Agate Fossil Beds
Administrative History 		NPS Logo

CHAPTER 1:
THE COOKS OF AGATE SPRINGS RANCH

The Story of James H. Cook

James Henry Cook was in his early teens when he ran away from his foster home to seek his fortune. James H. Cook was born on August 26, 1857, in Kalamazoo, Michigan. His mother died two years later. His father sea captain Henry Cook,* could not care for his two sons and placed each in a foster home. James H. Cook lived with the Titus family in Kalamazoo and ended his public education at age twelve. After working two years in a Comstock machine shop, he set off to pursue a life at sea. Two years as a sailor on the Great Lakes only whetted his appetite for adventure; he left the Great Lakes to see the interior of the continent on his way to the Gulf of Mexico.

*Until the past fifteen years, the Cook family of Agate, Nebraska, claimed to be descendants of Captain James Cook (1728-1779), the "Great Navigator" who circumnavigated the globe, explored the New Zealand and Australian coasts, and discovered the Hawaiian Islands and Samoa. Recent genealogical research proved this to be in error and the family subsequently dropped the claim.

On his journey, Cook met some Midwestern cattlemen who persuaded him to abandon the sea for the lucrative cattle business. Enamored by the rough, independent lifestyle of the frontier cowboy, young Cook agreed and accompanied the cattlemen to southwest Texas. For five years, James H. Cook worked on a ranch under the guidance of Mexican vaqueros learning to herd wild cattle out of the brush, break horses, hunt, shoot, and track. In the early 1870s, he participated in the first cattle drives to Kansas and Nebraska helping establish the Ogalala, White Swan Agency, Plum Creek, and Red Cloud trails.

In 1874 and 1875, Cook first rode through western Nebraska to Wyoming before returning to Texas. He visited Fort Laramie and the Red Cloud Agency as well as other important frontier settlements. At the Red Cloud Agency, Cook stayed with Baptiste "Little Bat" Garnier who introduced Cook to Red Cloud, American Horse, Little Wound, and Young-Man-Afraid-of-His-Horses—all of whom became lifelong friends and later visited the Cook ranch at Agate, Nebraska. It was during one of these trips that Cook first met one of the pioneer paleontologists of that era, Dr. O. C. Marsh of Yale University, at Fort Robinson. James H. Cook's fascination with fossils grew as a result of his lengthy conversations with Dr. Marsh who became a close friend.

Cook was also an expert scout. He assisted the Texas Rangers pursue renegades. In 1876, at age nineteen, he scouted for the Fourth and Fifth U.S. Cavalry. His services were in especially great demand following the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Cook had been hunting near the Little Big Horn River and served as a trail scout for the Army troops following the massacre of Lt. Col. George A. Custer's command.

Cook returned to Texas for the great cattle drives of 1877 and 1878, at which time he decided he wanted to be a hunter and trapper. In Cheyenne, Wyoming, James H. Cook formed a partnership with "Wild Horse Charley" to provide wild game for the booming town. Cook outfitted, managed, and guided many big game hunting excursions as well as expeditions of scientists and explorers. In 1877, James H. Cook explained to Chief Red Cloud that his friend O. C. Marsh was actually searching for bones and not for gold as so many other white men were doing. Red Cloud gave Marsh, dubbed "Man-That-Picks-Up-Bones," permission to hunt for fossils in the Badlands of South Dakota. Cook learned from these early paleontologists an appreciation of their discipline and the significance of fossil discoveries to science.

In the fall of 1882, James H. Cook went to New Mexico with two British big game clients to establish a ranch. Cook assisted in buying land and cattle for the new W S Ranch in Alma, New Mexico, a venture in which Cook himself invested. The W S grew to about 60,000 cattle. Cook organized the first stockgrowers' association in New Mexico and directed the first general cattle roundup in the region. A leader for law and order, Cook served in the campaign against Geronimo's terrorizing band of Apaches. Although never enlisting, he was chief scout for the Eighth U.S. Cavalry under Major S. S. Sumner in 1885. Since that time he used the honorary title of "Captain." [1]

Discovery of the Fossil Hills Quarries

On September 28, 1886, Captain James H. Cook married Kate Graham, the daughter of Cheyenne physician Elisha Barker (E. B.) and Mary Eliza Hutchison Graham. Cook first met the Grahams during his Cheyenne hunting days when he courted and fell in love with Kate. Living in New Mexico, Cook found many reasons to travel to Cheyenne to see Kate. If the Grahams were not at their home in Cheyenne, he rode to their "0 4 Ranch" in Sioux County, Nebraska, where the family usually spent the summers. Established by Dr. Graham with 5,000 cattle in early 1878, the 0 4 (presumably named because the ranch was near the 4th Meridian) was close to the Niobrara crossing of the Fort Laramie-Fort Robinson military road.

James and Kate Cook returned to the W S Ranch in New Mexico after their marriage in 1886, but soon sold their interests and returned to Cheyenne after Kate became pregnant. On July 3, 1887, Harold James Cook was born. When Harold was only six weeks old, Cook took his wife, son, and mother-in-law* to the 04 Ranch to live; Cook had purchased his father-in-law's squatters right to 160 acres of the 0 4 Ranch. [2]

*Mary Eliza Graham, a matriarchal figure, preferred living with either of her two daughters for parts of each year. When her husband left Wyoming for California, she spent each summer with the Cooks at the Agate Springs Ranch. Mrs. Graham served as Agate postmistress from 1899 to 1902 and 1906 to 1909. In the 1910s, she moved to California with her daughter's (Clara Graham Heath) family. Mrs. Graham died on January 31, 1937. See Karen Zimmerman, The Cook Papers Collection, 1984.

The ranch's designation was changed to the "Agate Springs Ranch" in honor of the native moss agates and the numerous springs in the Niobrara River Valley. They planted hundreds of trees (young saplings from along the Platte River); cottonwood and willows particularly thrived. A new ranch house, designed by Kate Graham Cook, was built in 1893. New furniture for the home was selected when the family visited the Columbian Exposition/World's Fair in Chicago where they also selected china, silver, cut glass, and rugs. The new goods were then shipped via railroad to western Nebraska.

James H. Cook began his ranching operation with roadsters, draft and saddle horses, and red and black polled cattle. He was determined to make the remote Agate Springs Ranch an economically viable operation. When a neighboring ranch folded, he bought it, expanded his holdings, and built extensive irrigation ditches. When it became evident horse breeding was not turning a profit, Cook concentrated on raising Angus cattle. [3]

It was during their courtship [circa 1878] that James Cook and Kate Graham first discovered the fossil deposits later to become known as Agate Fossil Beds. In Fifty Years on the Old Frontier, James H. Cook recounts the discovery:

Riding one day along the picturesque buttes which skirt the beautiful valley of the Niobrara, we came to two high conical hills about three miles from the ranch house. From the tops of these hills there was an unobstructed view of the country for miles up and down the valley. Dismounting and leaving the reins of our bridles trailing on the ground... we climbed the steep side of one of the hills. About halfway to the summit we noticed many fragments of bones scattered about on the ground. I at once concluded that at some period, perhaps years back, an Indian brave had been laid to his last long rest under one of the shelving rocks near the summit of the hill, and that, as was the custom among some tribes of Indians at one time, a number of his ponies had been killed near his body. Happening to notice a peculiar glitter on one of the bone fragments. I picked it up and I then discovered that it was a beautifully petrified piece of the shaft of some creature's leg bone. The marrow cavity was filled with tiny calcite crystals, enough of which were exposed to cause the glitter which had attracted my attention. Upon our return to the ranch we carried with us what was doubtless the first fossil material ever secured from what are now known to men of science as the Agate Springs Fossil Quarries. [4]

Although James Cook reported the discovery to the Wyoming Territorial and Nebraska State Geologists, no paleontologist evaluated the fossil quarries until 1892, when Dr. E. H. Barbour of the University of Nebraska visited the Agate Springs Ranch. Because Barbour's principal interest were the daemonilices ("Devil's Corkscrews"), he sent an inexperienced student assistant to investigate the weathered-out bones four miles distant from the ranch. Barbour's student misinterpreted what he uncovered there; the field team moved on after its brief stop and the fossilized treasures of the Agate Fossil Beds remained undiscovered.

A decade passed before Cook met J. B. Hatcher of Princeton University and O. A. Peterson of Pittsburgh's Carnegie Museum. Both were collecting fossils in the Sioux County badlands when the chance meeting with James H. Cook took place in Harrison, Nebraska. Cook told the paleontologists about the fossil deposit near Agate. Because they were engaged in their own field work and the collecting season was over, neither man came to the Agate Springs Ranch. Although Hatcher died in July 1904, O. A. Peterson finally arrived at Agate at the end of that summer. Seventeen-year-old Harold J. Cook led Peterson's wagon by horseback to the quarries. After a preliminary investigation, Peterson rode back to the ranch, shouting gleefully to an assistant: "Put the team in the barn! We aren't going anywhere!" Returning to the quarries, Harold Cook helped Peterson uncover more bones. The deposit was rich; the men found fossilized bones of a rhinoceros-like animal hitherto unknown to science. Peterson thus become the first professional paleontologist to discover the wonderful potential of the Agate Fossil Beds.

Because of the site's importance, a homestead petition was filed in the name of Harold J. Cook who built a crude cabin near the quarries to establish his legal claim. The structure, which became known as the Harold J. Cook Homestead Cabin, or Bone Cabin, is extant.

Paleontological Excavations at Agate Springs Fossil Quarries

News of the Peterson findings on behalf of the Carnegie Museum spread quickly throughout the paleontological community. A missing link had been found at Agate representing a phase of the Miocene Epoch during the Tertiary Period of the on-going Cenozoic Era of Mammals. In 1905 E. H. Barbour of the University of Nebraska came to Agate on a collecting expedition funded by Charles H. Morrill of Lincoln. Barbour opened a quarry in a hillside 100 yards from Peterson's quarry. The rivalry that developed between the various collecting institutions was intense. Barbour's names for the principal hills reflect this professional jealousy: Carnegie Hill and University Hill. Amherst Point was named in 1906 when a team from Amherst College arrived to stake their claim to a portion of the quarries.

Harold Cook was present when Dr. Barbour extracted a large Daemonelix (paleocaster burrow) from a hillside one-half mile northeast of the ranch house. The skeleton of a horned antelope was enclosed in the soil. Barbour named a small creature "Syndoceros cooki" after young Harold, who had first discovered it. (The specimen may be seen today at the University of Nebraska museum.) The pair-horned rhinoceros was named Diceratherium cooki in honor of James H. Cook.

In the summer of 1907, Amherst College collectors prospecting one and one-half miles southeast of the principal quarries discovered Stenomylus bones smaller than the known Stenomylus gracilis. An excavation in 1908 revealed a rich pocket of eighteen skulls and enough disarticulated bones to reconstruct complete skeletons. In the ensuing years, other field parties uncovered an equally impressive number of skeletons. Some Diceratherium were found, as well as the principal part of Daphoenodon superbus peterson.

Harold Cook spent most of his spare time with O. A. Peterson, known as one of the most skilled fossil collectors in the United States. The Cooks also became friends with other professional paleontologists who journeyed to their remote ranch over the next thirty years. Among those institutions represented at the Agate Springs Fossil Quarries were Yale University, Amherst College, the American Museum of Natural History, Chicago Museum of Natural History, University of Chicago, Harvard University, Princeton University, Colorado Museum of Natural History, Michigan University, Kansas University, the Smithsonian Institution and many others. Fossils from the Agate quarries are in museums throughout the world. [5]* It is important to note that the Cook family, although in the midst of bitter paleontological competition, never profited from the exploitation of the Agate Springs Fossil Quarries. [6]

* For a comprehensive history of the Agate excavations, see Dr. Robert M. Hunt, Jr. The Agate Hills: History of the Paleontological Excavations, 1904-1925. Prepared Under Contract to the National Park Service, Midwest Regional Office. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska, 1984.

One benefit which Harold J. Cook gained from the early excavations was the inspiration for his life's work. Attending the University of Nebraska, Harold Cook first studied geology/paleontology under Dr. E. H. Barbour. In 1909, he began graduate studies at Columbia University. Combining two years of study into one, Cook conducted laboratory work at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, becoming an authority in his field.

Harold Cook's formal education ended in early 1910 when he returned to help manage the Agate Springs Ranch. His mother, Kate Graham Cook, had suffered an irreversible mental breakdown. Although Harold was needed at home, his professional development did not end. Excavations continued at the Agate Springs Fossil Quarries and contact with his peers was frequent. Harold Cook was also a voracious writer. He corresponded with scientists and was widely published in nearly all professionals journals of the day. Cook later became a lecturer at Chadron (Nebraska) State College, Western State College, Colorado; and Honorary Curator and Curator of the Department of Paleontology, Colorado Museum of Natural History in Denver.

Later in 1910, Harold married Professor Barbour's daughter, Eleanor. Harold and Eleanor Cook lived in the "Bone Cabin" until the homestead was "proved up;" then they moved to the Agate Springs Ranch House. The couple subsequently had four daughters—Margaret, Dorothy, Winifred, and Eleanor— who spent their early childhood on the ranch, experiencing the delightful stories of Grandfather Cook, famous paleontologists, and leaders of the Sioux Nation.

Social contact with the Indians, begun with Chief Red Cloud in the late nineteenth century, continued. Sioux leaders regarded James H. Cook as a friend. It was Captain Cook whom the Sioux looked to for assistance before the incident at Wounded Knee. And it was he who helped calm Indian/White tensions and who agreed to serve as agent of the Pine Ridge Agency if called upon. Sioux bands came each year to visit their friend at the Agate Springs Ranch, erecting teepees nearby to dance and play games. It was the Cook ranch that Chief Red Cloud wished to visit shortly before his death. Cook's hospitality was repaid with Sioux craft items and clothing, the foundation of today's famous Cook Indian Collection. [7]

A State Park at the Fossil Quarries?

Since 1909 when Kate Graham Cook was committed to the Nebraska Hospital for the Insane in Lincoln, James H. Cook prayed for her recovery. By 1920, all hope was abandoned. To avoid legal difficulties in the event of his death, Captain Cook petitioned to have his son appointed as Kate's guardian to handle all of her affairs. Ownership of the Agate Springs Ranch transferred to Harold J. Cook, but was placed in a Trust Agreement. Necessitated by Kate's mental incompetency, the trust stipulated the son had no right to sell, divide, or otherwise dispose of any property held in trust. If he attempted to do so, all of his rights would cease automatically and revert to the real owner, James H. Cook. [8] Such were the legal avenues the Cooks used to retain their property.

By the 1920s, the Agate Springs Ranch was a popular tourist spot. On display in the ranch house were not only the Sioux Indian and Old West objects, but fossil displays. Many went to the quarries to observe the on-going excavations. In 1921, more than 5,000 visitors came. The popular appeal and interest prompted James H. Cook to act on a recurring idea—how to preserve this historic and scientific resource. In the fall of 1921, Cook mailed a confidential form letter to all of his close friends with an appeal to help him preserve a portion of the Old West. Citing Fort Laramie as the epitome of romance and Old West history, Cook wrote:

It seems fitting, therefore, that there should stand in this region. . . some sort of a perpetual monument or memorial, which should represent, in a measure, the old Plains days and life, so that those who are to follow can actually see and come in personal contact with some phases of that life and a replica of those early days.

For many years it has been a cherished ambition and desire of mine to erect at the Agate Springs Ranch, upon a commanding site, an exact replica, in every detail, of old Fort Laramie; stockade and bastions to be constructed along the most solid and substantial lines possible, and yet preserve all the old original features intact. All building material used in the construction of the memorial would be of adobe or cement and cottonwood logs—a monument that shall stand for all time. The Agate Springs Ranch can furnish all the required material except for the cement.

The interior of the fort proper would be given over to sections devoted to displays of Indian art of the old times, and to replicas of the overland trail days; to the fossilized remains of prehistoric creatures taken from the Agate Springs quarries, and to such other features as would be proper and fitting for such a memorial. A lecture room would be a prominent feature, where learned men could, by motion pictures or lantern slides, furnish entertaining instruction along scientific lines and lecture on out-of-doors topics. [9]

Cook also envisioned an Indian village on the grounds surrounding the fort where visitors could observe the Native American lifestyle and purchase craft items. He was not interested in the operation becoming a "money-making proposition," but could allow for a small fee for maintenance and upkeep. Cook added:

It is my belief that the Fort Laramie memorial, with its entertaining features and attractions, would soon become the mecca of all autoists from the East to the West, and vice versa, and with the contemplated building of a railroad through this valley, thousands of others would be attracted to this spot. [10]

Cook's plea to his close friends proved disappointing. There were few positive responses to form a joint stock company for a monument commemorating the old frontier days. Undaunted, James H. Cook was in Los Angeles in March 1922, lobbying for financial support for his dream. The Cook family was optimistic that the monument ideal would be realized. Harold J. Cook began his own campaign to establish a State Highway in the area to ensure increased visitation. As president of the Good Roads Association in the 1920s, he pushed for a road to replace the rough trail which ran north and south (Gering to Harrison) and passed by the Agate Springs Ranch. [11] He used his father's dream of a monument and/or historical museum as well as the fossil beds to justify the need for a road. Results came in 1923 when engineers of the Nebraska Department of Public Works began surveying Nebraska 29 from Harrison to Agate. [12] By 1929, the last link, Mitchell to Agate, was completed and opened to motorists. [13]

Harold Cook also served on the Nebraska State Park Board in the 1920s. The movement to preserve Nebraska's natural and historic areas, coupled with the failure to attract private investment in the monument ideal, inspired him to suggest the Agate Springs Fossil Quarries as a potential state park. The suggestion captured the interest of members of the Nebraska Federation of Women's Clubs (NFWC). Four NFWC members visited the Agate Springs Ranch on October 23, 1925, and discussed the state park proposal with the Cooks. [14] In early 1926, the NFWC Conservation Department began working on the details for establishing the new state park, one of which was a letter of inquiry to Nebraska Governor Adam McMullen. Governor McMullen subsequently asked Harold Cook's opinion of the NFWC's efforts. [15] Cook's response came in an April 22, 1926, letter:

Some little time back, you asked me what I thought of the proposition made by certain Women's Club members, that the state take over the Agate Springs Fossil Quarries, which I own. I appreciate the intention behind this move, but I question its being very practical. In the first place, if handled by the state, it is of a nature that should be handled entirely outside of politics, and be assured perpetual, proper care and attention,—and be handled by men who know such things, and understand and can interpret them,—or a large degree of their educational use and value is lost. In the next place, I cannot afford to donate those quarries or a good sized section of the ranch to the State; and I very greatly question the legislature being willing to pay us a sum for those beds that we could afford to consider. I AM anxious to see these wonderful deposits preserved properly, and perpetuated for public benefit and use; but as a practical matter, it does not seem likely to me that this can at this time be accomplished in just that way. Possibly it can. If so, I will be glad to consider any practical suggestions that anyone has to offer to solve the problem. [16]

Governor McMullen agreed with Cook that the legislature would probably not be willing to pay what the quarries were worth. [17]

Ironically, it was during the summer of 1926 that the deed in which Harold relinquished fee ownership of the fossil quarries was filed at the Sioux County Courthouse. On July 17, 1926, in a preliminary division of property prior to divorce, Cook transferred ownership to Eleanor Barbour Cook,* while retaining the "exclusive right in perpetuity. . . for the purpose of digging, excavating for, collecting, examining, or exhibiting fossils in the hills. . . or for preparing the fossil bones contained therein." Cook also reserved the right to build a road to the hills and to erect buildings for "preparing, housing, collecting, and exhibiting" the fossils. [18]**

*Apparently the transaction took place three years prior to the filing of the deed, July 6, 1923. The conveyance was performed in the presence of Margaret F. Crozier, the woman Harold Cook married following his divorce in 1927. Miss Crozier was hereafter noted as "the stimulus for the breaking up of the family." See Robert Simmons to Senator Roman Hruska, letter, 8 June 1963, box 192, Departmental Correspondence, 90th Congress 1st session, folder—Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1967, Papers of U.S. Senator Roman L. Hruska, Nebraska State Historical Society.

**No mention of this change in fee ownership was made in subsequent correspondence on the state park issue.

While the prospect for State involvement at Agate appeared bleak, the NFWC intensified its efforts. In October 1926, one member proposed to the State NFWC Convention that the club itself take over the Agate Springs Ranch and operate the combined ranch and fossil beds, a suggestion which angered Harold Cook. Although the proposal was not considered, the convention agreed that a bill had to be introduced in the winter session of the legislature before the new State elections brought the possibility of an unfavorable political climate. A NFWC poll of the legislature revealed many Nebraska senators favored the Agate Springs Fossil Quarries State Park, but with so many new state park proposals, chances of passage appeared bleak. By December 1926, NFWC prepared a draft bill and submitted it to Harold J. Cook for review. The NFWC's philosophy was for the State to acquire the fossil quarries immediately; details for the park's administration could be worked out later. [19]

In a January 20, 1927, response to NFWC State Chairwoman Elizabeth C. Hoefer, Harold Cook confessed that it was indeed shameful that the wonders of ancient Nebraska could only be viewed outside of the State, in the Carnegie Institute in Pennsylvania or American Museum in New York. Admitting that the State should act to preserve its own treasures, he stated:

As I have a family to consider, and am not so situated financially that I can afford to donate these beds, and in view of what I KNOW their value to be, in dollars and cents, either developed to sell the material they contain to educational institutions, or as an attraction to tourists and students, I am sure I am not asking a high sum in relation to their value when I put a figure of one hundred thousand dollars on these fossil beds and the land about them of sufficient area for all practical purposes.

As you are aware, I have not been at all keen about the state or anyone else taking this over; I appreciate its value, and know how to handle it; but I have so many other interests that take and demand my time and attention that I find it very hard to protect and develop this as it should be; and, as there is surely ample evidence to prove, we have surely contributed very largely and free to the public of the state and outside, and for years with no charge of any sort whatsoever, as a contribution we really could not afford. We can no longer do this, and it is obvious that such an important natural asset, one that has no known duplicate in the whole world, should be held in public trust, and not in private hands, subject to the vicissitude and caprices of private ownership. [20]

Cook told Mrs. Hoefer that he had been approached by hotel and other commercial interests, including private developers, but wanted the State to have the first opportunity to acquire the quarries. He concluded, "Unless this legislature acts favorably upon this and now; I can say frankly that it is very apt to be the last chance they can have to get it, at this, or a very much higher price. I do not say this to coerce, but as a matter of plain fact, plainly stated." [21]

At the request of Governor McMullen, Harold Cook postponed his resignation from the Nebraska State Park Board until the park board and legislature acted on the Agate Springs Fossil Quarries question. [22] Cook disliked the "ticklish situation" he found himself in, sitting on both sides of the fence. In a lengthy January 22, 1927, letter, Cook presented his position on the state park issue to the Governor:

I well realize that such deposits SHOULD be handled either by the state, or some other competent, permanent organization, to assure their not getting into the hands of either vandals or fanatics—or side-show clap-trap artists!! And I also well realize that they are NOT secure from just this, as long as they are in our hands for any accident could easily happen at any time to father or me which might precipitate endless complications. I well know the commercial possibilities of exploitation of these fossil beds. In fact various people and interest have already discussed such possibilities with us seriously. Thousands of people are already visiting the place and fossil beds annually as it is, as you know. I cannot afford to give them away, and neither have I any desire to hold the state up, should they decide to take them over. At the value of $100,000 that I put on those beds, I am sure that it is possible to make them pay good interest, as a straight commercial proposition, were that the consideration.

In fairness to my family, in case the state does not see fit to do this, it is quite probable that I will be compelled to resort to some type of Commercial development of them as things have gone to a point where I cannot afford any longer to donate all of these things as I have in the past to the museums from all over the world, and maintain free exhibits for the benefit of the increasing thousands who come there to see and to study. I regret the necessity of this, and wish that it might be handled as it should be, simply for public benefit and at most, enough charged to make itself sustaining. It really has wonderful possibilities and surely must not be boxed up or lost to the world. It is as yet hardly scratched—as to the amount of material present.

. . . in case the state SHOULD decide to take this over as a state reserve and monument, or park or spot for research symposiums, or what not, as it may be designated, I can well see the desirability of my being connected with it at least long enough to get it properly organized and in efficient hands and with a set of proper working regulations in line with public interests and welfare. I have had to maintain a similar impartial position in other matters I have been in before, and so I believe I could in this, if it is desired that I do so. [23]

In a March 1927 letter to Nebraska State Senator Emerson R. Purcell, member of the legislature's Fish and Game Committee, Harold Cook further elaborated his concept of a state park at Agate. Reducing his monetary requirement to $80,000, he stressed the importance of immediate action and that he would like to use the money to help educate his four daughters. Of critical significance to future events however, Cook expressed concern that the amount of acquired park land be limited. He professed that surrounding lands would remain active ranchland free from unsightly development. Cook wrote:

The land is held in fee simple, and is unincumbered and with clear title. The Bone Hills themselves, at their base, probably occupy twenty or thirty acres, stating the area offhand. At the price mentioned, we would deed over with the bone hills themselves, an acreage of 160 acres, surrounding them and including them which should be all there if any point in the state taking over, unless it wants to do it on a much larger scale, to make a game park or something of that sort, which is a separate and distinct matter, as I see it, and with no special relation to the Bone Hills. That would give ample room for anything the state might want to do with them, and would not be hard to fence, and would give all the room around them needed in any manner. As the surrounding lands on three sides are rough hills, it will remain wild enough, from a scenic standpoint, to satisfy anyone, without the state needing to take it over to protect it. [24] [emphasis added]

No positive action had come from the Nebraska Legislature when, in June 1927, President and Mrs. Calvin Coolidge came to the Black Hills of South Dakota to vacation. Governor McMullen and Harold Cook both urged the towns of Crawford and Harrison to extend official invitations to the First Family to visit western Nebraska to see the fossil quarries and other historic sites. [25] Unfortunately, the President's secretary wrote from Rapid City that the Coolidges would be unable to take time out to visit Agate. [26] A presidential visit would have provided the capstone for the establishment of a state park at the fossil quarries.

In August 1927, NFWC Chairwoman Elizabeth Hoefer arrived at Agate Springs Ranch to visit with the Cooks and tour the fossil quarries. Mrs. Hoefer contended that the legislature was not eager to consider the Agate state park bill because of funding requirements for the new State Capitol, an elaborate, but expensive, architectural wonder. She hoped when construction was completed, the State and/or Nebraska State Historical Society would, at the very least, acquire the Cook Indian Collection. [27]

The Nebraska Legislature finally acted in 1928. The senators called upon the Nebraska State Park Board* to inspect the Agate Springs Fossil Quarries and make recommendations on its candidacy for addition to the State Park System. Following a meeting of the park board at Agate, Cook again offered his resignation to Governor McMullen citing his precarious conflict of interest. Stating he would not take part in the park board's recommendations concerning his own property, Cook repeated his offer on December 8, 1928, but with a one-year deadline:

I made the state an offer of these Quarries, providing the last legislature saw fit to take them over, at a flat price of $80,000; but said I could not agree to hold that offer open; I well know they are worth much more than that amount; and I can capitalize them and make them pay good interest on a much higher valuation; but I hate to see them commercialized; and I know they should be in other than private ownership, for permanent protection and usefulness. Inasmuch as the last legislature had the matter continued over pending investigation of the beds, I will now repeat that offer to the state, of Eighty Thousand Dollars for those quarries. However, if the present legislature should not see fit to take them over, the state will not get another opportunity to get them at anywhere near this figure as I intend to take active action, one way or another with them, this coming year.

Should the state take it over, I will be glad to do anything in our power to act directly, or in an advisory capacity, to see that this is handled in an efficient manner, in line with educational and scientific and business needs in the case. It can easily be put on a self sustaining basis or be made to return a profit large enough to carry on and develop extensive and most valuable scientific research, and prepare some of the finest and most striking exhibits ever made in America, or anywhere else for that matter. I have some very definite recommendations to make in case the state DOES desire to take it over. [28]

* One explanation for the inertia on the state park issue was the ineffectiveness of the State Park Board itself. At this time, Nebraska had only three units in its park system. The board had no authority, but served as merely an advisory group for the governor. Harold Cook himself was unable to attend any meetings in 1927 because he was not even living in the State of Nebraska, but working as a curator at the Colorado Museum of Natural History in Denver. See Adam McMullen to A. F. Buechler, Editor, Grand Island Daily Independent, letter, 8 October 1927, box 7 Departmental Correspondence, folder 16 Park Board 1926-1927, McMullen Papers, Nebraska State Historical Society.

Nebraska Republican Governor McMullen, who decided against a bid for re-election, was in the waning months of his term. He advised Cook against resignation while the matter was still under consideration. Because a final decision would not be made during the McMullen administration, the lame duck Governor suggested it would be more appropriate to tender any resignation to his successor. [29]

The new political machine in Lincoln led by Republican Governor Arthur J. Weaver* differed little from the McMullen era. During 1929, the Agate Springs Fossil Quarries State Park Bill languished. It effectively died in late October when economic catastrophe was triggered on Wall Street in New York City. With the nation entering the Great Depression, any notion of the development of the fossil beds by either the State of Nebraska or the Cook family vanished. The state park question was never again revived.

*Governor Arthur J. Weaver served a single term, 1929 to 1931. Upon leaving office, Weaver took the bulk of his administration's papers with him. Of the small amount deposited at the Nebraska State Historical Society, nothing pertaining to state parks is contained therein. Indeed, succeeding governor Charles W. Bryan (Democrat, 1931-1935) did not have a State Park Board. It is a possibility, therefore, that this entity ceased to exist following Adam McMullen's term. See Governor Arthur J. Weaver Papers and Governor Charles W. Bryan Papers, Nebraska State Historical Society.

Ironically, the potential financial windfall represented by the fossil quarries almost became the focal point of a family legal battle. As early as 1922, Eleanor Barbour Cook had left her husband and taken the four Cook daughters to live in Chadron where she had a teaching position. In late 1928, Mrs. Cook filed for divorce. In an initial meeting with his estranged wife's lawyers, Harold Cook agreed to an amicable property settlement outside of court. By September 1929, however Eleanor Cook was threatening legal action to acquire a fair share of the ranch for herself and the four Cook daughters. In a September 25 letter to the attorneys, Harold Cook explained the provisions of the trust agreement under which he was the de facto owner of the Agate Springs Ranch solely because of his mother's mental condition, with no right to sell, divide, or dispose of any trust property. Any attempt by himself or others to do so would result in cancellation of the trust and full rights reverting to the real owner, James H. Cook. If the divorce resulted in a court fight over the property, Harold Cook stood to lose his interests, but so, too, would Eleanor Cook and the children. Harold declared:

. . . my father naturally resents any attempt to divide and parcel out his property, while he lives, without consideration either of him or his rights in the matter.

On the other hand, if no such attempt is made to force a division of the property under such a suit, as I told you both personally, I will gladly sign any proper and reasonable contract or agreement to the effect that when this property does come into my hands.., upon my father's death, I will at once proceed to a definite assignment of their respective interests in such amounts as may be agreed upon at this time as reasonable and proper, in line with accepted standards of fairness. [30]

Although he married Margaret F. Crozier the following year, this sense of family obligation and personal honor led Harold Cook to make good on his 1929 promise. In 1949, seven years after his father's death, Harold Cook executed a will which provided for his real property to be divided equally among his four daughters. This provision is what caused havoc in future efforts to establish a monument at the Agate Springs Fossil Quarries.

The Scotts Bluff Experience and A Persistent Preservation Ethic

Both Captain James Cook and son Harold Cook, although not historians by formal training were inherently historically-minded. They believed that significant cultural sites and objects should be preserved and made available to the public. It was this fundamental trait which prompted the visiting Sioux to give their precious heirlooms to the Cooks because they knew this special white family appreciated their heritage and wished equally as much to preserve it. This deep sense of social and cultural responsibility resulted in the transformation of several rooms of the Cook ranchhouse into exhibit areas with names like the "Bone Room" and the "Indian Room." Established on an informal basis, it became known as the "Cook Museum of Natural History" with Captain Cook serving as a gracious host to a continuous stream of visitors. The surrounding grove of trees became a favorite spot of picnickers and campers; heavy visitation came in the summertime and weekends and it was not unusual for a hundred automobiles to be parked amidst the trees at one time. While all the members of the family took turns serving as interpretive guides with multiple groups squeezing from room to room, Captain Cook was the one most in demand to recollect his unique experiences. The Captain never complained about the long hours spent picking up litter in the area or the many times he suffered laryngitis. He even had to be coaxed into charging a small admission fee following the onset of the Depression to help make ends meet, although he declined to collect if people did not have the money. [31]

Captain Cook never stopped dreaming about a monument to preserve the scientific and historical wonders at Agate. Hoping to record as much of his own personal experiences as possible much of his time in his later years was devoted to writing about life in the Old West. James H. Cook's greatest work, Fifty Years on the Old Frontier, foreshadows such a monument on his own ranch:

The frontiersmen of the type who used the flintlock and percussion-cap rifles, carrying bullets that ran from sixty to one hundred and twenty to the pound, and whose headgear and clothing were made almost entirely of the skins of animals, have practically all journeyed ahead with the innumerable caravan. The ox team and stage drivers, also the cowboys of yesterday, are following closely after them. Were not the early pioneers of scientific research in the West also worthy of suitable monuments erected in their honor somewhere in or about the center of their activities? If so, is not the erection of such monuments a thing worth our doing at this time? Have we no people of wealth and culture who would take pleasure in doing something of this sort—something which would not only be a credit to the donors, but which would also give pleasure and comfort to the generations to come as the centuries pass? [32]

Together with earlier idea to duplicate Old Fort Laramie, the monument concept took preliminary form when architectural plans were prepared for a permanent museum building to house the famous Cook Collections. Because funding never became available, the plans remained tucked carefully away. [33]

The 1916 National Park Service Organic Act, and the establishment of Dinosaur (1915) and Scotts Bluff (1919) National Monuments, inspired and excited the Cooks. During a three-day visit to examine the feasibility of a tour road at Scotts Bluff in June 1931, National Park Service Director Horace M. Albright stopped at the Agate Springs Ranch. Director Albright and other Park Service officials met the Cook family, toured the ranch and fossil quarries, and "expressed great interest in the region and things they saw here" [34]

In early July 1932, Chief Red Cloud's family made their annual visit to the Agate Springs Ranch, an event which always attracted much attention. A twenty-five to fifty cent museum fee was charged for a guide and lecture service and fifty cents per vehicle was assessed for parking and use of the picnic grounds. [35] Following the Sioux celebration, Harold Cook wrote to Horace Albright to reissue an invitation to stay overnight at Agate during Albright's September visit to Scotts Bluff National Monument. [36] Albright returned to western Nebraska to announce the beginning of development at Scotts Bluff. Custodian Albert N. Mathers consulted with Harold Cook over architectural drawings for a permanent administration building at the monument. Cook, seeing an opportunity for a regional scientific and cultural center based on the School of American Research in Santa Fe, New Mexico, suggested the plans be redrawn to include a museum.

In December 1933, Harold Cook was asked to direct a Civil Works Administration (CWA: 1933-34) team in historical and scientific research for the new Scotts Bluff museum. The CWA group was sponsored by the National Park Service Field Division of Education in Berkeley, California. Because he could no longer afford to pay his own expenses out of the ranch operating funds, Cook was appointed a temporary ranger in May 1934, and placed on the National Park Service payroll. Custodian Mathers resigned on June 15, 1934, to run for the U.S. House of Representatives, leaving Harold Cook acting superintendent. [37] On December 11, 1934, a telegram arrived from Acting National Park Service Director A. E. Demaray:

Due to lack of funds your appointment park ranger was terminated close November thirtieth stop. Will you accept appointment nominal rate twelve dollars per annum as temporary custodian Scotts Bluff until funds are available for new seasonal ranger appointment next spring stop. Regret no funds available [to] cover your travel [to] Berkeley. . . . [38]

In a December 14 reply telegram, Cook accepted the position. [39]

Cook continued working with the Berkeley planning team, encouraging the prehistoric theme for the museum, exemplified by the Agate Springs Fossil Quarries, as well as the historic period. Ironically, the Deputy Secretary of Public Works in the 1920s, a personal friend to whom Cook constantly wrote encouraging better roads, was now Governor of Nebraska. On February 4, 1935, Custodian Cook wrote Democratic Governor Roy Cochran about what he claimed was the Park Service's idea for a "National Parkway" in the area.* With the completion of the Scotts Bluff museum, visitors would naturally proceed to the Agate Springs Fossil Quarries and then to the "Borglum Monument" [Mount Rushmore National Memorial; authorized March 3, 1925] as well as other Black Hills sites. Cook argued the visitor influx would require substantial improvements for Nebraska Highway 29, the principal north-south route in western Nebraska. [40]

*The impetus for this idea actually originated from citizens in the Bridgeport and Scottsbluff communities. They proposed a "National Parks Area" extending from Bridgeport to Old Fort Laramie, Wyoming, including all historical areas in the vicinity with Scotts Bluff National Monument at the core. In January 1935, Nebraska Governor Robert L. Cochran appointed the "Old Oregon and Mormon Trails, National Parks Area Commission" comprised of thirteen prominent Nebraskans to study the matter. Wyoming was asked for its cooperation. A map of the proposed "Oregon Trail National Park" detailed all the landmarks and recreational facilities of the region and included Agate, marked by a dinosaur with the caption "Fossil Beds, Capt. Cook's Ranch."

In 1937, the Commission's name was shortened to "Nebraska Old Oregon and Mormon Trails Commission." The Nebraska and a similar Wyoming commission worked closely with National Park Service officials and were successful only in the public acquisition of Old Fort Laramie. On July 16, 1938, Fort Laramie National Monument entered the National Park System. See Governor Robert L. Cochran to Leslie Miller, Governor of Wyoming, letter, January 26, 1935; Miller to Cochran, letter, January 30, 1935; map of the "Proposed Oregon Trail National Park"; Cochran to H.J. Dollinger, Chairman, Nebraska Old Oregon and Mormon Trails Commission, letter, June 7, 1937; and Dollinger to Cochran, letter, May 29, 1937, box 46 (1937) Series Two, Records and Correspondence of State Agencies and Departments 1935-1940, folder—Old Oregon and Mormon Trails, National Parks Area, Papers of Governor Robert Leroy Cochran, State of Nebraska Archives, Nebraska State Historical Society.

Captain James H. Cook was also involved at Scotts Bluff. The Park Service Berkeley division asked his assistance in organizing museum exhibits, donating Old West objects, providing information, and locating original trails and ranches on maps. [41]

Working with Nebraska Congressman Terry Carpenter, Custodian Cook was successful in resuming construction at the monument which halted in April 1934 because of lack of funding. In April 1935, a Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) camp opened at Scotts Bluff under the Emergency Conservation Work (ECW) program. Construction on the museum/administration building continued, and Cook worked closely with the young Park Service architect, Howard W. Baker. In May, Harold Cook was appointed Project Superintendent of CCC Camp 762 with a boost in salary. The same month Cook invited Acting Director Demaray, scheduled to arrive at Scotts Bluff on July 4 during a tour of fourteen National Parks and twelve National Monuments, to visit the Agate Springs Ranch, meet his father, and see the "world famous Agate Fossil Quarries." [42] Demaray replied, on May 24, that he looked forward to visiting the ranch. [43] Eleven days later, on June 4, 1935, a telegram arrived at the Agate Post Office:

Your services will be terminated close June fifteenth by director [sic] of Secretary for administrative reasons. Formal notification to follow.

Demaray [44]

Although upset and shaken, the action did not catch Cook by surprise. After his appointment as CCC project superintendent and Scotts Bluff custodian, Cook was visited by Scotts Bluff County Democratic Party Chairman Ray W. Coleman who threatened Cook with loss of his job if he did not allow Coleman to select all camp appointees and laborers according to party affiliation. Coleman said he was Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes' "personal fingertip" and if Cook did not do as he was told, he would see that Congressman Harry Coffee got Secretary Ickes to fire Cook. He wanted C. B. Turner, a loyal Democrat and former employee of Congressman Coffee with no engineering or scientific training, to be appointed foreman of the CCC camp. Cook stood firm, citing the President's and Secretary's instructions that appointments be nonpartisan and based on qualifications and need. [45]

In a June 6, 1935, letter to Acting Director Demaray, Cook explained the situation and declared:

Let me assure you that I do not blame the Park Service or any of its officials for the action taken by the Secretary in ordering my services terminated June 15th, as per your wire of June 4th.

In view of the fact that I have donated my time and training and experience and all expenses including more than 20,000 miles which I have driven my own car, at my own expense, on the business and related affairs pertinent to and of importance to the projects outlined here, for the National Park Service; have furnished even office equipment and a background of personal prestige and wide acquaintance that is certainly of value to the Park Service and that branch of the Federal Government, in trying to put this project on its feet in an intelligent, active manner that will mean an important step in the educational and practical development of the usefulness of the NPS in certain directions, I naturally deeply resent the utterly unjust, unfair and unwarranted action of summary dismissal under such circumstances, and of course, cannot and will not, take it lying down, without bringing the facts into the open.

I sent a personal wire to Secretary Ickes, demanding a fair hearing of facts before accepting this order for my dismissal. As he has a reputation of being an honest, fair-minded man, I am confident that a review of the facts regarding this case will be enlightening to him. . . . [46]

Harold Cook refused to relinquish his office until an official investigation was conducted. His cause was joined by former Congressman Carpenter who challenged incumbent Congressman Coffee on a radio program to stop trying to get Cook fired at the national monument or he would do everything in his power to defeat Coffee in the next election. [47]

Acting Director Demaray's July 4 visit to Scotts Bluff and Agate gave Harold Cook an opportunity to plead his case personally. From Gering, Demaray telegraphed Assistant Director Hillory A. Tolson in the Washington Office asking for an update on Cook's status. He related that Cook was nonpartisan and the most qualified man to be project superintendent. In discussions with locals, Demaray ascertained that C. B. Turner was "utterly incompetent" and of questionable standing in the community. [48]

Howard Baker and his wife accompanied Arthur Demaray and his wife on a summer 1935 trek to the western parks. Baker, headquartered in San Francisco and working out of a field office in Rocky Mountain National Park from 1930 to 1935, recalled the visit at Agate Springs Ranch. The Demarays and Bakers had lunch with the Cooks and then journeyed to the fossil quarries for a personal tour. According to Baker, Demaray was quite impressed with the area. The Cooks discussed the possibility of the quarries being a unit of the National Park System. While no action took place during the Depression in this regard, it marked the first time serious discussions for a national monument to preserve the fossil beds were held with National Park Service officials. A monument would not be realized for another thirty years. [49]

Despite strong support from the Directorship of the National Park Service, Secretary Harold Ickes, enraged by Cook's defiance of his orders, refused to review the incident. In a July 15 telegram, Ickes stated:

I have appointed C. B. Turner as Superintendent of the ECW Camp at Scottsbluff [sic] National Monument pending his entry on duty. You are directed to turn over all records and property immediately to associate engineer Charles Randels. You have never held a civil service position in this department. I have satisfied myself as to the advisability of appointment Mr. Turner and this does not reflect on you. You occupied a non civil service position which you secured without competition and therefore your appointment carried no rights. In tenure of office you were separated from the Service at the close of June Fifteenth and your action in continuing in office and refusing to turn over records and property of the Government not only makes you guilty of insubordination but cause me to believe that I made no mistake in separating you from the Service. [50]

In reply, Cook asserted that office records were always open to Charles Randels, but files and equipment were Cook's own personal property: "In my enthusiasm for the splendid National Park Service work here I have put in over one year and over fifteen hundred dollars of my own money above any pay received in furthering this work and the locating of this camp...." [51] Ickes retaliated for the continued insubordination by releasing a scathing statement to the press.

Harold Cook resigned himself to defeat, but his devoted second wife, Margaret Crozier Cook, appealed to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt. In a September 26 letter, Mrs. Cook explained the situation and introduced a new twist which her husband had refused to use in his own defense. Congressman Coffee aspired to purchase the Agate Springs Ranch by ruining her husband. Apparently, the local Congressman was President of the Coffee Cattle Company. By crippling the Cooks' finances, he was in a good position to undermine and buy the ranch—and the priceless Agate Springs Fossil Quarries—at a foreclosure sale. Mrs. Cook told Mrs. Roosevelt that the congressman was "trying by every means to force a foreclosure sale of Agate ranch, so that they may bid it in. In fact they have bid it in, and only the fact that fair minded officials are handling the case has prevented them from forcing Captain Cook out of his home which he built and has occupied since 1891." She added:

This was, as you can see, a labor of love. Mr. Cook put the whole force of his training, his wonderful enthusiasm, and his vital energy and background, into this work. He loved it, and was absorbed by it. He worked in absolute accord with the Park Service and they were and are, still, back of him, in everything he has done at Scotts Bluff. [52]

Although it is unknown if Eleanor Roosevelt actually read or acted on the emotional appeal, the point became moot when Merrill J. Mattes entered on duty as the first permanent Service employee at Scotts Bluff on October 1, 1935. The appointment of Merrill J. Mattes resulted in a Departmental and Service resolve to squelch the political bickering in western Nebraska and to lend stability to the important development project at Scotts Bluff National Monument. Mattes served as Junior Historian from 1935 to 1937, and as Custodian from 1938 to 1946. Officially, Mattes always held the title of Custodian, but until he gained administrative experience, for the first two years Engineer Charles Randels was "Acting Custodian." Both Randels and Mattes were superiors of CCC Project Superintendent C. B. Turner, whose political appointment terminated with the closure of the CCC camp on May 31, 1938.* In effect, Harold Cook had scored a victory. With a permanent Service employee onsite to act as a watchdog, Turner did not have a free hand at Scotts Bluff. [53]

*The lesson of the Cook affair was apparently lost on C.B. Turner. During Mattes' first year at Scotts Bluff, Turner unsuccessfully pressured Mattes to make a contribution to the Democratic Party.

Harold Cook returned to operating the ranch and to the world of paleontology, as well as serving as geological consultant to several oil companies exploring for petroleum in Colorado, Wyoming, and Nebraska. [54] His contacts with the National Park Service continued. Cook held no grudge or bitterness against the National Park Service, an organization whose mission he deeply admired, but recognized he was the victim of local and Departmental politics. As early as April 1938, Earl A. Trager, Chief, Naturalist Division, Washington Office, requested Cook's assistance with geological and paleontological exhibits at Scotts Bluff. Occupied by other business interests, time did not permit Cook to participate in organizing the museum exhibits at Scotts Bluff. [55] Harold Cook granted the National Park Service permission to obtain specimens from the Agate Springs Fossil Quarries to display at Scotts Bluff. Two prime specimens, a slab of Diceratherium (two-horned rhinoceros) and Stenomylus (gazelle-like camel), were obtained by CCC paleontologist/archeologist foreman Paul C. McGrew. [56] McGrew was Harold Cook's son-in-law, having married Winifred Cook in November 1934.

The Cooks became good friends with Scotts Bluff Custodian Mattes and his family. It was Mattes who laid the groundwork for Cook's donation of an Army Dump Cart to Fort Laramie National Monument. The cart, and an old iron lock from a guardhouse which Cook also donated, were originally from Fort Laramie. The preservationist was delighted to contribute the items for the Service's restoration of the old fort. [57]

Shortly before his second book, Longhorn Cowboy, was finished, Captain James H. Cook died on January 27, 1942, at age eighty-four. [58] Operation of the Agate Springs Ranch went on as before and Harold Cook continued to be occupied with his scientific work. With advancing age, his dream of preserving the Agate Springs Fossil Quarries and memorializing his beloved father intensified. In 1955, rumors that Cook did not actually own the quarries—after he sold the surface grazing rights to other relatives—prompted him to publish and distribute a "Statement on the Ownership and Control of Agate Springs Fossil Quarries." This was done on April 30, 1955. Retracing the history of the homestead claim and the provisions for quarrying, he stated:

It will be noted that I have at all times, therefore, owned and controlled the exclusive right to collect or to grant permission to collect fossils on these lands. This was done, primarily, to assure proper control of these fossil deposits at all times, regardless of any possible change of ownership, to protect them and all that they represent for Science and scientific research; and to assure, permanently, their protection from possible vandalism by untrained "specimen hunters" who do not know or understand the importance of such deposits, scientifically, and who might destroy important fossils or other scientific data by lack of knowledge or care, so long as they secured "specimens."

It is my intention now, as it always has been in the past, to grant permission for any reasonable collecting from these famous deposits, when it is done by properly trained people who know how to collect and preserve specimens and who are collecting for scientific and educational purposes. It is my wish and desire to encourage this kind of collecting by trained, responsible people, and I am always glad to consider the application of responsible people or institutions for permission to work in these deposits. Likewise, I am glad to have educational or scientific institutions bring students and seriously interested people to see these deposits. I will always be glad to grant permission for that purpose, with the provision that anyone going to these quarries will agree to do his part to keep the place free from trash and rubbish, to help prevent grass fires, to prevent vandalism and damage to these deposits, and who will do his part in leaving gates closed when they are found closed while crossing these lands, and in not disturbing livestock, unnecessarily. Parties wishing to visit the Agate Springs Fossil Quarries should write, or see me in advance, when practical to do so. [59]

The statement was distributed to each visitor to the quarries. Thousands kept coming every year to see the fossils and the Agate Springs Ranch's "Cook Museum of Natural History" where Captain Cook's collections were displayed. The Cooks realized they could not accommodate everyone or go on operating the area forever. The couple traveled frequently, leaving their unincorporated "town" of Agate in the care of ranchhands or other relatives. One such time was several weeks in the summer of 1960, when Harold Cook presented a paper before an international paleontological conference in Copenhagen. Awaiting them upon their return was a letter stating a National Park Service official wished to visit and evaluate the area's eligibility for listing on a national inventory of scientific monuments. [60] The letter was an answer to Harold and Margaret Cooks' prayers.

Endnotes

1. This section was taken from the following sources: Karen P. Zimmerman, The Cook Papers: An Archival Collection From Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, prepared under contract for the National Park Service Midwest Regional Office (Vermillion: University of South Dakota, 1984) hereinafter referred to as Zimmerman, The Cook Papers Collection, 1984; Mrs. Margaret C. Cook, "History of the Agate Springs Ranch" and "The Cook Family in Sioux County, Nebraska," box 92, Cook Papers; "History of James Henry Cook," [unknown author; written for Morton's History of Nebraska], November 1911, box 92, Cook Papers; and R. Jay Roberts, "A Preliminary Sketch of the History of Agate Springs Ranch," (National Park Service, Scotts Bluff National Monument, August 1965), H2215; and Dr. Robert M. Hunt, Jr., The Agate Hills: History of Paleontological Excavations, 1904-1925, Prepared Under Contract to the National Park Service, Midwest Regional Office (Lincoln: University of Nebraska, 1984).

2. Ibid.

3. Mrs. Margaret C. Cook, "History of the Agate Springs Ranch" and "The Cook Family in Sioux County, Nebraska," box 92, Cook Papers.

4. As quoted in Lester A. Danielson to Roman Hruska, letter, 1 April 1963, box 26, Cook Papers.

5. Mrs. Margaret C. Cook, "Statement on the Fossil Collecting History in the Agate Springs Fossil Quarries Area," included in Lester A. Danielson to Roman Hruska, letter, 1 April 1963, box 26, Cook Papers.

6. Mrs. Margaret C. Cook, "The Cook Family in Sioux County, Nebraska," box 92, Cook Papers.

7. Ibid.; and Zimmerman, The Cook Papers Collection, 1984.

8. Petition of Guardianship, District Court of Sioux County, Nebraska; James H. Cook, granted 16 December 1920, found in Raymond M. Crossman correspondence, box 25; and Harold J. Cook to Peterson and Devoe, Attorneys, Lincoln, letter, 25 September 1929, box 43, Cook Papers.

9. James H. Cook, Proprietor, Agate Springs Cattle Ranch, Private and Confidential Form Letter to Friends, circa fall 1921, box 90, Cook Papers.

10. Ibid.

11. Ibid.; and Harold J. Cook to J. H. Boatsman, Farmers and Merchants Bank, Morrill, Nebraska, letter, 6 March 1922, box 20, Cook Papers.

12. Harold J. Cook to Roy Cochran, Deputy Secretary, Nebraska Department of Public Works, letter, 9 April 1923; and Cochran to Harold J. Cook, letter, 13 April 1923, box 24, Cook Papers.

13. Roy Cochran to Harold J. Cook, letter, 13 October 1929, box 24, Cook Papers.

14. Mrs. Elizabeth C. Hoefer, State Chairman, Nebraska Federation of Women's Clubs, to Dr. Harold J. Cook, letter, 13 February 1926, box 33, Cook Papers.

15. Ibid., letter, 28 January 1926; and Adam McMullen, Governor, State of Nebraska, to Harold J. Cook, letter, 19 February 1926, box 39, Cook Papers.

16. Harold J. Cook to Governor Adam McMullen, letter, 22 April 1926, box 39, Cook Papers.

17. Governor Adam McMullen to Harold J. Cook, letter, 29 April 1926, box 39, Cook Papers.

18. Harold J. Cook, Consulting Geologist, "Statement on the Ownership and Control of Agate Springs Fossil Quarries, Sioux County, Nebraska," to Whom It May Concern, 30 April 1955, Cook Papers.

19. Mrs. Elizabeth C. Hoefer, State Chairman, Nebraska Federation of Women's Clubs, to Dr. Harold J. Cook, letter, 31 December 1926, box 33, Cook Papers.

20. Harold J. Cook to Mrs. Elizabeth C. Hoefer, letter, 20 January 1927, box 33, Cook Papers.

21. Ibid.

22. Governor Adam McMullen to F. E. Edgerton, letter, 31 January 1927, box 7 Departmental Correspondence, folder 16 Park Board 1926-1927, McMullen Papers, Nebraska State Historical Society.

23. Harold J. Cook to Governor Adam McMullen, letter, 22 January 1927, box 39, Cook Papers.

24. Harold J. Cook to Senator Emerson R. Purcell, letter, 11 March 1927, box 7 Departmental Correspondence, folder 16 Park Board 1926-1927, McMullen Papers, Nebraska State Historical Society.

25. Governor Adam McMullen to Harold J. Cook, letter, 1 July 1927, box 39, Cook Papers.

26. Everett Sanders, Secretary to the President, to Harold J. Cook, letter, 30 June 1927, box 25, Cook Papers.

27. Mrs. Elizabeth C. Hoefer to James H. Cook, letter, 14 September 1927, box 33, Cook Papers.

28. Harold J. Cook to Governor Adam McMullen, letter, 8 December 1928, box 29, Cook Papers.

29. Governor Adam McMullen to Harold J. Cook, letter, 20 December 1928, box 39, Cook Papers.

30. Harold J. Cook to Peterson and Devoe, Attorneys at Law, Lincoln, Nebraska, letter, 25 September 1929, box 43, Cook Papers.

31. Mrs. Grayson E. (Dorothy Cook) Meade, interview with author, Agate Springs Ranch, 22 May 1986, transcript, pp. 2,3,5, and 16.

32. As quoted in Lester A. Danielson to Roman Hruska, letter, 1 April 1963, box 26, Cook Papers.

33. Mrs. Grayson E. (Dorothy Cook) Meade, interview with author, Agate Springs Ranch, 22 May 19866, transcript, p. 3. The plans remain in the possession of the Meades.

34. Harold J. Cook to Roy Cochran, letter, 26 June 1931, box 24, Cook Papers; and Ron Cockrell, Scotts Bluff National Monument, Nebraska: An Administrative History, 1960-1983 (Omaha: National Park Service, Midwest Regional Office, 1983), pp. 15-16.

35. Harold J. Cook to G. N. Burnett, letter, 26 June 1932, box 22, Cook Papers.

36. Harold J. Cook to Horace Albright, Director, National Park Service, letter, 9 July 1932, box 17, Cook Papers.

37. Mrs. Margaret C. Cook to Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, The White House, Washington, D.C., letter, 26 September 1935, box 46, Cook Papers; and Ron Cockrell, Scotts Bluff National Monument, Nebraska: An Administrative History, 1960-1983 (Omaha: National Park Service, Midwest Regional Office, 1983), pp. 16-17.

38. A. E. Demaray, Acting Director, National Park Service, to Harold J. Cook, Acting Custodian, Scotts Bluff National Monument, telegram, 11 December 1934, box 26, Cook Papers.

39. Harold J. Cook to A. E. Demaray, telegram, 14 December 1934, box 26, Cook Papers.

40. Harold J. Cook to Governor Roy Cochran, letters—official and private, 4 February 1935, box 24, Cook Papers.

41. Arthur A. Woodward, Associate Laboratory Technician, National Park Service, Field Division of Education, University of California-Berkeley, to Captain James H. Cook, letters, 19 April and 2 May 1935, box 58, Cook Papers.

42. Harold J. Cook to A. E. Demaray, letter, 19 May 1935, box 26, Cook Papers.

43. A. E. Demaray to Harold J. Cook, letter, 24 May 1935, box 26, Cook Papers.

44. A. E. Demaray to Harold J. Cook, telegram, 4 June 1935, box 26, Cook Papers.

45. Mrs. Margaret C. Cook to Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, The White House, Washington, D.C., letter, 26 September 1935, box 46; and Harold J. Cook to A. E. Demaray, letter, 6 June 1935, box 26, Cook Papers.

46. Harold J. Cook to A. E. Demaray, letter, 6 June 1935, box 26, Cook Papers.

47. Harold J. Cook to A. E. Demaray, letter, 16 June 1935, box 26, Cook Papers.

48. A. E. Demaray to H. A. Tolson, Assistant Director, National Park Service, telegram, 4 July 1935, box 26, Cook Papers.

49. Howard W. Baker, (former Midwest Regional Director), interview with author, Omaha, Nebraska, 13 May 1986, transcript, pp. 1-2.

50. Harold L. Ickes to Harold J. Cook, telegram, 15 July 1935, box 34, Cook Papers.

51. Harold J. Cook to Harold L. Ickes, telegram, 17 July 1935, box 34, Cook Papers.

52. Mrs. Margaret C. Cook to Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt, The White House, Washington, D.C., letter, 26 September 1935, box 46, Cook Papers.

53. Ron Cockrell, Scotts Bluff National Monument, Nebraska: An Administrative History, 1960-1983 (Omaha: National Park Service, Midwest Regional Office, 1983), pp. 19-20; Cockrell, An Interview with Historian Merrill J. Mattes on Scotts Bluff, Agate Fossil Beds, Grand Portage National Monuments and Other Areas, 24-25 May 1983, Littleton, Colorado (Omaha: National Park Service, Midwest Regional Office, 1983), pp. 2-3; and Merrill J. Mattes to author, 20 July 1985, letter, H1417, Midwest Regional Office Files.

54. Zimmerman, The Cook Papers Collection, 1984.

55. Harold J. Cook to Earl A. Trager, Chief, Naturalist Division, Washington Office, letter, 2 May 1938; and Trager to Cook, letter, 18 November 1938, box 53, Cook Papers.

56. Merrill J. Mattes to author, 20 July 1985, letter, H1417, Midwest Regional Office Files.

57. Merrill J. Mattes, Custodian, Scotts Bluff National Monument, to Harold J. Cook, letter, 6 August 1942, box 38; and David L. Hieb, Superintendent, Fort Laramie National Monument, to Harold J. Cook, letter, 18 December 1949, and attached memorandum by Harold J. Cook, 8 February 1950, box 32, Cook Papers.

58. Zimmerman, The Cook Papers Collection, 1984.

59. Harold J. Cook, Consulting Geologist, "Statement on the Ownership and Control of Agate Springs Fossil Quarries, Sioux County, Nebraska," to To Whom It May Concern, 30 April 1955, Cook Papers.

60. Chester C. Brown, Regional Chief of Recreation Resource Planning, to Harold J. Cook, letter, 5 August 1960, box 22, Cook Papers.


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