.Hello Everyone,
The Pawnee and Sioux Indians were the first to discover the territory around Ogallala. After the fur trappers, gold seekers and homesteaders in the 1840's passed through the area on the California, Oregon, and Mormon Trails. However, it was the cattle drives between 1874 and 1884 that gave this small town the boost it needed and its reputation as “Queen of the Cow Towns.” At its peak, it had more cattle moving through than Dodge City, Kansas. Today’s visitors find Tri-Trails Park, Boot Hill, Front Street, and Mansion on the Hill serving as reminders of its fascinating history.
OGALLALA HISTORY
When the Transcontinental Railroad was completed, stops were required every few miles as trains made their way across the continent. In 1867, when it became a “tank town” for the Union Pacific. Ogallala, consisted of only a water tower and a section house along the tracks near the South Platte River.
As the area started development, buffalo hunters soon decimated the herds that had roamed the area for centuries. This led to Indian hostilities, particularly from the Sioux. To protect settlers, the United States Army stationed soldiers every few miles, usually along railroad sidings.
The following year, former railroad workers, brothers Tom and Philip Lonergan, and merchant and outfitter Louis Aufdengarten decided to set up businesses catering to soldiers, trappers, buffalo hunters, and a few cattlemen. Aufdengarten opened a general store and saloon while the Lonergans had a clothing store. By 1873, the population stood at 25, and the town had a few rough buildings.
In 1874, the Union Pacific constructed cattle pens and loading chutes just outside of town. This secured Ogallala’s role as a railhead for trail herds. That year cowboys, primarily from Texas, started arriving in Ogallala to sell their cattle.
As cattle arrived, the route was named The Texas Trail or Great Western Cattle Trail. Water stops and supply stores were located along the route in Oklahoma and Southern Kansas. However, water grew sparse as the cattle entered northern Kansas and southwestern Nebraska. As the herd reached the hills, with the South Platte River in the distance, most cattle stampeded into a run for the river. Most cowboys would push the herds across the river and allow them to graze on the open range north of Ogallala. In 1875, approximately 75,000 cattle passed through the town’s chutes.
That year the town consisted of one street, Railroad Street, that ran parallel to the train tracks. It had two saloons, the Cowboy’s Rest and the Crystal Palace; two houses of prostitution; and the Ogallala House, a hotel known for its food. A few homes, two supply houses, and a shoe store dotted the landscape. Soon the town added a small school and a jail regarded as the most substantial between Omaha and Denver but whose occupants soon outgrew its capacity. The Safford House, a hotel known for its luxury, also opened.
In 1876, two events caused a massive increase in Ogallala’s business. The Brule and Ogala Sioux had been confined to reservations. This opened the northern ranges for grazing and created a beef market for nearby Native American agencies. When gold was discovered in the Black Hills, miners and prospectors were willing to pay high prices for beef to those who would drive in the cattle. Throughout the early 1880's, Ogallala thrived as investors participated in the “get-rich-quick” cattle business. It’s estimated that in 1883 and 1884, half a million cattle were driven from Texas through Ogallala to be shipped east or sold to Montana and Wyoming ranchers.
The tempo of life in Ogallala changed with the seasons. During the winter and early spring, life was dull and drab. However, shortly after the first of June, when the first Texas trail herds arrived, activity started to hum. From June through August, business boomed as ten to twelve herds of 2,500 heads were located south of town. The cowboys overwhelmed the facilities making sleeping rooms and meals hard to find. Activity remained at a fever pitch until the end of August when the seasonal drives were over and the Texans left for their home state.
There was a brief revival of business during October. During that month, area cattlemen brought in their steers off the grasslands for shipment east. Floaters, gamblers, tradespeople, and dance hall hostesses spent their winters in Omaha or Cheyenne, Wyoming. Only the hotels, one supply store, and a single saloon remained open for the winter as life in Ogallala settled down to peace and quiet.
With the Indian threat subsiding, fewer soldiers arrived in Ogallala. However, cowboys arrived seasonally in large numbers. Trail bosses represented the ranchers and paid the drovers once they arrived in Ogallala. This sudden burst of payments led to alcohol abuse and gambling. Rivalry between the Texans and U.S. Cavalry soldiers, who had fought for the north, often led to violent disputes involving shootouts. “Soiled Doves” kept the men entertained. Professional gamblers took advantage of naive cowboys.
By taking two to three months to make the cattle run, cattle barons from both the North and South arrived before their herds to complete business deals. By the time the cattle arrived in Ogallala, most had already been sold. Company representatives took them to Chicago and Omaha. The slaughter houses paid to transport them on the railroad.
A severe drought during the summer of 1883 and a rough winter ruined most ranchers. The final blow occurred in 1884 when the Texas Fever epidemic spread across the plains. It arrived in Ogallala in late July. The disease caused by southern ticks devastated cattle leading to quarantine laws and the end of the Texas Trail although cattle continued to trickle in during 1885. In August of 1884, the original town of Ogallala, located south of the tracks, burned down forcing most of the new businesses to locate along Spruce Street.
With the passage of the Homestead Act of 1862, lots of homesteaders had been filing claims onto the Nebraska plains, Kansas, and Wyoming on lands where cattle had grazed. State legislatures passed laws favoring farmers and penalizing cattlemen. By the end of 1884, Ogallala became a farming community with five general stores, three doctors, six land offices, and two newspapers.
In 2017, Ogallala, populated by more than 5,000 people, is a modern town with a diversified economy including an electronics firm and tourism. Major highways pass through it. The year 1913 brought the Lincoln Highway while during the late 1960's, I-80 was built south of town.
FRONT STREET
Front Street, a block long, provides a feeling of an Old West Main Street. The line of stores includes a restaurant, saloon, gift shop, and museum. It was built in 1964 to capitalize on the town’s colorful history between 1874 and 1884 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The museum is free and has recreations of an undertaker’s parlor, a jail, and a barber shop. Displays relate Ogallala’s story when it stood at the end of the Great Western Cattle Trail on the Union Pacific Railroad. Within the last year, a “Plains Rodeo Museum” reflecting Nebraska’s rodeo cowboy heritage has been established in a separate room of this museum.
Front Street Steakhouse and Crystal Palace Saloon offers American fare specializing in steaks. It also offers sandwiches, burgers including Buffalo Burgers, fish, chicken, salads, and appetizers. It provides a child’s menu. Breakfast is served Monday through Saturday until 11:00 a.m. and until 2:00 p.m. on Sundays. Prices are moderate.
Feel free to run outside during the meal for the Old West shootout. This is done by high school students. It’s such poor quality that the actors aren’t even miked making it impossible to hear. It’s performed Thursday through Saturday from Memorial Day until July and Wednesday through Saturday from July to mid August at 7:30 p.m.
It is followed by the Crystal Palace Revue by the same youngsters. They have a piano player, saloon girls, and cowboys in a stage show. The script depicts Ogallala's "Wild West Town” history. Reaction on it is mixed. Admission is $14 for adults and $7 for children ages five to 12. Those under age four attend for free.
BOOT HILL CEMETERY
Boot Hill was the final resting place between 1874 and 1884 for cowboys, drifters, and settlers who helped make Ogallala the cow town it became on the Texas Trail. It is estimated that approximately 100 burials took place here. Many were buried with their boots on giving the cemetery its name. Their bodies, placed in canvas sacks, were lowered into shallow graves and marked with a wooden headboard. Men, women, and children were all buried here.
There is no record of when the first burials occurred. One possibility was the bodies of three tracklayers killed by Indians about a mile from Boot Hill in 1867.
William Campbell, a Texas drover, died after an encounter with the Moy brothers, two Yankees. He hurled insults at them, drew his gun on the brothers, and ended up dead on the floor. “Rattlesnake” Ed Worley was killed in 1884 in a fight over a $9 monte (like poker) bet. He was one of the last burials.Tom Lonergan was killed in the 1877 spring roundup when his horse and the Texas steer he was chasing tangled. His neck was broken in the fall.
After the cemetery was abandoned, some of the dead were moved to a new cemetery during the 1880's. The graves of the rest, even the marked ones, were neglected. Markers and headstones deteriorated and disintegrated. No valid records were kept so it’s unknown where people are buried. Few of the original graves exist.
In the 1960's, the local Jaycees organized an effort to clean up the hill, plant trees, recover early grave markers, and decipher them. In 1978, five Texas Trail graves were accidentally found. This encouraged community interest in the cemetery. Union Pacific Railroad provided a grant to allow more research and upgrading of Boot Hill.
The horse and rider bronze statue on top of the hill represents a Texas Trail cattle drover. The Trail Boss by Robert Summers is an identical copy of one found in Dallas, Texas. It replaced a concrete statue of a horse and rider sculpted by Dr. Burdette Gainsforth depicting Texas cowboy Lep Sanders. It moved in 2007 to the Ogallala Livestock Market sale barn west of town.
Visitors can tour Boot Hill by climbing the steep 30 steps to the top of the hill. It is planned to build a road to the top by this winter. It is free to the public and is located at W. 10th Avenue between West E Street and Parkhill Drive. It’s open sunrise to sunset seven days a week.
TRI-TRAILS PARK
Tri-Trails Park is located at the geographic crossing of three major historic trails that passed through Keith County (Ogallala’s County) during the 1800s. These were the Oregon Trail, Pony Express Trail, and the Texas Trail (a.k.a. the Great Western Cattle Trail). It is maintained by the Big Mac Kiwanis Club and Ogallala’s Garden Club. Its address is Road West 80 & Lawrence Road.
From 1843 to 1848, thousands of settlers followed the “Great Platte River Road.” Hazards were the ruts buffalo would carve out that were said to be 16 inches wide and four inches deep. Since the wagons had to travel over them at right angles, it commonly resulted in broken axles.
The marker in the park was made in 1912 by the State of Nebraska. It was relocated from a site north of its present location, at the former Old Platte River Bridge, when Highway 61 was reconstructed. The Keith County Historical Society and Garden Club were in charge of moving and dedicating this marker at the park in April 1963.
It’s estimated that more than five million cattle and one million horses came up the Texas Trail or Great Western Cattle Trail between 1874-1886. The trail, originating in southern Texas, extended into the Dakotas, Wyoming, and Montana as livestock were taken to ranches and Indian reservations. It was much longer and carried more cattle than the Eastern Trail which ran from Texas to the Abilene, Kansas railhead. The Eastern Trail was also known as the Chisholm Trail.
The Rotary Club of Ogallala dedicated the Great Western Cattle Trail marker on November 9, 2013. Vernon, Texas’s Rotary Club originally started placing the GWCT markers followed by other Rotary Clubs along the GWCT Trail in their areas.
The Pony Express Trail followed the Oregon Trail through Keith County from April 1860 to November 1861. Three Pony Express stations existed in the county. Sand Hills was located a short distance north of Tri-Trails Park. Alkalai Lake Station was 12 miles east of Sand Hills while Diamond Springs Station was situated 12 miles west.
The triangle-shaped rock in the park displays two Pony Express markers and was dedicated June 6, 1965. The original Pony Express Centennial marker, stolen in 2003, featured the three faces of the founders of “The Pony.” The Big Mac Kiwanis Club had the replacement marker made and mounted in 1994. A rectangular Sand Hills Station marker was added and dedicated in August 1967 in conjunction with the Nebraska Centennial Pony Express Reride.
The Pony Express Rider silhouette, known as “Pony Man” was dedicated in June 2011. Symbolizing the spirit of the Pony Express, It greets present day Pony Express riders, who pass by each June during the Pony Express reride by the National Pony Express Association.
The 10-day NPEA ride follows the route from St. Joseph to San Francisco. Each year during this ride, a mochila (mailbag) is exchanged between horses at Tri-Trails Park. More than 500 riders participate in the 1,966 mile route that is as close as possible to the original trail. During the even years, the ride goes west to east while in odd years the route is from east to west.
We were fortunate to interview Mary Cone about the Pony Express and park. She is Nebraska NPEA’s only woman trail captain. She is in charge of 43 miles of the route - finding riders, scheduling, managing, etc. She usually rides six to 12 miles in 2-mile legs depending upon how many riders they have.
WHAT WAS THE PONY EXPRESS
Though most people realize the Pony Express was an important part of American history, many are amazed to learn that it only existed 19 months. In January 1860, William H. Russell, Alexander Majors, and William B. Waddell, who were freighters, formed the Central Overland California & Pike’s Peak Express Company. By April 1860, half of the infrastructure existed. The route, with five divisions, ran from St. Joseph, Missouri to San Francisco.
They established home stations where riders could rest every 75 to 100 miles. Smaller relay stations were 10 to 15 miles apart to provide riders with fresh horses. By mid 1861, the operation expanded from its initial 86 stations to 147 stations.
Riders and horses had to meet certain requirements. Riders ranged in age from teenagers to age 40. They had to weigh less than 120 pounds and carry 20 pounds of mail and 25 pounds of equipment. They had to follow a special moral code and were given an inscribed, leather Bible to carry. The company employed between 80 and 100 riders and several hundred station workers. They received wages plus room and board.
Russell advertised for 200 grey mares, ages four to seven, not exceeding 15 hands high. They had to be well broken and warranted sound. The company bought 400 to 500 horses. Many used on eastern runs were thoroughbreds while California mustangs were seen on the western routes.
Mail traveled in four locked leather boxes. Keys for the mail were in St. Joseph, Salt Lake City, and Sacramento. These boxes (cantinas) were sewn onto the corners of a leather mochila that fit over the saddle. Mail was wrapped in oilskin to protect it from the rain. This allowed for fast removal and placement on the next horse. Horses averaged 10 miles per hour, frequently galloping at 25 miles per hour. During his route of 75 to 100 miles, a rider would change horses eight to ten times.
The first rides occurred on April 3, 1860 from both directions. The only time the mail did not go through was from May to late June 1860 during an Indian uprising. A challenge proved to be major snowstorms during the winter.
The Pony Express originally charged five dollars per half ounce for mail. Fees were later reduced to a dollar per half ounce. At first, it ran once a week in each direction. A second weekly trip was added in July 1860. Mail was delivered in 10 days or less between St. Joseph and San Francisco.
Whether California decided to stay in the Union depended on Abraham Lincoln’s policies during his inaugural address. The Pony Express delivered Lincoln’s March 4 message to California in the fastest time ever - seven days and 17 hours. This brought news that the state would remain loyal.
COC&PP was practically bankrupt when they launched the Pony Express. Russell counted on winning the central overland mail contract in order for the company to survive and prosper. Unfortunately, the building of the telegraph meant this did not happen.
Officially, the Pony Express ceased operating with the completion of the transcontinental telegraph on October 26, 1861. It made its last run on November 20. 1861. While in operation, it made 300 runs each way, traveled more than 600,000 miles, and carried over 33,000 pieces of mail.
MANSION ON THE HILL
The Mansion on the Hill, a three-story Italianate design with many Queen Anne features, was Ogallala’s finest residence when completed in 1887. Composed of red bricks of Brule Clay, it was built by L. A. Brandhoefer for his first wife when they lived in York, Nebraska. She died of consumption soon after they were married. He was a widower when he arrived in Ogallala. There he became a cashier at the Bank of Ogallala and remarried.
He never lived in the structure and sold it instead to the family of Hugh L. McWilliams, president of the Keith County Bank. The McWilliams frequently entertained with Brandhoefer and his second wife being frequent guests. Parties held in the home were often described in the newspaper. They stayed in the home until 1890 when they left Ogallala.
During 1918, it was used as a hospital. From the 1920's until 1966, it served as a boarding house and private residence. In 1966, the Keith County Historical Society purchased the home. On October 3, 1973, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The home has ten foot ceilings and sixteen inch brick walls. Solid brass hardware is seen throughout with scroll designs on the plates, doorknobs, and hinges. The wood trim, around the windows and doors, features a different hand-carved motif in each room. Walnut and carved cherry woods dominate.
Notable are the hand carved, walnut wood fireplace mantles with floral designs and brass fire dogs. Hand-painted glass chandeliers with crystal teardrops hang in the parlor, library, and dining room. None of the furniture is original to the home. While much of the furniture is Victorian era, other periods are represented as well.
We were met by Vance Nelson of the Keith County Historical Society. Nelson, dressed in period attire, portrays Leonidas Brandhoefer. He was our guide as we toured the property. This was a special off-season treat arranged for us. During the regular open season, guide staff is not usually dressed in costumes.
The first floor consists of a spacious parlor, dining room, kitchen, library, family parlor (later used as a bedroom), hall, and bath. A beautiful curving staircase leads to the upper levels. The second level consists of three bedrooms and a bathroom while the third was used as maid’s quarters with an unfinished room for storage. For those who don’t want to climb the stairs, like Earl and me, a book displays photos of what they will find upstairs. The house had a carriage house.
The guest parlor houses a rare square piano. The kitchen had a coal burning stove and icebox typical of that period. Water was piped in from a windmill. The dining room table was set including a celery vase to indicate wealth during the Victorian period. Nelson explained about the various types of dining - British, French, Russian, and American. He further explained that after dinner the ladies would return to the parlor and play parlor games. The men went to the library to play Seven Up, a card game similar to poker, smoke cigars, and talk.
In the back of the home, where a porch once existed, is a museum with many Ogallala artifacts. Unfortunately, most of these are not labeled. Vance advised the Society plans to improve these exhibits.
One display is on Robert Goodall known as the Edison of the Plains for his work on inverters and capacitors. He also developed an electric arc welder. In all, he had 20 patents.
Goodalls supplied capacitors for proximity fuses for the United States Navy during World War II. The plant also produced fishing reels, fishing rods with automatic buttons, soldering machines, watch cleaning machines, and top of the line walkie talkies. It later sold out to TRW then became a part of Japan’s American Suzuki Corporation. The company once had five plants and was the town’s largest employer.
Visitors can also tour the District #7 one room school house on the Mansion grounds. Built in 1902, it was originally located five miles south of Roscoe, Nebraska. It contains old-fashioned desks and slates as well as 1897 Baldwin readers. One can also view the O’Brien/Lute home, an early 1900s homestead era dwelling.
The Mansion is open from the Friday before Memorial Day through the Sunday before Labor Day, Tuesday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. On Sundays, the hours are 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. It is located at 1004 N. Spruce Street. Admission is free, but donations are highly encouraged.
OPEN RANGE GRILL
Our choice for meals while in Ogallala is Open Range Grill known for its hand cut fries and wide variety of tasty burgers. You’ll also find appetizers, salads and sandwiches ranging from chicken to a Reuben and Rocky Mountain Oysters. Patrons get to select from four or five different buns such as Kaiser, sourdough, and brioche. Sauces are all homemade. Kid’s selections are listed on the main menu. You can wash your meal down with everything from fountain drinks to beers or a glass of wine. Prices are very reasonable. For example, a burger with fries ranges from $6.99 to $9.99.
I interviewed one of the owners, Colby Coggins, who opened the restaurant in 2011 in what was formerly a boat dealership. Jennifer Coggins runs it. He operates a cow/calf yearling operation. He primarily has red and black Angus as well as some Herefords and a few cross breeds. He sells beef to the USDA inspection plant in Ovid, Colorado. The restaurant opened when they discovered the town needed a burger/beer joint, and he had a lot of beef to sell.
You find Open Range Grill at 1108 North Spruce Street. Their number is (308) 284-0899. Hours are Sunday to Thursday 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. On Fridays and Saturdays, it’s 11:00 a.m. to closing with the grill shutting down at 9:00 p.m.
The Pawnee and Sioux Indians were the first to discover the territory around Ogallala. After the fur trappers, gold seekers and homesteaders in the 1840's passed through the area on the California, Oregon, and Mormon Trails. However, it was the cattle drives between 1874 and 1884 that gave this small town the boost it needed and its reputation as “Queen of the Cow Towns.” At its peak, it had more cattle moving through than Dodge City, Kansas. Today’s visitors find Tri-Trails Park, Boot Hill, Front Street, and Mansion on the Hill serving as reminders of its fascinating history.
OGALLALA HISTORY
When the Transcontinental Railroad was completed, stops were required every few miles as trains made their way across the continent. In 1867, when it became a “tank town” for the Union Pacific. Ogallala, consisted of only a water tower and a section house along the tracks near the South Platte River.
As the area started development, buffalo hunters soon decimated the herds that had roamed the area for centuries. This led to Indian hostilities, particularly from the Sioux. To protect settlers, the United States Army stationed soldiers every few miles, usually along railroad sidings.
The following year, former railroad workers, brothers Tom and Philip Lonergan, and merchant and outfitter Louis Aufdengarten decided to set up businesses catering to soldiers, trappers, buffalo hunters, and a few cattlemen. Aufdengarten opened a general store and saloon while the Lonergans had a clothing store. By 1873, the population stood at 25, and the town had a few rough buildings.
In 1874, the Union Pacific constructed cattle pens and loading chutes just outside of town. This secured Ogallala’s role as a railhead for trail herds. That year cowboys, primarily from Texas, started arriving in Ogallala to sell their cattle.
As cattle arrived, the route was named The Texas Trail or Great Western Cattle Trail. Water stops and supply stores were located along the route in Oklahoma and Southern Kansas. However, water grew sparse as the cattle entered northern Kansas and southwestern Nebraska. As the herd reached the hills, with the South Platte River in the distance, most cattle stampeded into a run for the river. Most cowboys would push the herds across the river and allow them to graze on the open range north of Ogallala. In 1875, approximately 75,000 cattle passed through the town’s chutes.
That year the town consisted of one street, Railroad Street, that ran parallel to the train tracks. It had two saloons, the Cowboy’s Rest and the Crystal Palace; two houses of prostitution; and the Ogallala House, a hotel known for its food. A few homes, two supply houses, and a shoe store dotted the landscape. Soon the town added a small school and a jail regarded as the most substantial between Omaha and Denver but whose occupants soon outgrew its capacity. The Safford House, a hotel known for its luxury, also opened.
In 1876, two events caused a massive increase in Ogallala’s business. The Brule and Ogala Sioux had been confined to reservations. This opened the northern ranges for grazing and created a beef market for nearby Native American agencies. When gold was discovered in the Black Hills, miners and prospectors were willing to pay high prices for beef to those who would drive in the cattle. Throughout the early 1880's, Ogallala thrived as investors participated in the “get-rich-quick” cattle business. It’s estimated that in 1883 and 1884, half a million cattle were driven from Texas through Ogallala to be shipped east or sold to Montana and Wyoming ranchers.
The tempo of life in Ogallala changed with the seasons. During the winter and early spring, life was dull and drab. However, shortly after the first of June, when the first Texas trail herds arrived, activity started to hum. From June through August, business boomed as ten to twelve herds of 2,500 heads were located south of town. The cowboys overwhelmed the facilities making sleeping rooms and meals hard to find. Activity remained at a fever pitch until the end of August when the seasonal drives were over and the Texans left for their home state.
There was a brief revival of business during October. During that month, area cattlemen brought in their steers off the grasslands for shipment east. Floaters, gamblers, tradespeople, and dance hall hostesses spent their winters in Omaha or Cheyenne, Wyoming. Only the hotels, one supply store, and a single saloon remained open for the winter as life in Ogallala settled down to peace and quiet.
With the Indian threat subsiding, fewer soldiers arrived in Ogallala. However, cowboys arrived seasonally in large numbers. Trail bosses represented the ranchers and paid the drovers once they arrived in Ogallala. This sudden burst of payments led to alcohol abuse and gambling. Rivalry between the Texans and U.S. Cavalry soldiers, who had fought for the north, often led to violent disputes involving shootouts. “Soiled Doves” kept the men entertained. Professional gamblers took advantage of naive cowboys.
By taking two to three months to make the cattle run, cattle barons from both the North and South arrived before their herds to complete business deals. By the time the cattle arrived in Ogallala, most had already been sold. Company representatives took them to Chicago and Omaha. The slaughter houses paid to transport them on the railroad.
A severe drought during the summer of 1883 and a rough winter ruined most ranchers. The final blow occurred in 1884 when the Texas Fever epidemic spread across the plains. It arrived in Ogallala in late July. The disease caused by southern ticks devastated cattle leading to quarantine laws and the end of the Texas Trail although cattle continued to trickle in during 1885. In August of 1884, the original town of Ogallala, located south of the tracks, burned down forcing most of the new businesses to locate along Spruce Street.
With the passage of the Homestead Act of 1862, lots of homesteaders had been filing claims onto the Nebraska plains, Kansas, and Wyoming on lands where cattle had grazed. State legislatures passed laws favoring farmers and penalizing cattlemen. By the end of 1884, Ogallala became a farming community with five general stores, three doctors, six land offices, and two newspapers.
In 2017, Ogallala, populated by more than 5,000 people, is a modern town with a diversified economy including an electronics firm and tourism. Major highways pass through it. The year 1913 brought the Lincoln Highway while during the late 1960's, I-80 was built south of town.
FRONT STREET
Front Street, a block long, provides a feeling of an Old West Main Street. The line of stores includes a restaurant, saloon, gift shop, and museum. It was built in 1964 to capitalize on the town’s colorful history between 1874 and 1884 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.
The museum is free and has recreations of an undertaker’s parlor, a jail, and a barber shop. Displays relate Ogallala’s story when it stood at the end of the Great Western Cattle Trail on the Union Pacific Railroad. Within the last year, a “Plains Rodeo Museum” reflecting Nebraska’s rodeo cowboy heritage has been established in a separate room of this museum.
Front Street Steakhouse and Crystal Palace Saloon offers American fare specializing in steaks. It also offers sandwiches, burgers including Buffalo Burgers, fish, chicken, salads, and appetizers. It provides a child’s menu. Breakfast is served Monday through Saturday until 11:00 a.m. and until 2:00 p.m. on Sundays. Prices are moderate.
Feel free to run outside during the meal for the Old West shootout. This is done by high school students. It’s such poor quality that the actors aren’t even miked making it impossible to hear. It’s performed Thursday through Saturday from Memorial Day until July and Wednesday through Saturday from July to mid August at 7:30 p.m.
It is followed by the Crystal Palace Revue by the same youngsters. They have a piano player, saloon girls, and cowboys in a stage show. The script depicts Ogallala's "Wild West Town” history. Reaction on it is mixed. Admission is $14 for adults and $7 for children ages five to 12. Those under age four attend for free.
BOOT HILL CEMETERY
Boot Hill was the final resting place between 1874 and 1884 for cowboys, drifters, and settlers who helped make Ogallala the cow town it became on the Texas Trail. It is estimated that approximately 100 burials took place here. Many were buried with their boots on giving the cemetery its name. Their bodies, placed in canvas sacks, were lowered into shallow graves and marked with a wooden headboard. Men, women, and children were all buried here.
There is no record of when the first burials occurred. One possibility was the bodies of three tracklayers killed by Indians about a mile from Boot Hill in 1867.
William Campbell, a Texas drover, died after an encounter with the Moy brothers, two Yankees. He hurled insults at them, drew his gun on the brothers, and ended up dead on the floor. “Rattlesnake” Ed Worley was killed in 1884 in a fight over a $9 monte (like poker) bet. He was one of the last burials.Tom Lonergan was killed in the 1877 spring roundup when his horse and the Texas steer he was chasing tangled. His neck was broken in the fall.
After the cemetery was abandoned, some of the dead were moved to a new cemetery during the 1880's. The graves of the rest, even the marked ones, were neglected. Markers and headstones deteriorated and disintegrated. No valid records were kept so it’s unknown where people are buried. Few of the original graves exist.
In the 1960's, the local Jaycees organized an effort to clean up the hill, plant trees, recover early grave markers, and decipher them. In 1978, five Texas Trail graves were accidentally found. This encouraged community interest in the cemetery. Union Pacific Railroad provided a grant to allow more research and upgrading of Boot Hill.
The horse and rider bronze statue on top of the hill represents a Texas Trail cattle drover. The Trail Boss by Robert Summers is an identical copy of one found in Dallas, Texas. It replaced a concrete statue of a horse and rider sculpted by Dr. Burdette Gainsforth depicting Texas cowboy Lep Sanders. It moved in 2007 to the Ogallala Livestock Market sale barn west of town.
Visitors can tour Boot Hill by climbing the steep 30 steps to the top of the hill. It is planned to build a road to the top by this winter. It is free to the public and is located at W. 10th Avenue between West E Street and Parkhill Drive. It’s open sunrise to sunset seven days a week.
TRI-TRAILS PARK
Tri-Trails Park is located at the geographic crossing of three major historic trails that passed through Keith County (Ogallala’s County) during the 1800s. These were the Oregon Trail, Pony Express Trail, and the Texas Trail (a.k.a. the Great Western Cattle Trail). It is maintained by the Big Mac Kiwanis Club and Ogallala’s Garden Club. Its address is Road West 80 & Lawrence Road.
From 1843 to 1848, thousands of settlers followed the “Great Platte River Road.” Hazards were the ruts buffalo would carve out that were said to be 16 inches wide and four inches deep. Since the wagons had to travel over them at right angles, it commonly resulted in broken axles.
The marker in the park was made in 1912 by the State of Nebraska. It was relocated from a site north of its present location, at the former Old Platte River Bridge, when Highway 61 was reconstructed. The Keith County Historical Society and Garden Club were in charge of moving and dedicating this marker at the park in April 1963.
It’s estimated that more than five million cattle and one million horses came up the Texas Trail or Great Western Cattle Trail between 1874-1886. The trail, originating in southern Texas, extended into the Dakotas, Wyoming, and Montana as livestock were taken to ranches and Indian reservations. It was much longer and carried more cattle than the Eastern Trail which ran from Texas to the Abilene, Kansas railhead. The Eastern Trail was also known as the Chisholm Trail.
The Rotary Club of Ogallala dedicated the Great Western Cattle Trail marker on November 9, 2013. Vernon, Texas’s Rotary Club originally started placing the GWCT markers followed by other Rotary Clubs along the GWCT Trail in their areas.
The Pony Express Trail followed the Oregon Trail through Keith County from April 1860 to November 1861. Three Pony Express stations existed in the county. Sand Hills was located a short distance north of Tri-Trails Park. Alkalai Lake Station was 12 miles east of Sand Hills while Diamond Springs Station was situated 12 miles west.
The triangle-shaped rock in the park displays two Pony Express markers and was dedicated June 6, 1965. The original Pony Express Centennial marker, stolen in 2003, featured the three faces of the founders of “The Pony.” The Big Mac Kiwanis Club had the replacement marker made and mounted in 1994. A rectangular Sand Hills Station marker was added and dedicated in August 1967 in conjunction with the Nebraska Centennial Pony Express Reride.
The Pony Express Rider silhouette, known as “Pony Man” was dedicated in June 2011. Symbolizing the spirit of the Pony Express, It greets present day Pony Express riders, who pass by each June during the Pony Express reride by the National Pony Express Association.
The 10-day NPEA ride follows the route from St. Joseph to San Francisco. Each year during this ride, a mochila (mailbag) is exchanged between horses at Tri-Trails Park. More than 500 riders participate in the 1,966 mile route that is as close as possible to the original trail. During the even years, the ride goes west to east while in odd years the route is from east to west.
We were fortunate to interview Mary Cone about the Pony Express and park. She is Nebraska NPEA’s only woman trail captain. She is in charge of 43 miles of the route - finding riders, scheduling, managing, etc. She usually rides six to 12 miles in 2-mile legs depending upon how many riders they have.
WHAT WAS THE PONY EXPRESS
Though most people realize the Pony Express was an important part of American history, many are amazed to learn that it only existed 19 months. In January 1860, William H. Russell, Alexander Majors, and William B. Waddell, who were freighters, formed the Central Overland California & Pike’s Peak Express Company. By April 1860, half of the infrastructure existed. The route, with five divisions, ran from St. Joseph, Missouri to San Francisco.
They established home stations where riders could rest every 75 to 100 miles. Smaller relay stations were 10 to 15 miles apart to provide riders with fresh horses. By mid 1861, the operation expanded from its initial 86 stations to 147 stations.
Riders and horses had to meet certain requirements. Riders ranged in age from teenagers to age 40. They had to weigh less than 120 pounds and carry 20 pounds of mail and 25 pounds of equipment. They had to follow a special moral code and were given an inscribed, leather Bible to carry. The company employed between 80 and 100 riders and several hundred station workers. They received wages plus room and board.
Russell advertised for 200 grey mares, ages four to seven, not exceeding 15 hands high. They had to be well broken and warranted sound. The company bought 400 to 500 horses. Many used on eastern runs were thoroughbreds while California mustangs were seen on the western routes.
Mail traveled in four locked leather boxes. Keys for the mail were in St. Joseph, Salt Lake City, and Sacramento. These boxes (cantinas) were sewn onto the corners of a leather mochila that fit over the saddle. Mail was wrapped in oilskin to protect it from the rain. This allowed for fast removal and placement on the next horse. Horses averaged 10 miles per hour, frequently galloping at 25 miles per hour. During his route of 75 to 100 miles, a rider would change horses eight to ten times.
The first rides occurred on April 3, 1860 from both directions. The only time the mail did not go through was from May to late June 1860 during an Indian uprising. A challenge proved to be major snowstorms during the winter.
The Pony Express originally charged five dollars per half ounce for mail. Fees were later reduced to a dollar per half ounce. At first, it ran once a week in each direction. A second weekly trip was added in July 1860. Mail was delivered in 10 days or less between St. Joseph and San Francisco.
Whether California decided to stay in the Union depended on Abraham Lincoln’s policies during his inaugural address. The Pony Express delivered Lincoln’s March 4 message to California in the fastest time ever - seven days and 17 hours. This brought news that the state would remain loyal.
COC&PP was practically bankrupt when they launched the Pony Express. Russell counted on winning the central overland mail contract in order for the company to survive and prosper. Unfortunately, the building of the telegraph meant this did not happen.
Officially, the Pony Express ceased operating with the completion of the transcontinental telegraph on October 26, 1861. It made its last run on November 20. 1861. While in operation, it made 300 runs each way, traveled more than 600,000 miles, and carried over 33,000 pieces of mail.
MANSION ON THE HILL
The Mansion on the Hill, a three-story Italianate design with many Queen Anne features, was Ogallala’s finest residence when completed in 1887. Composed of red bricks of Brule Clay, it was built by L. A. Brandhoefer for his first wife when they lived in York, Nebraska. She died of consumption soon after they were married. He was a widower when he arrived in Ogallala. There he became a cashier at the Bank of Ogallala and remarried.
He never lived in the structure and sold it instead to the family of Hugh L. McWilliams, president of the Keith County Bank. The McWilliams frequently entertained with Brandhoefer and his second wife being frequent guests. Parties held in the home were often described in the newspaper. They stayed in the home until 1890 when they left Ogallala.
During 1918, it was used as a hospital. From the 1920's until 1966, it served as a boarding house and private residence. In 1966, the Keith County Historical Society purchased the home. On October 3, 1973, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The home has ten foot ceilings and sixteen inch brick walls. Solid brass hardware is seen throughout with scroll designs on the plates, doorknobs, and hinges. The wood trim, around the windows and doors, features a different hand-carved motif in each room. Walnut and carved cherry woods dominate.
Notable are the hand carved, walnut wood fireplace mantles with floral designs and brass fire dogs. Hand-painted glass chandeliers with crystal teardrops hang in the parlor, library, and dining room. None of the furniture is original to the home. While much of the furniture is Victorian era, other periods are represented as well.
We were met by Vance Nelson of the Keith County Historical Society. Nelson, dressed in period attire, portrays Leonidas Brandhoefer. He was our guide as we toured the property. This was a special off-season treat arranged for us. During the regular open season, guide staff is not usually dressed in costumes.
The first floor consists of a spacious parlor, dining room, kitchen, library, family parlor (later used as a bedroom), hall, and bath. A beautiful curving staircase leads to the upper levels. The second level consists of three bedrooms and a bathroom while the third was used as maid’s quarters with an unfinished room for storage. For those who don’t want to climb the stairs, like Earl and me, a book displays photos of what they will find upstairs. The house had a carriage house.
The guest parlor houses a rare square piano. The kitchen had a coal burning stove and icebox typical of that period. Water was piped in from a windmill. The dining room table was set including a celery vase to indicate wealth during the Victorian period. Nelson explained about the various types of dining - British, French, Russian, and American. He further explained that after dinner the ladies would return to the parlor and play parlor games. The men went to the library to play Seven Up, a card game similar to poker, smoke cigars, and talk.
In the back of the home, where a porch once existed, is a museum with many Ogallala artifacts. Unfortunately, most of these are not labeled. Vance advised the Society plans to improve these exhibits.
One display is on Robert Goodall known as the Edison of the Plains for his work on inverters and capacitors. He also developed an electric arc welder. In all, he had 20 patents.
Goodalls supplied capacitors for proximity fuses for the United States Navy during World War II. The plant also produced fishing reels, fishing rods with automatic buttons, soldering machines, watch cleaning machines, and top of the line walkie talkies. It later sold out to TRW then became a part of Japan’s American Suzuki Corporation. The company once had five plants and was the town’s largest employer.
Visitors can also tour the District #7 one room school house on the Mansion grounds. Built in 1902, it was originally located five miles south of Roscoe, Nebraska. It contains old-fashioned desks and slates as well as 1897 Baldwin readers. One can also view the O’Brien/Lute home, an early 1900s homestead era dwelling.
The Mansion is open from the Friday before Memorial Day through the Sunday before Labor Day, Tuesday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. On Sundays, the hours are 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. It is located at 1004 N. Spruce Street. Admission is free, but donations are highly encouraged.
OPEN RANGE GRILL
Our choice for meals while in Ogallala is Open Range Grill known for its hand cut fries and wide variety of tasty burgers. You’ll also find appetizers, salads and sandwiches ranging from chicken to a Reuben and Rocky Mountain Oysters. Patrons get to select from four or five different buns such as Kaiser, sourdough, and brioche. Sauces are all homemade. Kid’s selections are listed on the main menu. You can wash your meal down with everything from fountain drinks to beers or a glass of wine. Prices are very reasonable. For example, a burger with fries ranges from $6.99 to $9.99.
I interviewed one of the owners, Colby Coggins, who opened the restaurant in 2011 in what was formerly a boat dealership. Jennifer Coggins runs it. He operates a cow/calf yearling operation. He primarily has red and black Angus as well as some Herefords and a few cross breeds. He sells beef to the USDA inspection plant in Ovid, Colorado. The restaurant opened when they discovered the town needed a burger/beer joint, and he had a lot of beef to sell.
You find Open Range Grill at 1108 North Spruce Street. Their number is (308) 284-0899. Hours are Sunday to Thursday 11:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. On Fridays and Saturdays, it’s 11:00 a.m. to closing with the grill shutting down at 9:00 p.m.
Front Street
Front Street Shootout
Oregon Trail Marker in Tri-Trails Park
Great Western Cattle Trail Marker in Tri-Trails Park
Pony Express Trail Marker in Tri-Trails Park with Mary Cone
Pony Express Rider Statue
Mansion on the Hill Museum
One of the Mansion on the Hill's Ornate Fireplaces
Vance Nelson Explaining Mansion on the Hill Museum's Kitchen
School District #7 at Mansion on the Hill Museum
Vance Nelson Inside the School at Mansion on the Hill Museum
Open Range Grill
Open Range Grill Interior
Owner of Open Range Grill, Colby Coggins