Nebraska Historic Buildings Survey Dawes County Prepared for: Nebraska State Historical Society Prepared by: The Louis Berger Group, Inc. 950 50th Street Marion, Iowa 52302 319-373-3043 www.louisberger.com Cover Designed By: To The Letter Design, Cedar Rapids, Iowa Feature Cover Photo: Postcard of Crawford provided by the Nebraska State Historical Society Library/Archives. August 2005 Acknowledgements The Louis Berger Group, Inc. (Berger) wishes to thank the following organizations and individuals for assisting us with this study: Dawes County Historical Society; Betty Moffatt and Crawford Historical Society; Rollin Curd; Tom Buecker and the staff at the Fort Robinson Museum and State Park; Bill Callahan and Jill Ebers of the Nebraska State Historic Preservation Office; and the staff of the Nebraska State Historical Society Library/Archives. Berger prepared this report for the Nebraska State Historical Society (NSHS). Berger Architectural Historians Camilla Deiber and Amy Dixon conducted the county-wide survey and contributed to the report. The Nebraska Historic Building Survey (NeHBS) program is administered by the Nebraska State Historic Preservation Office (NeSHPO) with the cooperation of the Nebraska State Historical Society (NSHS). The NeHBS is funded in part with the assistance of a federal grant from the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service. However, the contents and opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the view or policies of the U.S. Department of the Interior. Regulations of the U.S. Department of the Interior strictly prohibit unlawful discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, or handicap. Any person who believes he or she has been discriminated against in any program, activity, or facility operated by the recipient of federal assistance should write to: Director, Office of Equal Opportunity, National Park Service, 1849 C Street NW, Washington, D.C. 20240. The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences-permanence of paper for printed Library Materials (ANSI 239-48-1984). The Nebraska State Historical Society Library/Archives and the Dawes County Historical Society provided the historic photographs used within the report. Other images in the report include survey photographs taken in November 2004 by Berger. Branding icons in Chapter 2 were computer generated by Berger Architectural Historian Camilla Deiber and are copies of existing Sioux County brands depicted in Joe Nunn’s book, The History of Branding in Sioux County. Graphic layout and design of the report was completed by Berger Architectural Historian Camilla Deiber. Table of Contents Historic Overview of Dawes County ..................................................................................... 1 Geographic regions of Dawes County ....................................................................................... 1 Early History and Native American Occupation ..................................................................... 1 Native Americans in the region............................................................................. 1 Trappers .................................................................................................................... 3 Dawes County History ............................................................................................................ 4 Settlement patterns.................................................................................................. 4 Agriculture In Dawes County .................................................................................................. 5 Early Agricultural pursuits ..................................................................................... 5 Whitney Irrigation District..................................................................................... 6 Mirage Flats .............................................................................................................. 7 The Towns and Villages of Dawes County.............................................................................. 8 Chadron .................................................................................................................... 8 Crawford .................................................................................................................12 Marsland..................................................................................................................15 Whitney ...................................................................................................................17 Belmont...................................................................................................................18 History of Ranching in Dawes County...............................................................................21 History of Fort Robinson........................................................................................................39 Fort Robinson and the Red Cloud Agency..............................................................................39 Fort Robinson to Camp Sheridan Trail..................................................................................40 The Sioux Wars ....................................................................................................................41 The Death of Crazy Horse ...................................................................................................42 The Cheyenne Outbreak ........................................................................................................43 Expansion of Fort Robinson.................................................................................................44 The Architecture of Fort Robinson ........................................................................................51 Survey of Dawes County..........................................................................................................55 Objectives...............................................................................................................................55 Methodology...........................................................................................................................55 Background Research............................................................................................55 Field Survey ............................................................................................................55 Limitations and Biases of the Survey.....................................................................................56 National Register Criteria......................................................................................................56 Other considerations.............................................................................................57 6 Survey Results .......................................................................................................................58 Significant Historic Contexts .................................................................................................60 Agriculture ..............................................................................................................60 Commerce ..............................................................................................................62 Education................................................................................................................62 Religion ...................................................................................................................63 Government ...........................................................................................................64 Diversion.................................................................................................................64 Transportation........................................................................................................65 Settlement ...............................................................................................................65 Recommendations .....................................................................................................................73 Certified Local Government................................................................................73 Heritage Tourisim Initiative .................................................................................73 Preservation Planning ...........................................................................................73 Intensive Survey of the Whitney Irrigation District and Mirage Flats Irrigation District...................................................................................................74 National Register of Historic Places Priorities .................................................74 Intensive Study Historic Ranches and the Landscape of Rangelands ......... 74 Agriculture in Southern Dawes County.............................................................74 Oral Histories.........................................................................................................75 Preservation In Nebraska ........................................................................................................77 Nebraska Historic Buildings Survey ......................................................................................77 National Register of Historic Places ......................................................................................78