Agate Fossil Beds
National Monument
Agate Fossil Beds
National Monument
Located on the Niobrara River in northwestern Nebraska, Agate Fossil Beds National Monument and its surrounding prairie are preserved in a 3,000 acre national monument. Once part of "Captain" James H. Cook's Agate Springs Ranch, the nearby beds are an important source for 19.2 million year-old Miocene epoch mammal fossils. Cook's ranch also became a gathering place for Chief Red Cloud and other Oglala Lakota (Sioux) Indian people. The monument's Cook Collection of American Indian artifacts reflects years of gifts brought by the Indians during visits to the ranch from the 1880's through the early 1900's.
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Three Moropus defend a fallen relative from two scavenging Dinohyus and a carnivorous Beardog behind a reconstruction of the great Agate bonebed where thousands of the rhinoceros Menoceras lie scattered. An interactive computer tour of the monument's two trails offers insight into the variety of geologic deposits and features within this part of the Niobrara River drainage. Other interactive exhibits allow visitors to test their skills in observing evidence of fossils and rocks.
About 200 artifacts are displayed in The James H. Cook Collection Gallery, "A Window onto Lakota Life." Visitors can view a porcupine quilled tanned antelope ceremonial shirt worn by Chief Red Cloud and a memorable whetstone used by Chief Crazy Horse. 
A special gift to Cook was a war club used by Oglala leader American Horse at The Fetterman Massacre. Chief Red Cloud gave Cook a pipestone cannunpa( Lakota for pipe), which was used prior to negotiations of the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868. That Treaty resulted in the formation of the Great Sioux Reservation in parts of present day South Dakota, Wyoming and Nebraska. Two contemporary hide paintings were prepared for The Cook Collection exhibits by Lakota artists Dawn Little Sky and Martin Red Bear.
The Running Water Winter Count hide painted by Dawn introduces visitors to the method that Lakota historians recorded events important to the people. Martin's hide painting depicts events remembered by Lakota warrior participants in the 1876 Battle of the Greasy Grass or Battle of the Little Bighorn. This is a recreation of the faded original hide painting that had been prepared by Lakota artists around 1898 during a visit to Agate Springs Ranch. Martin's grandfather was one of the original artists.
The Daemonelix (Devil's Corkscrew) Trail leads from a parking lot trailhead near the west entrance to the monument through nearby fossil hills in a 1.0 mile round trip loop. Several of the Devil's Corkscrew trace fossils can be viewed along the trail.
While walking monument trails, be alert to the presence of Prairie Rattlesnakes, protected residents of the Great Plains prairie ecosystem.
Ashfall Fossil Beds State Historical Park preserves a bonebed where some 10 million years ago, hundreds of rhinos, three-toed horses, camels and other animals died and were buried by volcanic ash around the edges of a watering hole in what is now northeast Nebraska.
Nebraska National Forest, located across the northern part of Nebraska, provides visitor opportunities to Toadstool Geologic Park , the Hudson-Meng Bison Bonebed and Soldier Creek Wilderness.
The Sioux County Museum is located on the east side of Main Street in the community of Harrison. This museum is sponsored by the Sioux County Historical Society and admission is free. Four buildings contain artifacts representative of the character and history of Sioux County from its earliest days into the 20th century. These buildings are open from May 31 until October 1; closed only Sunday mornings. For more information write: Sioux County Historical Society, P.O. Box 312, Harrison, Nebraska 69346.
For additional information on attractions in the Western Nebraska area, visit the Panhandle Tourism Coalition or Nebraska Game and Parks websites.
Scotts Bluff National Monument, 50 miles south of Agate Fossil Beds, preserves a remnant of the Oregon/California Pioneer Trail and premier vistas along the North Platte River Valley. The Visitor Center/Museum was constructed by the Civilian Conservation Corps and contains natural and cultural history exhibits, The William Henry Jackson Wing and the Oregon Trail Museum Association cooperating book sales store.
Badlands National Park, 250 miles northeast of Agate Fossil Beds within the White River Badlands, protects Eocene, Oligocene and Miocene layers in which some of the first fossils found in the Great Plains were discovered by paleontologists in the late 1800's. The southern unit of the park is within Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, home of Oglala Lakota Indian people.
Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument, 400 miles southwest of Agate Fossil Beds near Colorado Springs, Colorado, preserves Eocene and Oligocene epoch insect and plant fossils.
Fossil Butte National Monument, 500 miles southwest of Agate Fossil Beds in western Wyoming, protects fossil fish and birds found in Eocene epoch limestones.
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