classical, scientific and English Normal. As enrollment increased, other buildings were utilized or constructed with the largest being Hindley Cottage. The school closed in June, 1914, due to decreased enrollment as public schools improved. During its 29 years of existence, the academy had some 220 graduates. In 1917 this building became the "Weeping Water Academy Library" and continues to serve as the public library today.
]]>On April 10, 1871, Acting Governor William James issued a proclamation calling for the organization of Webster County, with officials to be elected nine days later. The dugout of Silas Garber, later to serve as Nebraska's governor, was the polling place and forty-five votes were cast. A portion of Garber's claim, future Red Cloud, was voted the county seat.
When the first settlers of the county had arrived the previous year, the Republican Valley was the center of the West's great buffalo ranges, still traversed by Indians while on their tribal hunts. Within a very few years, however, those times were gone, and, with the arrival of the railroad in 1879, Webster County was rapidly settled by thousands of homesteaders, ending the frontier era.
Webster County is part of a prosperous mixed-farming region, with numerous irrigated farms, while the rolling divide country has provided rich lands for grazing. The faith of the pioneers, that Webster County would prove to be a wealthy, agricultural home, is proven by the surrounding countryside.
]]>The establishment of the Webster community was centered around this intersection. Beginning in 1871 the village of Webster grew to include a post office, blacksmith shop, telephone company, store, school, and Webster Hall. Webster Hall hosted farmers' meetings, social events, school programs, and a high school from 1915 to 1918. There were also four area churches. Economic changes forced many of these businesses to close during the 1950s. Seven area schools merged with Webster, District #27, before it was closed in 1999.
]]>The Nebraska Normal College was founded on this site in 1891 as a private institution. It was largely the creation of one man, Professor James M. Pile. The State Legislature in 1909 appropriated funds to purchase the campus, and in 1910 the College opened under State auspices. Its original mission was the same as that of its predecessor college--teacher education in a two-year curriculum. Wayne State College became a four-year degree granting institution in 1921. It has since expanded its program to include study leading to liberal arts and Master's degrees. The cornerstone nearby came from the Commerce and Arts Building, which was located in the vicinity of this marker. The bell came from the first building of the Nebraska Normal College. John G. Neihardt, later Poet Laureate of Nebraska, rang this bell in the 1890's to signal times for dismissal and convening of classes. With this employment he earned most of his college expense money. In its present location the bell was rung for many years to announce victories in inter-collegiate athletics. Wayne State College is proud of its graduates, among them outstanding educators, members of the United States Congress, and a governor of Nebraska.
]]>Wayne, the county seat of Wayne County, was laid out by the St. Paul and Sioux City Railroad in June 1881. City and county were named for "Mad" Anthony Wayne, a Revolutionary War general. The first settlers arrived in the eastern part of the county in 1868. Some were homesteaders; the first claim was that of Colonel B. F. Whitten near Wakefield in that year. Much of the unbroken prairie land was bought by land speculators, some of it for as little as fifty cents per acre, and sold again to settlers.
When the county was organized in 1870, LaPorte, about six miles southeast of Wayne, was named the county seat. The railroad was extended through the county in 1881-1882 but missed LaPorte and passed through Wayne. The settlers voted to move the county seat and LaPorte became a ghost town.
Wayne has had a college since 1887, when the Lutheran Academy was established. Classes were conducted there until 1890. Nebraska Normal College was founded in 1891 with Professor James M. Pile of Fremont as president. John G. Neihardt, Poet Laureate of Nebraska, was one of the early students. In 1909 the school was purchased by the state and continued as a teachers college. Since 1963 it has been called Wayne State College.
]]>In 1888, H. D. Watson established the historic Watson Ranch, at one time containing 8,000 acres, reaching from the fertile Platte Valley on the south to the rolling hills on the north and from downtown Kearney to a point five miles west.
During its existence, the ranching operations were devoted to grains, poultry, vegetables, and a 250-acre fruit orchard primarily of cherry, plum, and apple trees. Watson planted thousands of other trees of numerous varieties.
Resembling a huge experiment station, the ranch included such crops as wheat, rye, barley, corn, potatoes, sugar beets, squash, and asparagus. In the 1890's, Watson introduced alfalfa into the Platte Valley. In part to demonstrate the value of alfalfa as a feed, Watson constructed a dairy barn in 1900. Standing 650 feet northwest of this sign, it measured 500 feet long, 100 feet wide, and 56 feet high. Attached to an immense silo, it contained stanchions for 400 cows, huge hay lofts, and wagon and machinery storage.
Because it was located 1,733 miles from both Boston and San Francisco, it later became known as the "1733 Ranch," and the huge barn remained a landmark until it was down in 1935.
]]>The Wallace W. and Libby King Waterman sod house, located nine miles north of here on the Day Road, was built about 1886. The original dwelling had three rooms. In 1925 it was enlarged and remodeled by Virgil and Helen Burke Waterman, and the sod walls were covered with concrete. The family lived in the house until 1989, and it was donated to the Deuel County Historical Society in 1993. The house is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
]]>Actor Ward Edwin Bond was born in this house on April 9, 1903, the son of John W. and Mabel L. Bond. The family lived here until leaving Benkelman in 1919. Ward Bond played supporting roles in more than 250 motion pictures and starred as Major Seth Adams, the wagon master in the NBC television series, Wagon Train, which began in 1957. Bond died of a heart attack in Dallas, Texas on November 5, 1960 at age fifty- seven.
]]>Two miles to the east is the site of Walker's Ranch, an early Kearney County landmark. The ranch was established by Charles Walker in 1872 as a station on the government mail route from Kearney City to the Republican Valley. It consisted of a house, well, and stable large enough for forty horses. In 1873, the buildings were purchased by Deputy U.S. Marshal Daniel B. Ball who homesteaded the quarter-section on which the ranch was located.
An interesting episode in the early history of Walker's Ranch was Ball's capture of two men who had reportedly jumped his claim and murdered one of their companions. As settlement increased, the ranch assumed new importance with the establishment there of a postoffice in 1874 and a store in 1879.
The first term of School District 11 commenced at Walker's Ranch in 1877. The following year, the district's first schoolhouse, a sod structure, was built on a site just east of here. to the west was a racetrack constructed by the Wilcox District Fair Association in 1893. No traces of these early landmarks remain.
]]>On June 24, 1969, 14-year-old Vivian Strong was shot and killed by James Loder, a white police officer, while leaving a party in the Logan Fontenelle public housing complex. Vivian was one of many teenagers at a dance party in a vacant housing unit that had been left unlocked by the maintenance crew. After a neighbor called the police and officers arrived, the teenagers ran from the party. Officer James Loder raised his gun and fired a single shot, hitting Vivian Strong in the back of her head as she ran away. Vivian was killed instantly. The shooting death of this unarmed Black girl by a white police officer sparked several days of turbulent protests along 24th Street. Burning and looting destroyed both white and Black owned businesses between Hamilton and Lake, forever changing this vibrant Northeast Omaha community. Vivian Strong was the fourth of ten children, and the emotional toll of her death had a devastating effect on the family. In March of 1970, an all-white jury acquitted Officer James Loder of all charges related to killing Vivian Strong.
]]>Warnings to avoid "bloody Kansas" prompted the Steinauer brothers, Anton, Nicholas, and Joseph, to settle here in Pawnee County. They arrived in September 1856, only two years after the creation of Nebraska Territory. Famine and depression had forced them to leave their native Switzerland in 1852.
Although the brothers were among the first to claim land in this area, other immigrants of Swiss, German, Austrian and Bohemian descent soon settled nearby. Nebraska City became their chief social and trading center. Indians, including the Oto, hunted and trapped in the region.
Turkey Creek and Linden were early popular designations for the site which became Steinauer post office in 1874. After the Chicago, Rock Island, and Pacific Railway reached Steinauer in 1887, the village grew steadily and incorporation followed in March 1893. With railroad development, St. Joseph, Missouri became the chief urban market for the agricultural products of Steinauer and the surrounding area.
By 1910, the village's peak population of 248 had been achieved. Over the years, the pronunciation of the name evolved to "Steener" though the original spelling has been retained. Today, Steinauer is a quiet community which remains rooted in the history and traditions of its pioneer settlers.
]]>In 1873 Horace A. Cowles, Civil War veteran, set up the Cyclone post office in his home one mile east and one mile south of present-day Shelby. A second post office, Arcade, was established on mile east of town in 1879; a year later it moved to the present location to be near the Omaha & Republican Valley Railroad, later the Union Pacific. Shelby was named after a railroad official.
Landowners Gilbert Van Vorce and Peter Matter gave the railroad half interest in their property to develop a trade center. Original streets retain their names: Walnut, Elm, Chestnut, Pine, Cherry, and Oak.
By the 1880s, the town had a drugstore, hardware store, hotel, boot and shoe shop, livery stable, bank, brick factory, and physician. The Shelby Sun newspaper was founded in 1889. Before 1900, Shelby had its own electric light plant. Telephone service arrived in 1903 and a water system in 1911. John Dunning and his father built radio station KGBY in 1926.
Shelby was home to well-known Nebraska artist Terence Duran, 1904-1968.
]]>Polk, founded in 1906 and named after U.S. President James K. Polk, was the last town established in Polk County. When the Union Pacific Railroad began building a branch line in the area, J. Wesley Wilson, his brothers Nathan and Victor, and brother-in-law C. C. McCune, formed the City Improvement Company to obtain land and lay out the town.
After a townsite had been surveyed, the company held a public sale of lots on September 11, 1906, which attracted more than 1,000 prospective buyers. A whirlwind of building activity followed, and the village boomed. Houses and stores from nearby Arborville and Stark were moved to Polk to take advantage of the railroad.
By 1907 four passenger and two freight trains arrived daily. The village grew to include four churches, five grocery stores, three banks, two hotels, a livery barn, blacksmith, school, and newspaper. By 1914 water and electric systems had been installed. The town's peak population of 561 was reached in 1920. Agriculture was and still remains the mainstay of the area, and the village continues as a trade center for the surrounding region.
]]>A railroad camp named Summit (elev. 4876 ft.) was located on this site in 1884. When the Fremont, Elkhorn, and Missouri Valley Railroad reached here in 1886, an unincorporated townsite named Bowen was platted and designated the county seat of Sioux County. On June 20, 1887, the name was changed from Bowen to Harrison. The village of Harrison was incorporated on April 7, 1888. A school, county courthouse, and church were built in 1888-1889. Until a community well could be dug, water had to be hauled five miles by wagon from Sow Belly Canyon.
Although the Kinkaid 640 acre Homestead Act of 1904 caused a rapid influx of settlers into Sioux County, Harrison grew more slowly, reaching its peak population of 500 in 1940. After World War II, a trend toward larger farms and ranches, mechanization, and improved transportation led to a loss of population. In its centennial year of 1986, Harrison (pop.360) remained the only incorporated town in Sioux County and the principal educational, governmental and trade center for its citizens, many of whom were descendants of pioneer settlers.
]]>In 1885 surveyors designated a route through the Sand Hills for a Burlington Railroad branch line. The rails reached this point on the Blaine-Thomas county line in 1887, and a town was laid out. It was named Halsey after Halsey E. Yates, the son of Burlington official Charles E. Yates. A depot was constructed, followed by a post office and school/church, both built of sod.
]]>In the summer of 1866 John Oak (namesake of Oakland) assisted Swedish immigrant families to take up homesteads here in the Logan Creek Valley. Among the first settlers were Victor Colson and his family. He is said to have broken the first sod in Oakland Precinct in 1867. The miniature stone house and well indicate the site of Colson's original sod house and are made from the original foundation stones of the 14 by 24-foot frame house, built about 1875.
]]>This park developed on ground once known as the "clay pit." John F. Flynn came to Norfolk in April 1880 to start a brick factory at this site. Flynn, Dr. Ferdinand Verges, August Pilger, and Herman Gerecke formed the Norfolk Brick and Tile Company, which operated from 1888 until 1907.
Dr. Verges came to Norfolk in 1880. For three generations the family practiced medicine in the community. Dr. Carl J. Verges, son of Ferdinand, bought the 4 1/2 acres in 1907 after the clay's quality declined. He tore down the buildings and in 1916 converted the clay pit into a private park. Landscaping included a lagoon, a foot bridge, and a gazebo.
In 1933 a cave lined with concrete and decorated with comic strip figures was dug into the 90-foot west bank. It was used for meetings and parties. In 1959 Dr. and Mrs. C.J. Verges deeded the park to the city, which gave it to the Elkhorn Valley Historical Society in 1986.
]]>Settlement promoted by the Kinkaid Act of 1904 was directly responsible for the establishment of Valleyview, originally called Riverview. In February 1912 Walter Hesselgesser and Earl Cronk opened Valleyview Store, which included a grocery, living quarters, lunch room, lodging rooms, and gas station. A community hall was located on the second floor. A post office opened in 1914. By the 1920s the village consisted of several residences, a livery stable, a garage, a blacksmith shop, and School District 17 which was moved to Valleyview in 1916. The post office closed in 1937 and the store in 1939 due to decreasing population and better transportation and roads in the area.
On October 16, 1940, Sheriff George Brock of Taylor was murdered at Valleyview by John Birkes. He had come to serve an eviction notice to John and Willard Birkes, who had brought their nephew Richard to town to register for the draft. A chase, utilizing an airplane, resulted in the trio's eventual capture and imprisonment.
The site of Valleyview is now part of the Valley View Flat Recreation area at the Calamus Reservoir.
]]>In 1903 the legislature appropriated $50,000 to establish a state normal school in central or western Nebraska. After 111 ballots, the State Board of Education chose Kearney as the site. The city donated twenty acres on the west side of town for a campus, including one building, Green Terrace Hall, which was used mainly as a dormitory until razed in 1960. Construction of the administration building began in 1904. The first classes at Kearney State Normal School were held in the summer of 1905 with 96 students enrolled. In 1921 the school was renamed the Nebraska State Teachers College at Kearney and became a four-year college. The granting of liberal arts degrees was authorized in 1949, and a graduate program was established in 1956. The name was changed to Kearney State College in 1963. On July 1, 1991, the institution became part of the University of Nebraska, to be known as the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK). Under its various names, UNK has played an important role in state development and continues to meet the educational, research, and service needs of Nebraska.
]]>