McCook Daily Gazette: Columns: Walt Sehnert

Owens vs. Currence, 1883 (01/30/12)
Most of the people who settled Southwestern Nebraska were hard working, honest folk who had come to make a better life than the one they left back east. But there were always some, the adventurers, that thought that might discover an easy path to riches by taking advantage of folks who were weaker, or not as smart as they were -- the gamblers, the professional gun men and rustlers...

Indians, 1872 (01/23/12)
Between 1860 and 1878 there were some 15 million buffalo that roamed the Great Plains. The territory between the Platte and Republican rivers was said to be the best buffalo hunting country in the world. To the Plains Indians the buffalo was truly "the staff of life," and they prided themselves on the fact that they killed only as many buffalo as they needed to live. ...

More from the early days of McCook (01/16/12)
McCook is a typical frontier town -- a hundred wooden buildings, cheaply built, small, many unpainted ... not the slightest pretensions of architectural symmetry ... on the north side of the railroad track. Not a vestige of shade protects them from the sun ... with temperatures this summer many days over 100 degrees, one day 108 degrees...

The Fighting McCook -- Alexander McCook (01/09/12)
Alexander McCook, our town's namesake, was a very interesting historical figure. Nine months after the war began he became the youngest Brigadier General in the Union Army. Some called him the Union's the most colorful General. To others, he was the most controversial...

Daniel McCook: Patriarch of the House of Dan (12/19/11)
Note: McCook, Nebraska takes its name from Alexander McDowell McCook, a friend of one of McCook's founding fathers. Alexander, however, was just one son of a very famous family of Civil War fighters. Seventeen McCooks fought for the North in the Civil War. ...

McCook: 'The Magic City of the West' 1883 (12/12/11)
On May 25, 1883, McCook celebrated its first anniversary. The town had been platted just one year before. In that year it had grown from a population of near zero to nearly 1000 citizens. "It could boast fine new machine shops and a 15 stall roundhouse on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line, and the designation of Division Point between Lincoln, the Capital City of Nebraska and Denver, the Capital City of Colorado...

Walts of the world (12/05/11)
Recently I received the following letter from an old friend: Dear Walter, I continue to be dismayed about failing to name any of my four children Walter, or my children failing to name any of their children Walter. I spoke about it to our daughter, Sara, the nurse, and she reported that she is aware of the problem and is working on it. ...

Coming to Red Willow County in 1872 (11/28/11)
Though there was little or no fighting by Union and Confederate troops in Nebraska during the Civil War, this territory played an important part in the political climate of the nation at that time. There was great debate in Congress over the merits of the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, under which new states coming into the Union from the Kansas-Nebraska Territory were to decide by popular vote whether or not slavery would be permitted...

NU and the Four Horsemen of Notre Dame (11/21/11)
"Outlined against a blue, gray October sky, the Four Horsemen rode again. "In dramatic lore they are known as famine, pestilence, destruction, and death. These are only aliases. Their real names are Stuhldreher, Miller, Crowley, and Layden. They formed the crest of the South Bend cyclone, before which another fighting Army team was swept over the precipice at the Polo Grounds this afternoon, as 55,000 spectators peered down on the bewildering panorama spread out upon the green plain below." This paragraph, penned by Grantland Rice, of the New York Herald-Tribune, on the occasion of the Notre Dame's victory over Army, 13-7, on Oct. ...

Houdini and Halloween (10/31/11)
Each year, on Halloween, members of the Professional Magicians' Fraternity conduct a séance in New York City, with the goal of connecting with the spirit of Harry Houdini, who died in 1926. To date, each year they have come away disappointed. Harry Houdini, born Erich Weiss in 1874, is generally regarded as one of the all-time great magicians, world-wide. ...

McCook's Florence Nightingale (10/24/11)
One of McCook's most beloved citizens in the 1930s, '40s, and '50s was Miss Sallie Hawkins, who served as the school nurse for all of the ward schools, as well as the McCook Junior High and High schools. She was variously referred to as "McCook's Florence Nightingale, and as a "selfless humanitarian, one of those rare individuals who never consider self when there is anyone in need of help."...

Charlie Goodnight, Oliver Loving (10/17/11)
When cowboy traits are discussed -- loyalty, resourcefulness, bravery, and independent nature -- the real-life person those traits describe are those of one, Charles Goodnight, who provided the inspiration for the movies and western literature, to the present day. Goodnight was a rancher/cowman, "the father of the Texas Panhandle cattle industry." Historian. Frank Dobie said, "Goodnight approached greatness more than any cowman in history."...

Texas longhorn cattle trail (10/10/11)
In 2011, because of the severe drought in Texas and the Southwest, there has been a huge influx of Texas cattle into the (relatively) greener pastures of Nebraska, a movement not seen, perhaps, since the great cattle drives in the last quarter of the 19th Century...

'Trainwreck' Tom Novak (10/03/11)
Each year, at the Outland Trophy Dinner, a Nebraska Cornhusker football player is presented with the "Tom Novak Award," an honor which best exemplifies the courage and determination despite all odds in the manner of NU's great All-American Fullback, Linebacker, Center (or as one sportswriter described it, "The Toughest Son of a Gun on the team")...

1882 cowboys, good and bad (09/26/11)
In 1882 working cowboys were a common sight in McCook. A McCook Tribune writer told about some of these cowboys. A Cowboy has qualities that many men, who have the veneer of civilization, do not possess. He is courageous, else he could not follow his hazardous vocation. He is courteous to women. He will make any sacrifice, undergo any discomfort, suffer any privation to help another in distress, be that other man friend or stranger. This when he is sober...

Walter Reed's hospital (09/19/11)
In August 2011 the Walter Reed Army Medical Center is the subject of much news coverage. After more than 100 years, this venerable institution, hospital of choice for the President and our elected officials in Washington, healing place for our wounded military men and women since the Spanish American War, and the laboratory of so much military related medical research, is to be closed in favor of other medical facilities in the Washington area...

A.J. Lewandowski, N.U.'s Mr. All-Purpose (09/12/11)
During World War II Americans were asked to help with the war effort in many many ways, often calling for skills that were outside their comfort zone, and even foreign to work that they had done in the past. In high schools across the country retired teachers were called back to service. Sometimes this was good, but sometimes those teachers had been retired too long and were beyond their capabilities...

A key McCook business, 1882, the livery stable (08/29/11)
In retirement, in the 1930s, H.P. Waite of McCook wrote an extensive, and highly entertaining history of our town. Mr. Waite was quite a man. He had been a school teacher in Iowa, but was overcome with the longing for adventure and quit the teaching profession and came west with his brother, Ed, in 1879 -- first to a claim they filed near Wilsonville. The brothers were apparently nothing if not optimistic -- their capital stock consisted of three horses, a covered wagon, and $14...

McCook during the war (08/22/11)
It has been said that citizens were united, as never before, or since, during World War II. Everyone felt that winning the war was the nation's most important job. We felt that there was a real threat to America from the German Nazis and the Japanese. Those of us who remained home accepted as fact that we needed to do all we could to support our boys in uniform who were locked in mortal combat with our enemies in far-flung battle fronts around the world...

Evert 'Mo' Mosher (08/15/11)
McCook lost a familiar face recently, with the passing of Evert "Mo" Mosher. He was a fellow who delighted in bringing a smile to everyone he met, whether it was in bringing garden produce to friends and acquaintances in town, or delivering his home-crafted novelties -- such as his "tax' shelters and "stool samples," or showing pictures of his "Pride and Joy." His was a welcome presence everywhere he went. ...

Bedcheck Charlie (08/08/11)
I was a late comer to the Korean War. I was through with the University in 1949. My roommate, a Naval aviator in World War II, had resigned from the Naval Reserve in early June 1950, and was certain that he would be called back when the war began on June 25, 1950, but he never was, and went on to have a fine career with the Caterpillar Corp...

Buffalo Soldiers from Fort Rob (08/01/11)
In all of America's wars there have been black soldiers. In the Revolutionary War it is estimated that there were some 25,000 black soldiers, who saw the war as an opportunity to gain their freedom from slavery. Most saw the British as their best hope, and 20,000 blacks served as Black Loyalists to the British invaders, while only 5,000 served in Washington's Army...

William Valentine, educator (07/25/11)
Note: These days, when one travels on East 5th and 6th Streets, and views the former East Ward School, halted now in the midst of its transformation to apartment dwellings, he cannot help but think of that structure, when it was the proud center of learning for so many years. ...

Marine ace Joe Foss (07/18/11)
Recently my wife, Jean and I were privileged to attend the induction of my cousin, Gordon Garnos, into the South Dakota Hall of Fame. The reception for the new inductees took place in the lovely new Hall Headquarters Building alongside Interstate 90, between Chamberlin and Oacoma, in central South Dakota...

Opening the time capsule (07/11/11)
Recently we were fortunate to make a trip to Plainview, my home town. There was a lot going on there. For me, there was the All-Class Reunion. My high school class was celebrating its 65th anniversary. A number of my old (and I do mean old) classmates returned and it was fun to reconnect with these friends and relive some of those special times that we shared at PHS. But the Reunion was just a small part of the celebration for the town...

Ray Caffrey and the Kansas City Massacre (06/27/11)
The years of the 1920s have been called "The Lawless Years," coinciding with the years of Prohibition, when gangs operated on a national scale, but the forces that attempted to control these crimes were largely local in their authority. At that time, the FBI organization was just the Bureau of Investigation. Officers were not well trained; they carried arms only in very restricted circumstances, and information was not shared between local police forces and the Bureau...

George the Giant Killer (06/20/11)
George Norris was born in Ohio in 1861, the first year of America's great Civil War. By the time he was three years old his father and only brother had died, and George was raised in a household of women. At a young age he was fascinated by politics and the workings of the law. He was an avid reader, first following the campaign of Rutherford B. Hayes in the newspaper, and observing trials at the local court house whenever he got the chance...

Willis' 14th bombing mission (06/06/11)
Willis Jones, a member of the 96th (B-17 Flying Fortress) Bomb Group in World War II, suffered through great adversities during the war, including being shot down (on his 26th mission) over Augsburg, Germany, and surviving 13 months in a German POW (Stalag). As bad as being shot down and being a POW was, his 14th mission was worse...

The rest of the story: The run of No. 2558 (05/23/11)
Last week, we told the story of the Burlington Zephyr, Mark Twain's record speed run from McCook to Oxford in 1935, as part of the Flood Reclamation Celebration. This was indeed a memorable day in McCook's history, and the people of Southwest Nebraska were understandably proud of that speed record. But, as the late Paul Harvey would say, "Now for the rest of the story!"...

Burlington's Ralph Budd in McCook (05/16/11)
By October 1935, life in McCook and Southwest Nebraska had begun to return to normal after the ravages of the Memorial Day flood, which had killed more than 100 people, swept away thousands of farm animals, laid ruin to farm buildings and thousands of acres of prime farm land in the Republican Valley, downed hundreds of miles of telephone and power lines, and destroyed miles of railroad bed and tracks of the Burlington Railroad, which skirted the banks of the Republican River through the entire length of the Valley. ...

Benkelman's Ward Bond (05/02/11)
Beginning in 1957, with the TV success, Wagon Train, Ward Bond, the star Wagonmaster of the show, became the poster boy of the American cowboy/pioneer of the post Civil War era -- brave, resourceful -- a veritable "knight of the old west." He certainly had the credentials to play such a part...

Vern Meints -- A lifetime of serving others (04/25/11)
Vern Meints was born in rural Culbertson, Nebraska, in 1925 and graduated from Culbertson High School, where he was a standout athlete, especially in baseball. There was even the dream of a major league career. That dream (like the dreams of so many American youths of that era) was dampened during a World War II hitch with the U.S. Marines...

James A. Jamison, a rebel in our midst (04/18/11)
The year 2011 marks the 150th Anniversary of the start of America's Civil War. Each day there are interesting stories in the newspapers and on television dealing with the Civil War generally and how the Civil War affected folks in Nebraska. There were a number of Civil War Vets in McCook. Most had fought for the North, but not all --...

The Tootsie Roll Kid, E.P. Baruth (04/11/11)
With the coming of spring, and the announcement by the Knights of Columbus of their Annual Tootsie Roll Drive to aid "The Arc" (the Association for Retarded Citizens) and the local SWATS (Southwest Area Training Services) workshop, thoughts of E.P. Baruth, a great humanitarian and sports legend, came flooding back -- McCook's original "Tootsie Roll Kid."...

Meredith Willson, the Music Man's Music Man (04/04/11)
Recently, McCook was treated to a Community Theater production of "The Music Man" at the high school auditorium. This was at least the third time since we came to McCook in 1957 that "The Music Man" has been presented, each time to delighted audiences. It seemed like a good idea to take a look at the fellow, Meredith Willson, who conceived the idea of this classic American musical and brought it to life...

The men of the Marsh agency (03/28/11)
For many years the Marsh Insurance and Real Estate Agency was a familiar landmark in McCook. The four generations of the Marsh men who ran that agency were also some of the leading figures of our town, playing a conspicuous part in the business and social organizations of the town...

Wade Stevens, McCook aviation pioneer (03/21/11)
During World War I there were a number of young men from Southwest Nebraska who volunteered to fight the Central Powers (Germany) in France. A number of these young men chose to join the Army Signal Corps, the branch of service that included the Flying Service. ...

Remembering McCook's Music Man, Floyd Hershberger (03/14/11)
In early March, 2011, the McCook Community Theater Association is busy with rehearsals for the Spring Musical, "The Music Man." At this same time we are saying goodbye to Floyd Hershberger, who has truly been McCook's Music Man for more than 50 years. ...

'Swantie' Swanson, World War I veteran (03/07/11)
There were some 65 million combatants on both sides in World War I, a war that claimed 9 million military lives. The last member of the Central Powers army (German) to die was Franz Kunstler, who passed away in 2008. In February 2011, the last American veteran of World War I, Frank Woodruff Buckles, passed away at the age of 110. ...

Made in Nebraska -- early automobiles (02/28/11)
We do not often think of Nebraska as the hotbed of automobile manufacture, but in the early days of the automobile (1890-1912) more than a few automobiles were manufactured at a number of varied locations throughout the state (as in most states). Needless to say, these early ventures did not rival Detroit as the Capital of Auto manufacture, but they did serve to fuel the dreams of these early Henry Ford wannabes...

Egypt's Anwar Sadat (02/21/11)
In 2011 mass demonstrations in Cairo, Egypt have attracted much attention worldwide, and have apparently sparked similar demonstrations throughout the Middle East. For some, these demonstrations have evoked memories of the late 1970s, when Anwar Sadat, Egypt's Premier shocked the Arab world by instigating a peace process with Egypt's longtime enemy, Israel -- a gesture, which gained worldwide admiration and respect and earned for Sadat the coveted Nobel Peace Prize in 1978...

McCook's DAR Clubhouse (02/14/11)
In 1890 the United States was going through a period of increased interest in the nation's history, and very intense and visible demonstrations of pride in the USA. Differences between the North and the South had begun to blur after the Civil War and patriotism for the united country were strong and frequently demonstrated publicly...

McCook's aircraft industry (02/07/11)
In the 1920s, after World War I, there was tremendous interest in aviation. Many of the boys who had flown the planes in France, for the Army Signal Corps, now wanted to continue their flying experience or to be connected with the flying industry somehow...

Custer's Last Stand (01/24/11)
Interesting things happen as the result of this weekly column. Sometimes people share items in their possessions, which they feel might be of general interest. Recently, we were given a copy of the Tribune Extra, Bismarck, Dakota Territory, dated July 6, 1876. ...

Early NU Rose Bowl memories (01/17/11)
No matter how many winning seasons the NU football team has, or how many championships are achieved, the 1940 season, culminating with a trip to the Rose Bowl in Pasadena -- Nebraska's first bowl game, will have a special place in Husker history. The members of that pre-World War II team were very close -- like brothers, as one member of that team described it, led by a true "father figure," Biff Jones. ...

Will Rogers (01/10/11)
All of the late night comics and writers, from Johnny Carson on, who comment on the day's news and public personalities, can thank one man, who made fair game of politicians and other public figures. In the 1920s and 30s Will Rogers kept America laughing, and politicians just a bit more humble with his radio quips, his personal appearances, and a daily column in the newspapers. ...

The Bryans of Nebraska (01/03/11)
Having had the opportunity recently to enjoy the hospitality of Bryan Hospital in Lincoln, sampling their gourmet food and taking part in their unique entertainment practices -- it seemed like a good idea to find out a bit more about the man/family, who gave his/their name to one of the state's great medical complexes...

Back when college football was fun (12/27/10)
In 2010 football fans in Nebraska are a bit spoiled, as to what to expect at the end of a successful season. There has been considerable grumbling about the fact that the Cornhuskers will have to play in San Diego's Holiday Bowl, (a lesser Bowl game) against Washington, an opponent they defeated soundly earlier in the season...

A different kind of Christmas (12/20/10)
It was 1951 -- our first Christmas as a married couple. The problem was that we weren't together. Jean was in Nebraska. I was in Korea; so far away from home that if I went any further I'd be coming back again -- in a land where they didn't celebrate Christmas anyway. And to top off the whole situation I was working the bakery graveyard shift on -- Christmas Day! I was having a bad case of homesickness...

Prohibition -- When liquor was outlawed, many looked the other way (12/13/10)
For the period of the 1920s, the United States banned the manufacture and sale of intoxicating beverages. This was the "Noble Experiment," or Prohibition, which was the law of the land from 1919-33. Alcohol consumption was generally on the rise from the time that white men settled in the U.S., even though at every turn there were efforts to ban intoxicating drinks. ...

December 1969 (12/06/10)
People sometimes ask us if we remember a certain time, a certain date, or a certain happening. For those of us who often have difficulty remembering what we had for breakfast it helps when we are handed the newspaper, which reported the incident. Recently a loyal reader brought a copy of the McCook Gazette, December of 1969. Though things continue to change, some things remain the same...

The Pounds of Nebraska (11/29/10)
It must have been the fall of 1948 or '49. I was at the University of Nebraska and had met a friend of mine, George Metcalf, at the door of the Student Union. George was a grizzled old archaeologist, who worked for the Smithsonian Institute on the U of N campus. ...

Those Kare-free Kiwanis Kut-ups (11/22/10)
In July 1948, to mark the 25th Anniversary of the McCook Club, the men of Kiwanis hosted a grand party at the Gayway Ballroom, in North McCook. The McCook Club had grown from an original membership off 39 in 1923 to 89 members by this meeting, but the aims of the club, to benefit the community, and at the same time keep a heavy emphasis on fun, remained the same over that period of time...

The 1951 Kiwanis Minstrel Show (11/15/10)
People regularly donate heirlooms to the High Plains Museum in McCook. Recently one of the donated items that arrived at the museum was a copy of the "Riverboat Minstrels, A Jack Adair Production," performed by the McCook Kiwanis Club in 1951. This show proved to be one of the most popular amateur productions in McCook, in 1951. ...

The end of polio? (11/08/10)
One of the featured displays at the High Plains Museum, in downtown McCook is a tank respirator, or iron lung, the device most associated with polio. Physicians had found that in the first, acute stages of polio, a patient very often was unable to breathe because the polio virus paralyzed the chest muscle groups that allowed that patient to breathe. ...

Sister Kenny and the polio epidemic (11/01/10)
Very early pre-history Egyptian paintings and carvings have depicted adults and children walking with canes, with the withered legs common to Polio victims, and doctors have described the symptoms of the disease named Poliomyelitis since the 1700s, yet wide-spread outbreaks of that disease were rare until the 20th century. ...

75th anniversary of the Reconstruction Jubilee (10/25/10)
1935 saw probably the worst disaster ever to occur in the Republican Valley of Nebraska and Kansas. The region suffered an unprecedented flood on Memorial Day weekend, followed by a devastating tornado. The twin disasters claimed the lives of more than 100 people in the Republican River Valley, and did many million of dollars damage to personal property, livestock, bridges, roads and rail lines. ...

What was it like to live in McCook in 1886 (10/18/10)
1886 was an interesting year. Nebraska was still the new frontier, but elsewhere in the world noteworthy things were happening -- for instance: Meanwhile, in Southwestern Nebraska: In 1886 McCook was still in the "boom" stage of development. Folks had come to the new town on the banks of the Republican River from Eastern Nebraska and most of the states to the east -- lured by promises of rich, cheap farm land, jobs on the railroad and businesses to serve a growing population. ...

Gen. Henry 'Hap' Arnold, American hero (10/11/10)
Henry "Hap" Arnold, a real American hero, was born in 1886, in Gladwyne Pennsylvania. He is the only man ever to hold the rank of 5-Star General in both the Army and the Air Force, but his route to the Air Force was a strange one. His father was a well-known physician in Pennsylvania who also served in the Pennsylvania National Guard. ...

Electric cars, the early years (10/04/10)
Suddenly, in 2010, the electric car is the hot topic, in magazines, newspapers, and on television shows. It would seem that the "Age of Electric Automobiles" is just around the corner. Trouble is, that same excitement has surfaced periodically for the past almost 200 years, only to disappear as a distant memory -- until the next time...

Ray's Revolutionary War connection (09/27/10)
For many years, through most of the 20th Century, Ray Search was a well-known figure in McCook, as manager of the Fox and Temple Theaters. A native Nebraskan, he was a great ambassador for the state. He was one of the city's leading storytellers. But there was another side to this popular McCookite, one that he did not often talk about...

McCook mayor, Dr. Frederick M. Karrer (09/20/10)
During a medical career in Southwest Nebraska that spanned more than 50 years, Dr. Frederick M. Karrer of McCook witnessed vast changes in the practice of medicine. When he started his practice, in 1929, most of his work consisted of house calls, even surgery -- sometimes as far as 35 miles from his office. ...

Bummy Booth and the first Cornhuskers (09/13/10)
The University of Nebraska played its first game of football in 1890, and by the turn of the century had already become something of a powerhouse in the Midwest, behind such stars as Ebenezer Mockett, and George Flippin. Flippin was the first black player to play for the University, and went on to become a successful physician at Stromsburg, Nebraska. ...

Dachau (08/30/10)
In late April 1945, two weeks before the Nazi Army surrendered unconditionally, officially ending the European phase of World War II, American soldiers of two Divisions of the 7th Army liberated the Concentration Camp at Dachau, just 10 miles from Munich...

The Liberty Bell did get around (08/23/10)
The Liberty Bell is one of the best known symbols of the United States and the freedom that we all too often take for granted in this country. Yet, in the beginning it was not a symbol for the United States. It predated the Declaration of Independence and the United States Constitution, and was originally brought to the United States in 1752 by the people of Pennsylvania to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of William Penn's issuing his Charter of Privileges, which stated that the colonists in the new world had the right to govern themselves, certainly a major step by the colonists on their road to Independence and the overthrow of British rule.. ...

The sandwich's namesake (08/16/10)
Recently, in this column we discussed names of widely used products that carried the name of the inventor of that product. I was stopped by a reader who took me to task because I had not mentioned the sandwich and the inventor of that common staple in our lives. ...

Remembering one of McCook's finest storytellers (08/09/10)
In 2004 McCook (and Nebraska) lost one of its finest storytellers, when Frank Benner Morrison passed away at the McCook hospital, just a few days short of his 99th birthday. Frank was born in Colorado, where his parents, Frank and Viva had planned to homestead, in the eastern part of the state. ...

What's in a name? (08/02/10)
Recently, while walking around the Midway at the Red Willow County Fair, I caught myself looking at the brightly lighted Ferris Wheel and asking, "Do you suppose that there was a Mr. Ferris that invented that wheel?" As soon as I had a chance to look up information on that subject I did so, and sure enough, there was indeed a Mr. ...

John Wooden, the Wizard of Westwood (07/19/10)
In June 2010, the sports world and America lost one of its greatest coaches, and one of its finest gentleman, when John Wooden of UCLA passed away at age 99. Wooden retired from coaching basketball at UCLA after the 1975 season, but he never was very far out of the public's eye, and its admiration. Over the years, whenever there was discussion about the greatest coaches ever, regardless of sport, Wooden's name was sure to be prominently mentioned...

McCook: The land of the free and the home of the Braves (07/12/10)
Recently, McCook's Jason Loop had the priviledge of meeting and visiting with Phil Niekro. He was favorably impressed with the Hall of Famer, a master of the knuckleballer for the Milwaukee/Atlanta Braves. His experience prompted a look back into the past, the Golden Age of baseball in McCook...

Sky Chief of the Pawnee tribe (06/28/10)
When the white man first came to what is now Nebraska, the Pawnee Nation could boast of a population of some 10,000, in three tribal sections. They were considered among the most advanced of the Nebraska Indian peoples in farming, handicrafts, music, medicine and religion, and the Pawnee methods were imitated by other tribes. ...

Early days of District 8 (06/21/10)
One of the first white settlers in Red Willow County was William Sheodron Fitch. He was born in Missouri in 1838, but grew to manhood in Illinois, where he began his farming career. When the Civil War broke out he became a part of the 89th Division of Illinois Infantry, and took part in some 20 battles with this group. He was wounded in the Battle of Stone's River, Murfreesboro, Tennessee...

1935 Republican River Flood, Trenton (06/14/10)
This year we are observing the 75th Anniversary of the Republican River Flood of 1935. The '35 flood was reported to be a "100 year event." It was said that a flood of similar magnitude occurred in 1826. Prior to 1935 there are written reports of severe Republican River floods in 1885, 1903, 1905 and 1915. (In 1885 nine people were killed from the towns of Cambridge, Richmond Canyon, and Arapahoe -- victims are buried in Cambridge and the graves are marked with a monument)...

A reunion to remember (06/07/10)
The 1935 Republican River Flood is arguably the greatest disaster ever to befall our valley. This year, 2010, the 75th Anniversary of the flood, offers the opportunity to look at some of the stories to come out of that bleak time. The following story is of the McNeece and Rippen families...

McCook Columbian Souvenir 1893: Selling Southwest Nebraska (05/24/10)
Water Works: Most cities think they cannot afford an expensive system of water works until they have attained considerable wealth and population, and trust to the precarious supply to be furnished by wells, which invariably fail in dry seasons. McCook, thanks to the Lincoln Land Co. has had water works from the first, in 1882. At present there are 101⁄2 miles of mains, 332 taps and 21 fire plugs. Original cost $75,000...

McCook in 1893 (Part 1) (05/17/10)
One of the most interesting of the old-time McCook documents, to my way of thinking, is the McCook Columbian Souvenir 1893. This was a publication put out by the McCook Times Democrat, a 30-page promotional booklet, which was distributed to fair-goers at the Chicago Columbian Exposition, commemorating Columbus' voyage to the New World. The style is typical of that time, and is a highly entertaining bit of propaganda, extolling the virtues of McCook, Red Willow County and Southwest Nebraska...

Bob Daugherty, man with a vision (05/10/10)
Recently, the University of Nebraska received one of its largest gifts ever, when Robert B. Daugherty (Valmont) donated $50M to help the university develop solutions to various world challenges, including poverty, hunger, agriculture production, and water management. These are lofty goals to be sure. Yet Bob Daugherty is a man who has aimed high in the past, and has a proven record of achieving his goals...

Germans from Russia (05/03/10)
For many years, McCook's annual celebration, now referred to as Heritage Days was known as German Heritage Days, and was instigated by descendants of some of the early settlers in our area. The celebration probably should have been known as Germans from Russia Heritage Days, and Catherine the Great, the Empress of Russia, should have been named the patron saint of the festival. ...

The Hastings Naval Ammunition Depot (04/26/10)
During World War II Nebraska was very much involved in the war effort. Besides sending so many of our young men to fight in the Armed Forces, there was the SAC Headquarters at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha. Eleven other airfields were scattered across the state, including the one at McCook. Nebraska, was home to a number of Prisoner of War Camps, including one at Indianola. Another facility, so very important to the war effort was the Naval Ammunition Depot at Hastings...

Living in the 1930s (04/19/10)
I was born in South Dakota in 1928, but moved to Plainview with my parents, Walter and Lenita, in 1930, when they bought the Plainview (Nebraska) Bakery from Sam Johnson. Though hard times had really begun in the late '20s, they became progressively worse in the 1930s, and it was of the decade of the '30s that my earliest memories were formed. I really believe that all who lived through that trying period in our nation's history carry scars that will be only erased by death...

McCook memories, Robert Rishel (04/12/10)
The Rishel family, originally from Indiana, came to a farm in Red Willow County Nebraska in 1897, after spending some 14 years in Gage County. We are indebted to Robert Rishel, born in McCook in 1924, for giving us some history of the Rishel family, and for sharing his memories of growing up in McCook in the days before World War II...

Henri Christophe of Haiti (04/05/10)
Surely, Haiti must be the unluckiest of nations. Enduring one of the most devastating earthquakes the world has ever known, Haiti has been much in the news. Outpourings of aid have come from most of the countries of the world, including the US. But natural disasters are not the only problem Haiti has been forced to endure. ...

Student overcame odds to find success in short life (03/29/10)
This week we said goodbye to special person when we buried 19-year-old Tyler Larson, of Aurora. He was my sister, Judy's, grandson. Tyler was not well known outside the Aurora community, but in McCook he was recognized as the equipment manager for the first Aurora Championship football team, and Aurora's biggest fan...

Mr. Sears' kit homes (03/22/10)
Zebulon Pike's adventures to the territory of the Louisiana Purchase, in 1806, have sometimes been compared to the Voyage of Discovery of Lewis and Clark. But Pike lacked the observation skills and the optimism of the earlier duo. He did the country he explored, which we now refer to as the High Plains region of America, a great disservice when he wrote, "those vast plains of the western hemisphere may become, in time, as celebrated as the sandy wastes of Africa". ...

Sailing on the Gulf of Cortez (03/15/10)
The Sea of Cortez, better known in the United States as the Gulf of California, is, and has been for a long time, a popular destination for the sport of sailing, as well as sport and commercial fishing. Unlike the Eastern Coast of Mexico, which opens into the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean (and the Bermuda Triangle), the Sea of Cortez is considered a relatively calm place to sail, between the main coast of Mexico on the East and the Baja Peninsula on West...

The Kays of McCook (03/08/10)
Recently, the descendent of one of McCook's early prominent families made news when it was learned that Harold Kay had stepped forward, with a substantial donation, to further the fund drive for a new Event Center at McCook College. A long-time resident of North Platte (though he has been back to McCook frequently over the years through his practice of the law), nevertheless, Mr. ...

Enjoyable times in the barber shop (03/01/10)
In thinking back over a period of many years I realize that I've spent a good bit of time in the barber chair, with many barbers -- enjoyable times that I fear I've pretty much taken for granted, and I'm sorry for that. So here's my belated salute to a few out of that grand group of fellows (and for most of my life the barbers were indeed males)...

Paul Claus, quintessential Alaskan bush pilot (02/22/10)
Paul Claus, the 52-year-old son of John Claus, has been flying in Alaska since he was 13, and had logged some 15,000 hours (by 1998) of flying in some of the roughest, most remote territory on our continent. In some 39 years of flying he has earned the respect and admiration of his friends and colleagues -- the Alaska Bush Pilots, some of the most daring and skilled flyers of small planes of anyplace on the planet...

The Quigleys of Indianola -- pioneer family (02/15/10)
Some of the people who came to Western Nebraska in the early days were adventurers, or speculators, looking for opportunities to make a fast buck. But, after 1862, many were Homesteaders, looking for a new beginning, a chance to wrest a living from 160 acres of "free" government prairie land. ...

The boys from Alaska (02/08/10)
A few years ago my wife, Jean and I had the good fortune to attend a Health Seminar in California. It was an informative week. We learned a great deal about what makes us tick, and how to care for our health. But the most interesting part of the trip turned out to be the people we met, ate with, and talked with at the seminar...

Plato Redfern and tthe Drake Relays (02/01/10)
The Drake Relays, a function of Drake University at Des Moines, Iowa has grown, over the past 100 years, to become one of the largest and most important track meets in the United States. Although Drake has traditional ceremonies surrounding football and basketball games, it is the Drake Relays that bring alums back to the campus, where festivities go on, almost night and day, for the week of the games...

Trouble with the law (01/25/10)
I have always attempted to be a law-abiding citizen, yet things have happened from time to time, things beyond my power to control, which have put me in a nervous position, in regard to the law. When I was about 10 years old our family took a vacation trip to Mexico. ...

Alfred Nobel (01/18/10)
One of the most anticipated events each year -- worldwide -- is the awarding of the Nobel Peace Prize, which honors a living individual who has significantly advanced peace in the world. This year the event was particularly meaningful here in the United States, since our own president was the recipient of this prestigious award. While the Nobel prizes are familiar, we are perhaps not so familiar with the man behind the prizes...

Gen. McCook and the defense of Washington (01/04/10)
When the Civil War began, in 1861, there were few families that contributed more to the Union cause than did the family McCook from Ohio, descendents of George McCook, an Irishman of Scottish descent, who had come to the United States about 1780. Altogether there were some 15 members of the McCook family, two brothers and 13 of their sons, who volunteered to fight for the Union cause...

The Nebraska Steihmrollers (12/28/09)
While "Cornhuskers" was the generally accepted moniker for the Nebraska football team after 1900, for a time another nickname was very popular. In 1911 the University of Nebraska hired one E.O. (Jumbo) Stiehm to be the new football coach, and the public was intrigued with the new coach and uses they could make of his name...

Napoleon in Korea (12/21/09)
When I arrived in Korea in 1951 one of my roommates was a very large black man from Omaha. "Just call me Napoleon," he said by way of introduction. "I'm the world's largest water-boy." He was an easy fellow to talk with. Napoleon had played a bit of football, which was easy to believe. He still looked as if he could anchor a line pretty well. He was also a Nebraska Cornhusker fan, as was I, and we spent a good deal of time remembering good times (and bad) of past football seasons...

Harold Sutton, McCook's 'Mr. Republican' (12/14/09)
Harold Sutton was born in McCook in 1889, the son of Col. Harvey Sutton, the colorful organizer and long time leader of the famous Burlington Band, and the owner of one of McCook's most successful business, the Sutton Jewelry Store. From all reports, Harold was a rather pampered (but only to a certain degree) young man, who had lofty goals, and figured that his father would help him to accomplish all his dreams...

With the Army Nurse Corps in World War II (12/07/09)
When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, there were fewer than 1,000 nurses in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps. Eighty-two of these nurses were on Oahu, Hawaii, serving three Army medical facilities on the island. They were swamped by the early casualties of the bombing, and joined with Navy and civilian doctors and nurses to care for the wounded, as casualties quickly mounted...

Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Part 2 (11/30/09)
Douglas MacArthur was a fellow who apparently was born to be a leader of men. His grandfather, Arthur MacArthur Sr., a jurist in Milwaukee, and onetime governor of Wisconsin (briefly), was an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the District of Columbia. Arthur was a Democrat, but was politically skillful enough that he was appointed to this office by the Republican President, Ulysses S. Grant...

The Thanksgiving tradition (11/23/09)
The days leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday are busy ones at the bakery, but fun days as well, as this is the unofficial beginning of the holiday season, and we start to make the special treats that are reserved for just this season. Thanksgiving is a favorite holiday for a lot of people. ...

Walt Sehnert
Days Gone By

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