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Sidney’s history is varied and occasionally wild! This area was the passage of many of the major trails west, such as Emigrant Trail on the Lodgepole Creek; California-Oregon Trail; Overland Trail; Pony Express; Creighton Telegraph Line; and the Sidney-Deadwood Trail. Discovery of gold in the Dakota Territory established Sidney as the major outfitting stop for freighting and gold seekers on the Sidney-Deadwood Trail.
In 1867, building the Union Pacific railroad was dangerous work, even under the best of circumstances. Sioux, Cheyenne, and Arapaho war parties made the arduous work even more dangerous. Fort Sidney was the military’s response to these attacks. It was built to give protection to engineers and railroad crews working on the transcontinental Union Pacific railroad. Many of the troops stationed there took part in the Battle of Wounded Knee. It later became a major jumping-off point during the Black Hills gold rush, with freight heading north to the gold mines and millions of dollars of gold heading south. Once gold was discovered in the Black Hills of South Dakota, would-be miners tried to find the shortest route to their new fortune. The railroad station at Sidney was determined to be one of the shortest routes. In 1876 and 1877, 1500 people arrived and departed Sidney daily in the rush to the Black Hills. The total population of Sidney at the time was about 1000 people.
During the Gold Rush Days, a daily shipment of gold from the Black Hills arrived in Sidney, and the lure of easy money made Sidney a rendezvous for desperate characters from all over the U.S. Travelers of all sorts visited Sidney. Buffalo Bill was scouting for the military, and passed through Sidney in June, 1876. Calamity Jane was a rider for the Pony Express. Wild Bill Hickcok, Sam Bass, Whispering Smith, Doc. Middleton and Butch Cassidy all showed up. The Emperor of Brazil, Dom Pedro II, passed through town in April of 1876. Sidney was also the home of the Gentlemen Gamblers, which brought in the Canada Bill Gang, Dr. Baggs, Jim Bush, Jim Lavine and Rebel George.
The Sidney Public Library is proud to host the collection of the Cheyenne County Genealogical Society, in the Tatjana B. Seda Heritage Room. The library also holds the microfilm of the Sidney Sun and Telegraph newspapers from 1873 to the present. Please feel free to stop by and explore your family’s roots!
For genealogical research assistance, please contact: Cheyenne County Genealogical Society P.O. Box 802 Sidney, NE 69162 |
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Genealogy & History |
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Online genealogy links
Ellis Island—search immigration records for those who traveled through Ellis Island.
Cyndi’s List—exhaustive list of genealogy links
DAR—Daughters of the American Revolution site
Family Search—records site for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
Western Trails Heritage Site—Find a wide range of artifacts, books, documents, maps, postcards, original paintings, and photographs on a variety of topics relating to trails in Nebraska. Collected into a searchable database from the holdings of museums and libraries across Nebraska (Nebraska Western Trails Partner Sites), these images illustrate Nebraska's rich trails of all types--pioneer wagon trails, railroads, highways, nature trails, and modern recreational trails. |