Archival Material
The library/archive contains many types of federal and state government records, including homestead filings and land patents.
We have records and memorabilia from prominent North Platte Valley corporations, including Great Western Sugar Company (ledgers, annual reports, and photographs) and Lockwood Manufacturing.
Legacy of the Plains houses personal archives from prominent local citizens, including:
- Charlie Fenster (a University of Nebraska researcher in dryland conservation tillage)
- Robert Preston (wheat farmer from southwestern Scotts Bluff County)
- Charles Reisig (irrigation farmer in Scotts Bluff County)
- Wayne Warner (farmer/rancher from Banner County, Nebraska)
- A. B. Wood (founder of the Gering Courier, Nebraska State Legislator)
- George Mark (publisher of the Nebraska Homestead and Mitchell Index)
- A. N. Mathers (first Gering mayor, Scottsbluff National Bank)
We also collect historic records and photographs from area communities, schools and events. We have files including:
- Local communities: Bayard, Broadwater, Gering, Haig, Henry, Hull, Lyman, McGrew, Melbeta, Minatare, Mitchell, Morrill, Redington, Scottsbluff, Terrytown
- Events: Arnold murder trial, Blizzard of 1949, Flood and tornado of 1955, Oregon Trail Days,
- Schools and civic groups: rural Scotts Bluff County schools, city schools, Boy Scouts, churches, Rebekahs, G.A.R., hospitals, Hiram Scott College
- And more: Bay State Cattle Ranch, Bisterfeldt potato cellar archaeology, Cawley’s Potato Chips, Germans from Russia, Japanese, Mexicans, P.O.W. camps
If you would like to review documents from the archive, please call the museum to make an appointment.