Drawing connections between past, present and future.
The dictionary defines legacy as something that is “transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past.” It’s a gift that the past bestows on the present and future.
The High Plains and the North Platte Valley have a special legacy and a unique place in American history. The private, nonprofit Legacy of the Plains Museum celebrates the people who made that history. We explore how the experiences of prior generations helped shape the world we live in today. And we illuminate the lessons of the past to provide inspiration and guidance toward a brighter future.
A Legacy Tied to the Land
Legacy of the Plains Museum is a dedicated caretaker of our ancestral legacy. Our legacy is tied to the land, linking the first human inhabitants to ranchers who find stone tools, linking growers irrigating with North Platte River water to the Oregon Trail pioneers who traveled along that river.
Our central objectives include:
- Promoting an appreciation for traditional agricultural techniques, machinery, and knowledge in the unique High Plains environment.
- Exploring the cultural and ethnic diversity of this region, including the unique perspectives of Native Americans, Japanese Americans, Mexican Americans, and Volga Germans.
- Preserving the stories of historic trails and travelers.
- Providing interactive, hands-on experiences to help visitors understand the origins of their food and how communities have grown in this region of the American West.
Our Mission
Mission Statement
The mission of Legacy of the Plains Museum is to collect, preserve and interpret the history of settlement and agriculture of the region for present and future generations.
Vision Statement
Legacy of the Plains is a destination for people interested in stories of human and agricultural history in the North Platte Valley and High Plains.
Through interactive exhibits, living history, educational programs, and archival resources, we invite visitors to explore, experience, and connect with the unique history of this region of the American West.
We serve area residents who wish to preserve and learn about their heritage as well as researchers and tourists from around the country and world who seek historical resources, education, and entertainment.
Our museum exhibits focus on the archaeology of Native American and Westward Expansion sites, the lives of pioneering settlers, the establishment of irrigation, the development of rural communities, the diversity of culture in the High Plains, and the innovative technologies and cultural practices of raising animals and crops—including cattle, sheep, potatoes, sugar beets, beans, corn and wheat—in a semiarid environment.
Responsibilities and Values
Legacy of the Plains recognizes and adheres to these institutional responsibilities and values:
Collection. The collections are the foundation of the institution. The first responsibility of Legacy of the Plains is to create and maintain a library / archive and collections for research, display, and living history. These collections consist of artifacts, documents, oral histories, and published materials significant to the history of the North Platte Valley and High Plains agriculture. To meet the next goal, preservation, collecting must be constrained to only those artifacts that are appropriate to collection goals and the organization’s resource capacity.
Preservation. In everything we do we strive to balance the preservation of Legacy of the Plains’ historical resources with the need for public access to them. Preservation will include appropriate storage and exhibition, applied conservation, and cataloguing according to the standards of the profession.
Research. Legacy of the Plains has a duty to make accessible to researchers the artifacts, documents, oral histories, and published materials significant to North Platte Valley heritage and High Plains agricultural developments. This research also provides the basis for decisions about collection, preservation, and interpretation.
Service through education. Legacy of the Plains exists to serve people curious about the history of this land and its people, development, and agricultural heritage. We seek to interpret High Plains agricultural history and North Platte Valley heritage in an active and entertaining way to educate, enrich, and enlighten our visitors. Through a range of services available to the public, we hope to promote curiosity, learning, dialogue, diversity of opinion, and support. The groups we serve include families, tourists, educators, students, researchers, museum members, young people, and seniors.
Public trust. Legacy of the Plains is organized as a public trust to act as a steward of historical resources for the benefit of the public. The Legacy of the Plains Board of Directors, staff and volunteers are committed to meeting the highest standards of personal integrity and professional ethics to earn the trust of our donors, members, and the general public.
Making connections. Legacy of the Plains strives to illustrate how people connected with one another socially and economically to survive and thrive in the High Plains / North Platte Valley. By extension, our goal is to connect visitors to the museum on a personal level. Special components of these connections include illustrating the importance of High Plains / North Platte Valley archaeology and history to the story of the United States and the importance and innovations of agriculture to the increasing number of people who have no direct experience with agriculture.
Our History
Legacy of the Plains Museum was created in 2013 through the merger of two well-established institutions: the North Platte Valley Museum and the Farm And Ranch Museum.
History
Farm And Ranch Museum (FARM)
FARM was established in 1988 as the Western Nebraska Society for the Preservation of Antique Farm Equipment. Its mission was to collect and preserve the history and artifacts of agriculture and its cultural impact in the Nebraska Panhandle and to increase awareness of agricultural history and establish a museum at which historical agricultural techniques could be demonstrated.
The organization changed its name to Farm And Ranch Museum in 1997 and bought 100 acres of land which now serve as the Legacy of the Plains campus. FARM established fields for demonstration crops, pasture(s) for a herd of longhorn cattle, storage/display for the organization’s extensive collection of antique farm and ranch equipment, a 1930s farmstead (the Wiedeman House), a demonstration blacksmith shop and a maintenance shop.
A 12,000-square-foot exhibit building and 7,000-square-foot visitor center were built in the first decade of the new millennium.
North Platte Valley Museum (NPVM)
The North Platte Valley Historical Society was founded in 1961 and formally incorporated as a nonprofit organization in 1969. Its mission was to collect and preserve the history and artifacts of the North Platte Valley—particularly that of Indians, emigrant trails, early settlement, and the cattle industry—and to establish a museum and promote history to the public.
NPVM operated in a rented building in downtown Gering until 1974, when the collection moved to a campus at 900 Overland Trails Road. The campus featured a log cabin, sod house, windmill and caboose, plus about 12,000 square feet of interior space for exhibits, archives and storage.
Our Future
In 2013-2014, Legacy of the Plains added more than 20,000 square feet of new space for exhibition, storage, and administration, combining collections from two separate locations into one museum campus.
We’re growing with a specific purpose in mind: to become a world-class attraction that shares the stories of western Nebraska with the largest possible audience.
All Americans have migration stories in their family history, so the migration stories of western Nebraska hold universal appeal. All Americans can identify with the determination and perseverance of our region’s settlers. The food we produce feeds the whole country, and our spirit of scientific inquiry is mirrored throughout America.
In the coming years we’ll connect with new audiences by:
- Developing new exhibits and programs
- Publicizing the high quality of our unique artifact collection
- Encouraging researchers to take advantage of our extensive archival resources
- Leveraging the contributions of our partners and supporters throughout the North Platte Valley and beyond
Board of Directors/Staff
Board members are elected to three-year terms. Board elections are held at the annual member meeting in March. Officers serve one-year terms. Officers are elected at the first regular board meeting following the annual member meeting.
President
Brian Croft
Vice President
Steve Viessman
Treasurer
Susan Weideman
Secretary
Jack Preston
Other board members include: Diane Mercer, Larry Gibbs, Eleanor Shimek, Jodi Ruzicka, Harry Gabel, Anne James, Don Gentry, Carl Roland, Jeff Schledewitz and Bill Vaughan.
Professional Staff Members
Executive Director
David Wolf
Dave is a graduate of Scottsbluff High School and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He has an extensive background in education outreach and public relations and has raised money for two local non-profit organizations. He has worked in local government, politics, and most recently at the North Platte NRD. Dave oversees the general operations of the museum. You can reach Dave at director@legacyoftheplains.org.
Curator
Collin Karst
Collin received his master’s degree in history from the University of Central Oklahoma in 2026 and a bachelor’s in history from Rogers State University in 2023. His principal responsibilities include caring for the museum’s extensive collection, maintaining and updating the gallery, developing temporary exhibits, and helping researchers utilize the museum’s resources. If you have something you would like to donate to the museum or have a research request, please reach out to him at ckarst@legacyoftheplains.org.
Assistant Curator
To be Filled soon
Archivist
Alexander Czarnecki
Alex has a B.S. in history from Lake Superior State University with a minor in theatre. Previously, he worked as a historic interpreter at Fort Mackinac in Mackinac Island, MI, and was curator of the Presque Isle County Historical Museum in Rogers City, MI. His principal responsibilities include caring for the museum’s extensive collection of paper documents and books in the museum’s archives and helping researchers utilize the museum’s resources. When he isn’t working, he enjoys playing tennis or one of his several musical instruments. If you have documents or books you would like to donate to the museum or have a research request, please reach out to him at aczarnecki@legacyoftheplains.org.
Assistant Archivist
Grant Godbersen
Grant received a degree in agricultural business from Northeast Community College and a B.A. in history from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. His principal responsibility is the maintenance of archival records to include accessioning and deaccessioning archival records; inventorying and cataloging photographs and photographic negatives, maps, books, journals, newspapers, scrapbooks, diaries, and personal paper collections, as well as various other historical documents. Grant also performs archival research upon request. If you have a research request or a topic in mind, feel free to reach out to him at ggodbersen@legacyoftheplains.org.
Japanese Hall Coordinator
Adyn Yamamoto