Archaeological Reminiscences: From The Plains and Back Again

Abstract

My initial interest in Plains archaeology can be attributed to my father's general interest in ev erything related to history. He was born and grew up in Hamilton County, Nebraska, near the Platte River. There he picked up Indian artifacts on the farm and remembered Omaha Indians asking his mother for coffee grounds while moving west on their buffalo hunts. He liked visiting museums and archaeological excavations, taking me along. At the age of about five, I was taken to the University of Nebraska State Museum, then in its third home just south of the present Hamilton Shortly thereafter it was moved into Morrill Hall, now com monly called Elephant Hall. My first visit to the Nebraska State Historical Society Museum was when it was still housed in the university library building, now Architecture When this mu seum moved to the first floor of the state capitol building in 1932, Father helped as a volunteer. Father's interest in museums and history led him to found the Hamilton County Historical Society Museum in Aurora, Nebraska, my hometown. The year 1933 was influential in the shaping of my future career, although I did not realize it at the time since I was only 10 years old. My father had been elected to the Nebraska State Legisla ture, and we moved to Lincoln in January where we rented a small apartment near the capitol build ing. My father was conscientious about visiting the state institutions in and near Lincoln and often took