McCook's first July 4 celebration, 1882
Monday, March 5, 2012
In early June1882 nothing existed on McCook's town site to prevent an unobstructed view, nothing more than an occasional cacti and a few blades of sparsely grown grass. Looking north, from the river, not a tree or a bush could be seen looking across the land but the sloping hill upon which McCook now stands. There was nothing upon which a bird could rest, save a few scattered sunflower stalks -- but it didn't matter -- there were no birds anyway. Thus did Albert Barnett, one of McCook's early citizens, begin to write his memories of the early days of McCook. These memoirs were never published.