In the Middle of a Prairie Fire, 1876
Prairie fires were an ever-present danger in frontier Nebraska. Rolf Johnson of Phelps County knew this from experience. The Swedish immigrant provides a vivid ...
Phelps County
What We Found
Sod House Construction
Sod houses were the first dwellings for many Nebraska pioneers. Descriptions of these homes can be found in reminiscences written years later, but there are few accounts ...
Buffalo Hunting
In late October 1877 young Rolf Johnson and three friends left their homes in Phelps County, Nebraska, for a buffalo hunt in northeastern Colorado. The hunt was not very ...
Marker Monday: Atlanta Prisoner of War Camp
Marker Text
During World War II, a prisoner-of-war internment camp was located directly north of here. The camp had its beginning in a request by the ...
Marker Monday: Holdrege Silt Loam – The Nebraska State Soil
Our Historical Markers across Nebraska highlight moments and places in our state's past. Today we turn our gaze down in order to appreciate the 1.8 million acres of our ...
Faceless Fred, the Phantom of Phelps County
Fred, who lived near Holdrege, was a known philanderer, much to his long-suffering wife's dismay. Having tired of his antics, Fred's wife killed him and cut off most of ...
Marker Monday: Phelps County
Marker Text
The great immigrant roads to the West which followed the Platte River brought the first settlers to this area. Beginning in the late 1850's, ...
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