Sidney Nebraska Boot Hill Cemetery & Camp Lookout

06/17/2026

H.A. Morrow Camp No. 17…Sons of Veterans photo, circa 1893. All sons of veterans…there are many Civil war veterans buried in Sidney, including a few confederate veterans.

Photo of Col. Henry Andrew Morrow during the Civil war… born 1829…died 1891

Colonel HA Morrow served as the last commanding officer of the 21st infantry at Fort Sidney. Under his leadership the post played an important role in the westward expansion. He was a notable civil was veteran.
Among the men in the photo are some of Sidney’s notable pioneers…middle front row, Leslie Neubauer….back row Henry Doran and Paul Borquist among others.

The building still stands…1015 Illinois Street..although it has changed considerably.

06/15/2026

During the gold rush, a shipment of gold came to Sidney everyday from the Black Hills. The thought of making easy money in Sidney made Sidney a landing place for many characters from all over the country. Buffalo Bill was scouting for the military, Calamity Jane had an affair with a soldier here….it has been said her motto was “Make love and war”… for which the cavalry was grateful. Wild Bill Hickcock, Sam Bass, Whispering Smith, Doc Middleton, and Butch Cassidy all came to town. It’s said the James Brothers made a brief appearance, The Earps passed thru with Bat Masterson on their way to the hills and stayed awhile. Sidney also became the home of the gang of Gentlemen Gamblers…Dr. Braggs, Jim Bush, Jim Lavine, Rebel George and many more. There were 23 saloons in one block…with 89 establishments selling liquor and many brothels. The town was wide open with gambling and soiled doves. Lawlessness and murder were commonplace. Money was plenty. This was continued until 1882 when Union Pacific took a hand and helped clear out the outlaws. Sidney’s history rivals many towns of the old west. These photos are Front Street in the 1880s.

06/08/2026

This coming weekend is Sidney Gold Rush Days. On Saturday June 13th, be sure to take the historic bus tour that they have, and visit 2 of ‘Sinful Sidney’s” most notorious haunts…Camp Lookout and The Boothill Cemetery…hear the history of where Sidney began…the tours are free!!

06/08/2026

Great old photo of Sidney…about 1920? Judging by the cars. Taken on 10th street..just south of the corner of 10th and Jackson streets. The old courthouse would have been on the left side of the photo… most of the buildings in the photo are still standing. The last photo is about 1914 …county officials standing at the court house.

06/03/2026

This building was located at the corner of 8th and Illinois streets in Sidney. It was originally the 8 bed barracks hospital, built sometime in the early 1870s. Probably used before the fort was completed. These pictures are circa 1998. It was also said that this was the first bay window in Sidney. At the time these pics were taken, it was reported that the building was 125 to 130 years old. The last owner was Ivan Liljegren…he had an agricultural service and nursery there. It was torn down about 2001-2002.

05/29/2026

Rumely Transfer House…Sidney Nebraska 1920

Rumely Transfer house..1920….J.W. Reinmuth proprietor…John Walter..born 1862…Died 1933…buried in Dalton Nebraska.

The Union Pacific Rail Road was the life blood of Sidney, having established the town in 1867. As the region grew, these transfer facilities required a constant crew of freight handlers. These operations kept commerce moving efficiently.

Transfer houses were local rail freight companies that would temporarily store, sort and re-load carloads of freight. They were also a tractor company. It allowed smaller shipments to be moved between rail cars, local wagons or trucks. Because Sidney was an important early point of supplies for the Union PacificRailroad, this structure served as an important hub for moving goods, agricultural produce, heavy equipment, even mining equipment without needing entire individual rail cars for every small load. Freight arrived in cars…the transfer house workers would unload, organize and reload the boxes into smaller outbound cars for regional branch lines or local deliveries.

05/25/2026

05/20/2026

Sidney Texaco Station…about 1936…located on the corner of 10th and Hickory streets…now the west parking lot…you can see the Sidney Power Plant to the right of the station. The Commercial Hotel is across 10th street to the east…The 3 men (un-identified) were the attendants at the Texaco Station.

05/13/2026

Saloons were prominent in Sidney’s early economy, the Owl Saloon was one of the most well known. It was a landmark in early Sidney. Saloons were a thriving business in Sidney. It was said that Sidney had more saloons than any other town on the frontier. Saloons, gaming houses, sporting houses and other “houses of ill repute” sprung up all over early Sidney. It is said that Front Street alone had over 80 saloons, gaming houses and brothels. These places sprung up during the hectic days of the railroad construction and then the Goldrush activity. The trek west of immigrants looking for land also brought many characters to Sidney. The number of saloons decreased and eventually ceased when prohibition hit in the 1930s.
The Owl Saloon was located between, what is now, Illinois Street and Hickory Street on the west side…
Standing in front of the Owl Saloon are all well known men in Sidney’s early history. Gus Wellner, Bill Gates, Al Benish and E. Kruse. The photo of the saloon is from about 1903. The souvenir plate was a give away from the Owl Saloon in 1909.

05/09/2026

Black Hills Freight Depot and the Pratt and Ferris Freight Depot were probably the most well known depots, but there were more. The Sidney Freight Depot was locate at what is now, the corner of 10th Ave. and Forrest Street. Pratt and Ferris sat a little north of that. Thousands of dollars of freight and supplies left these locations everyday for the hills. They followed the famous Sidney Deadwood trail..crossing the North Platte River west of present day Bridgeport. Each freight company hauled about 250,000 pounds of freight with each shipment…charging about 3 to 5 cents per pound. A lot of money in the 1870s. One of the most widely known and famous freight photos is the Pantenburg Freight Wagon on Front Street in Sidney..currently Hickory Street and 9th Ave…taken on June 10, 1877. Freighting outfits like these and many more, loaded up their freight and supplies daily from the Union Pacific Railroad and headed to the hills.