Since times unrecorded, springs from the Ogallala Formation relieved travelers through the Republican Valley. In 1930 Benkelman citizens improved a nearby spring to benefit motorists on NE 3 (later US 34). The 1935 Republican River flood destroyed…

In May 1944 German prisoners of war from Camp Atlanta, Nebraska, were sent to a side camp near here to help area farmers complete the 1943 corn harvest. Seven farmers employed forty-four Germans, who harvested some ten thousand bushels of corn. Six…

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…

After the slaughter of the buffalo and the last of the Indian hunts, ranchers moved into this part of the Republican River country in 1875. Among them were I. P. and Ira Olive, who were using this canyon on their range in 1876. Herds of Texas cattle…

General George Armstrong Custer, commanding troops A, D, E, H, K and M of the Seventh Cavalry, camped near here June 22 to 30, 1867, after a march from Fort McPherson, Nebraska. They were campaigning against the elusive Sioux and Cheyenne Indians.…