CHADRON – Nebraska’s history during the Plains Indian Wars and its commemoration on historical monuments is the subject of a presentation, Contact and Conflict: The Monumental Story of Nebraska and the Indian Wars, by historian Jeff Barnes at the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center April 19 at 6:30 p.m.
Barnes takes a chronological approach to discuss the meetings of Native American and European Americans in Nebraska, from peace through war, as commemorated in historical monuments and markers. According to Barnes, these memos from the past mark councils, trading and military posts, treaty sites, and battles and massacres originating with the differing cultures on the Plains.
“The interest and pride of Nebraskans in their history is shown through scores of these markers and monuments across the state, which we continue to place today,” Barnes said. “The points of these contacts are marked throughout Nebraska, in some places familiar to many but in other places remote and seldom seen.”
Barnes, a fifth-generation Nebraskan and former newspaper reporter and editor, lives in Omaha and has written several other books about the Great Plains and landmarks in Nebraska.
The presentation, sponsored by the Mari Sandoz Heritage Society, is in conjunction with Barnes’ newest book, Cut in Stone, Cast in Bronze: Nebraska’s Historical Markers and Monuments. Sponsored by the Nebraska State Historical Society Foundation, the book is a guide to the nearly 300 monuments, statues, markers, and plaques across the state.
—CSC College Relations
Original source can be found here.
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