Agate Fossil Beds Administrative History

The First Calendar Year of Operation, 1966

Positive developments characterized the first month of 1966 as Agate Fossil Beds National Monument officially became an operating unit of the National Park System's Midwest Region. [1] President Johnson's fiscal 1967 budget to Congress recommended $137,200 for an access road, parking, office trailers, and picnic area developments as well as $231,200 to acquire 2,679 acres. The administration's budget projection for Agate Fossil Beds totaled $411,700. [2]

Another change in leadership occurred when Lon Garrison transferred to the directorship of the Northeast Region in Philadelphia, and Fred Fagergren, former Superintendent of Grand Teton National Park, came to Omaha to head the Midwest Regional Office. Acting Regional Director Harry Robinson assured Margaret Cook that the Region was awaiting approval from Washington on the Master Plan, but was proceeding with appraisals "so we will be ready to move on land acquisition when funds become available. We are still working for an early start at Agate, and hope to get moving soon." [3]

Following a February 18 review, Acting Director Howard Baker approved the Master Plan, but some reservations were noted. One concern involved staffing levels which appeared excessive, but with other built-in controls and limitations, the plan was not altered. Criticism of the headquarters development layout (that it be closer to the fossil beds, not near the ranch) was also voiced, but a consensus opinion held that the final evolution of the design would come only through the San Francisco Planning and Service Center planning process. [4] The approved Master Plan established the following visitor use objectives:

To encourage maximum appropriate visitor use of all Area resources, through development of the outstanding paleontological features; interpretation of the several resources, personal services and optimum provision of facilities for the safe use of the Area.

To encourage and facilitate research use of Monument resources by qualified individuals and agencies.

To make maximum appropriate use of facilities.

To focus primary patterns of use, in priority order, on: the major paleontological resources, with emphasis on the story of paleontological research and excavation and the related geologic context. Secondary emphasis will be focused on the Indian ethno-history derived from Captain James Cook's association with the Oglala Sioux and their chief, Red Cloud.

To coordinate visitor uses and facilities with those for the western Nebraska-eastern Wyoming region, including both local and state, and federally administered Parks, Monuments, Recreation Areas, and Historic Sites. [5]

Resources Management objectives follow:

To base conservation of Monument resources on the best possible plans and programs for their utilization and management, on sound research-based knowledge of all resources.

To maintain all resources and physical facilities in a fashion to insure their longest useful life.

To complete adequate identification and evaluation of Monument paleontological resources.

To identify and evaluate the historic ranch and Indian ethnohistory resources for their selective preservation and use.

To limit the scope of Monument museum collections to appropriate paleontological, geological, biological, archeological and historical objects and materials directly related to Monument resources.

To define limits of development commensurate with optimum preservation of Monument resources.

The present ranching scene may be retained within the Monument boundaries where it does not detract from preservation and visitor enjoyment of the Monument's primary resources. [6]

Finally, principal management considerations focused on two points:

To establish an operational administrative unit, to include lands containing the paleontological resources and sites necessary for development of facilities, as soon as possible.

To accomplish all research and development required for optimum visitor use and conservation of the Monument's resources; with special attention to the interpretive challenge involved in the on-site presentations of the Miocene fossil quarries and their contents. [7]

With park objectives firmly established, the Master Plan delineated policy into specific cases. Lands known to contain primary paleontological resources were targeted as priority-one for acquisition for both monument establishment and resources protection via boundary fencing. A complete paleontological-geological survey was necessary to identify primary deposits and record them on a base map. Excavation at the "Devil's Corkscrew" (daemonelix) burrows would determine their extent and uncover fossilized evidence of their theorized beaver occupants. Reliefed fossils, sheltered as soon as exposed, should be thoroughly researched, catalogued, and adequately housed. Quarry permits would not be issued until research indicated the location, nature, extent, and optimum visitor use potential of the area. [8]

Identification and evaluation of historical and archeological resources was essential. Historical investigation of early trails through Agate, the establishment and development of the ranch (with historic structure reports prepared for selected buildings), paleontological activities, and the ethno-history of the Oglala Sioux and Chief Red Cloud relating to Captain Cook was required. Additionally, the Cook Collection should be researched and catalogued. An archeological survey would locate and evaluate sites, [9] most of which had already been identified by the local landowners.

In the area of natural resources, the Park Service would have to consult with Nebraska officials to ascertain the State's long-range goals for cyclic poisoning of the upper Niobrara to remove rough fish in favor of trout. Grazing by permit in areas not affecting visitor use or resource development would also be beneficial in fire prevention as well as facilitate equitable land acquisition. Hunting was of course prohibited by the Code of Federal Regulations. Intrusive structures on acquired lands, including roads and other developments, should be removed and the natural landscape restored. [10]

Master Plan provisions for visitor use and enjoyment required adequate entrance signs at the north and south boundary crossings on Nebraska 29 and a directional sign to the visitor center-headquarters area at the county road junction. The place for fee collection, if approved, would be at an entrance station or visitor center. Monument orientation would come in the form of a free folder, an exhibit, and personal attention by a uniformed employee at an information desk. [11]

Probably because of the uncertainty over Margaret Cook's right to donate land from her life estate, the Master Plan negated all previous discussions for a facility at the Agate Springs Ranch. The plan called for a multi-purpose structure to house a visitor center, headquarters, and the Center for Continuing Paleontological Research as provided in the authorizing act. Including all exhibits and collections, the facility would be constructed in the "Headquarters Developed Area"—the Niobrara valley north of Carnegie and University Hills. A minimum of five permanent residential units and eight seasonal apartment units obscured by landscaping was proposed adjacent to this facility. A road would connect this complex to a parking lot at the base of the quarry hills from where foot trails led to the reliefed fossil shelters. Another road to the Stenomylus quarry would be built when reliefed fossils could be seen there, while a spur off the county road could take visitors to the "Devil's Corkscrew" area. [12]

Development plans for the Agate Springs Ranch depended on historical and archeological research. In the interim, no development was planned, but interpretive signs describing area significance could be placed at the ranch. Because the average visitor stay did not surpass two-hours, no overnight accommodations or other services were required, although those wishing to eat prepared lunches could use the picnic grounds at the Agate Springs Ranch. [13]

As for administrative concerns, the Master Plan called for Agate Fossil Beds to function as a Group A Management unit. Principal authority was vested in the Coordinating Superintendent of Scotts Bluff National Monument with the Midwest Regional Office providing facilitating and technical services Daily operation of the monument was the responsibility of the resident Management Assistant with authority for management and administration, resource management and visitor protection, and interpretation and visitor services. Specialized site-specific duties relating to research, preparation, display and care of paleontological resources would come under the purview of the Museum Geologist (Vertebrate Paleontologist). Personnel and fiscal affairs, procurement, and property management would be handled by Scotts Bluff. It suggested the coordinating concept* be expanded to include Fort Laramie National Historic Site to form a regional complex under the Superintendent of Scotts Bluff National Monument. [14]

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*The coordinating concept was not seriously contemplated by Midwest Region officials. The idea became impossible in the early 1970s when the State of Wyoming fell under the guidance of the newly-created Rocky Mountain Region with the Regional Office in Denver.

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A final provision of the 1966 Master Plan established park priorities for action:

Superintendent Richard Holder and Management Assistant Albert Werking attended an April session of the Sioux County Commissioners to lay the groundwork for a cooperative effort for reconstruction and relocation of the county road within the park boundaries. [16] After a meeting in early May, Assistant Regional Director for Operations Harvey B. Reynolds recommended the county relinquish its ownership rights to the government in exchange for an adequate road in the approximate location. [17]

Upon the recommendation of Richard Holder that the Park Service not share space with the Agate Springs Post Office for another season, an office trailer—the interim visitor contact station—was delivered to the ranch on June 2. Seasonal Park Ranger William W. Taylor was onsite June 6 to assist Albert Werking during the 1966 visitor season. Other seasonal workers included Laborers Carl O. Nelson and Charles S. Upp who helped Ray Wyrick of the San Francisco Service and Planning Center conduct a topographical survey. Exhibits for the trailer, prepared by the Region's Interpretation and Visitor Services Division, arrived June 16 and were installed by the laborers. [18]

The same men, assisted by student aids, helped Archeologist Jackson W. Moore with preliminary excavations at the quarries. On temporary assignment from Bent's Old Fort National Historic Site, Moore arrived on June 13. His mission was to determine the extent and position of the remaining fossil deposits in order for planning and site location of interpretive facilities to proceed. Moore was joined on June 19 by Dr. Ted White, Paleontologist from Dinosaur National Monument, along with Regional Archeologist Dr. Wilfred Logan and Acting Regional Maintenance Chief Charles Novak. At Mrs. Cook's request, two men intimately familiar with past Agate excavations also came: Dr. Ray Lemley, paleontologist, rancher, and retired surgeon from Rapid City, and Morris Skinner, geologist and head preparator for the Frick Laboratories of the American Museum of Natural History. Both promised to supply all records of their Agate findings to the Park Service. Others involved in the work were Dr. Craig Black, Carnegie Institute; Dr. Haus de Brunze, the Netherlands; and Jean Allen, University of Nebraska. [19]

More than 3,000 visitors came during the season. Those who expressed an interest were shown an audio/slide presentation. Some came in search of fossils and/or agates, others to hunt and fish. Many were misled by the AAA Motor Club and National Geographic Society which listed the newly authorized monument on 1966 maps. A recording in the handwritten daily log explained:

Still have visitors who are disgruntled by the premature placing of Agate Fossil Beds National Monument on the maps. Many are obviously reading into news releases—news that isn't there. Most are immediately cooled off when they find that there are no fossils. Sure are pacified when directed to the Corkscrews. Unquestionably to see and touch the fossils at the beds is it and until we have that—we have disappointed the visitors. [20]

At season's end, a weekends-only policy began at the visitor contact trailer, but visitation dropped so low that a Sunday-only schedule was adopted. [21]

Approval of construction drawings of the headquarters developed area was delayed when Holder asked that a drive-up fee collecting station be attached to the principal facility. [22] The drawings were then approved by Regional Director Fred Fagergren on August 31, subject to further study on the location of an exhibit-in-place structure. [23]

The Assistant Regional Director for Development* declared in mid-October that a structure in the immediate fossil quarry was not feasible because of the steep terrain and the extensive construction-related damage to the site. The in situ display could either be at the quarry parking area or at the headquarters site in the Niobrara valley. With slight visitation and a small work force, one facility would be more efficient. [24] The opinion represented one of many in the on-going planning process.

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*An effort to match a name with this title proved unsuccessful.

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Land Acquisition Program Begins, 1966

Joseph T. Shubert of the San Francisco Planning and Service Center completed staff appraisals of all authorized Agate Fossil Beds National Monument lands on June 8, 1966, and an appropriation from the Land and Water Conservation Fund covering $231,200 for land acquisition came the same month. [25] Unfortunately, little progress in acquisition negotiations transpired during the remainder of the year.

Senator Roman Hruska's behind-the-scene efforts secured the land acquisition appropriation. At the same time, the Senate Appropriations Committee also authorized $137,200 to begin construction at Agate. In a letter to Mrs. Cook, Hruska states, "It is a real pleasure to be able to give you this news, which means the first long step towards making the Monument a physical reality." [26]

During the annual meeting of the Agate Fossil Beds National Monument Association on October 3, the group discussed the formal dedication ceremony in the context of the Nebraska centennial celebration. As Richard Holder stressed, however, the dedication of the national monument depended on a successful land acquisition program. [27]

Realty Specialist Gene Lyttle arrived on October 31 for a week of negotiations with landowners, all except three of the heirs of the Cook estate who lived outside the area. Official letters followed Lyttle's visit. The letters restated the government's offer and requested the landowners to take prompt action. [28] In early fall of 1966, George Hoffman, "our landowner of chief concern," underwent extensive surgery for the removal of stomach ulcers. Although personally unfortunate, Holder believed the long convalescence would convince Hoffman that his "active days of ranching are over." [29] None of the ranchers, including George and Margaret Hoffman*, were going to be pushed into a speedy settlement. By the end of the year, not a single landowner had responded to the Federal acquisition offer, and the only tangible result of the construction and development programmed for fiscal 1967 was the purchase of the temporary visitor center. [30]

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*While Margaret Hoffman favored selling, accepting a life tenancy, and traveling, her husband did not want to quit working and become inactive. Margaret C. Cook's opinion was that George Hoffman merely was holding out for a better price, an attitude later characterized as "ungenerous" and "unkind." See Mrs. Grayson E. (Dorothy Cook) Meade, interview with author, Agate Springs Ranch, 22 May 1986, transcript, pp. 10-11.

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By February 1967, no settlements had been made. Gene Lyttle revisited the area in early March to conduct a number of "final" face-to-face negotiations. [31] On March 6 and 7, Lyttle met with the Hoffmans and Mrs. Cook. While the Hoffmans made no commitment, Margaret Cook signed over all rights and interests to the quarries. [32] When Lyttle returned on April 11 and 12 to conduct additional conferences, he met with success. Both the Hoffmans and Mrs. Cook signed options which were then forwarded to Washington for review. Other ranchers linked their intention to sign upon the success of the Hoffman deal, [33] which came after a fourth Lyttle visit on May 9, 1967. The land acquisition success chart looked like this:

Still under negotiation were various remaindermen interests in Tract Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 7. The only immediate obstacle was the Cook parcel (Tract No. 2) as the construction program hinged on its settlement. While Tract No. 2 was soon settled, Tract Nos. 3 and 7, representing the ranch headquarters of the Cook estate, remained outstanding throughout 1967.

Interim Headquarters Development, 1967-1968

The 1967 visitor season began in earnest when Seasonal Ranger William W. Taylor returned for a second year on May 30. Superintendent Richard Holder hoped 1967 would be the last year of operating a temporary visitor center at the Agate Springs Ranch headquarters adjacent to Highway 29. With settlement of the Hoffman tract, bids for construction of a test well were opened on May 24 in San Francisco and Meder-Smith, Inc., of Alliance, Nebraska, was low bidder. [34] Work began on July 5, and on July 27, Richard Holder staged an onsite press conference to publicize the monument's first construction project. [35] A pumping test of the 200-foot well on August 8 revealed an excellent supply of water, producing 165 gallons per minute at maximum pump speed. [36] This was confirmed on August 11 after a final inspection by representatives of the State of Nebraska and the United States Geological Survey. [37]

With the first project finished, an informal August 20 ground breaking ceremony was held "chiefly to reassure the public that the monument is actually going ahead." [38] Symbolic spadefuls of earth were overturned by Margaret Cook and Earl Cherry, President of the Agate Fossil Beds National Monument Association. Participants expressed the hope that a more elaborate formal dedication could be held the following summer after the interim visitor facilities were in place. [39]

Communications between Scotts Bluff and the remote headquarters site at the base of the quarries beyond the Niobrara was a problem. Holder ruled against the installation of intrusive and expensive radio towers at both sites. He preferred to wait until December when Northwestern Bell Telephone Company crews could install underground cables and thereby provide normal telephone service to the area. [40]

At the end of October, the temporary visitor center trailer closed for the season having served 3,744 visitors. This represented a more than twenty-four percent increase in visitation over 1966 (3,013). Boundary line survey work concluded on October 12. [41]

Included in President Johnson's January 1968 budget to Congress was $60,200 for Agate Fossil Beds: $45,100 for management and $15,100 for maintenance. [42] A freeze on new Federal construction activity imposed in early February, however, caused much local alarm that the interim headquarters complex at Agate would be affected. Holder issued assurances that the Agate project would proceed as an authorized project because only $51,000 of the allocated $137,200 construction funds had been spent. [43] Nevertheless, Holder fielded constant media inquiries for exact dates on the beginning and completion of the spring construction program. [44]

Holder's assurances proved correct. During the third week of March, bid invitations for trailers were issued marking the "real beginning of construction-related activity." The contract to furnish three of the five trailers at the interim headquarters went to the A. C. Nelsen Company of Omaha. The positive news was tempered at the same time by an ominous disappointment in the land acquisition effort. With only Tract Nos. 3 and 7 (Cook estate) outstanding, the Service rejected a compromise offer submitted by the four co-owners and emphasized again the Service's commitment to acquire the land. Following an appeal by the Cook daughters to the Nebraska Congressional Delegation, Holder warned Fred Fagergren, "The owners are apparently preparing to resist in every possible way." [45]

Margaret C. Cook Donates the Collection, April 1968

On April 2, 1968, Mrs. Margaret C. Cook signed a bill of sale giving the priceless Cook Collection—Indian artifacts, wearing apparel, works of art, Western gun collection, and the paleontological library—to the National Park Service. The sane terms listed in the March 4, 1963, agreement transferring the collection to the vault at Scotts Bluff were still binding. [46]

The abrupt move was surprising, but intentional, coming on the heels of the unsuccessful acquisition negotiations with the heirs of her life estate. The Park Service welcomed the donation of the collection which was still in storage at Scotts Bluff, but dreaded its potential volume. The scope of the Cook materials far surpassed that which was locked in the vault at Scotts Bluff. Along with the paleontological library and Cook Papers Collection, Margaret C. Cook let it be known that the National Park Service would eventually own every item inside the Agate Springs Ranch House. A May 3 memorandum to Fred Fagergren captures Richard Holder's dilemma:

Mrs. Cook, when approached today, about donating the items without stipulations made it very clear that she expects all of the items of the original agreement to be binding upon us. She does not want any items of the Cook Collection to be transferred anywhere, anytime. She admits that certain items may well be surplus to our needs, but she leaves no doubt in our minds that she intends to be in on any decision, as it relates to a specific item.

Mrs. Cook has the mistaken idea (going back to her relationship with Superintendent Bob Jones) that there is: (1) a firm decision to preserve the house as a museum and (2) firm plans to exhibit in the house, each and every item the Cook family ever owned.

We attempt to dissuade her from this notion at every opportunity, but we are only partially successful. When I drink a cup of coffee at her house, I am often reminded that I'm using a National Park Service cup, because "everything I have is yours."

In retrospect, we believe it is unfortunate that certain verbal and written statements were made during the period of March 1962 to May 1963. This, however, is water under the bridge. We must now either:

(1) live with the situation, and store forever many, many items that do not relate to the story being told, or

(2) determine what we really want, and return the balance to the donor. I do not seriously suggest this course of action (as much as I'd like to). Mrs. Cook could probably react very negatively, and might even involve the Congressional Delegation. [47]

Mrs. Cook was so alarmed by the suggestion (from non-NPS sources) that the Cook Collection might be dispersed throughout the Park System that she made a deeply emotional appeal to Associate Director Howard Baker. Mrs. Cook received immediate assurances that the collection would be preserved under the terms of the 1963 agreement and the April 1968 bill of sale. [48]

Management Assistant Albert E. Werking took up residence at Agate on May 27, 1968, occupying one trailer while Seasonal Ranger William Taylor occupied the other. Werking's move from Scotts Bluff represented the first permanent onsite employee for management, protection, and interpretation of the area. Three days later, the temporary visitor information trailer opened on a year-round basis. The trailer complex was adjacent to the Agate Springs Ranch headquarters area (in front of ranch manager Bud Forsling's house) only until the utilities, access roads, and parking area were constructed at the interim headquarters site. Al Werking's tenure at Agate Fossil Beds was short-lived, however. On July 3, he was notified of his acceptance to a one-year administrative training course with the Canadian Service Commission's National and Historic Parks Branch in Ottawa. Werking left for Canada on July 17, and his position became vacant. With only seasonal assistance present at Agate, Holder contemplated closing the monument to visitors after Labor Day. [49]

Frustration Over Cook Remaindermen Interests

The National Park Service's San Francisco Planning and Service Center's Office of Land and Water Rights handled the principal mechanics of land acquisition. From San Francisco, Land and Water Rights Chief Thomas Kornelis supervised negotiations with Robert Simmons, the Cook sister's Scottsbluff, Nebraska, attorney. These discussions began in earnest in 1966 and redoubled following Margaret C. Cook's March 1967 relinquishment of quarrying rights (under Harold J. Cook's will) to the government in exchange for informal agreement to retain her life tenancy from the National Park Service. At the onset, Midwest Regional Director Fred Fagergren authorized Kornelis to acquire Tracts 3 and 7 from the Agate Springs Ranch. With Mrs. Cook's life tenancy estimated at fifteen years, Kornelis focused on acquiring the remainderman interests of Harold J. Cook's four daughters. Without title vested clearly in the United States it would be impossible to accomplish any planning for permanent development there. Determined to achieve outright, unencumbered ownership as soon as possible, Kornelis soon discovered the Cook heir's stubborn determination to oppose this goal.

Leaders of the "Cook remaindermen" were Grayson and Dorothy Cook Meade. From their home in Calgary, Alberta, Canada (where they moved from Houston, Texas), the Meades were formidable opponents. Both were geologists by training, and Grayson Meade (Ph.D. University of Chicago), taught at the university level before becoming a geologist for Union Oil in Canada for twenty years. Dorothy and Grayson Meade shared a deep love for the Agate Springs Ranch and the rich family legacy spawned there. In concert with the other three heirs (Margaret Hoffman, Winifred McGrew, and Eleanor Naffziger), the Meades vowed to resist acquisition of any more lands outside the immediate principal quarry areas in an effort to retain the ranch and pass it on to their heirs. Without the ranch headquarters—ranch and foreman's houses, barns and corrals, windmill, irrigation system, bridges, and mature windbreak—they argued that the remainder of Agate Springs Ranch would be economically unviable.

By November 1967, the Cook sisters were willing to negotiate concerning land east of Highway 29 and only devil's corkscrews west of the road. Ranch headquarters was non-negotiable. Late the same month, Fagergren agreed to proceed with condemnation on both tracts. Stating the land was necessary and the Service encouraged negotiation, Kornelis informed Robert Simmons on December 15 that failure of the talks would result in invocation of eminent domain. He offered $36,800 for Tracts 3 and 7; if no response came in forty-five days, condemnation would result. While discussions centered on access rights and fencing, Fagergren recommended a settlement via fee acquisition. In mid-February 1968, Simmons offered a scenic easement on the contested lands. Kornelis rejected this on March 4. [50]

Grayson Meade appealed by letter directly to Thomas Kornelis—and the Nebraska Congressional Delegation.* Citing his family's pleasure at the presence of the monument at the fossil quarries, Meade questioned the need for acquisition of Tracts 3 and 7, particularly ranch headquarters in Tract 3 "as needlessly disruptive to an operating ranch, and a pointless waste of the taxpayers' money." The loss of the 849.22 acres—one-fifth of the ranch—would be devastating. Meade continued:

We have offered to donate to the Park Service those features on tracts 3 and 7 in which your office is interested. We have offered scenic easements and use guarantees, to accommodate your needs. We have asked for a clear statement from you as to the use intended for this land, in order that we may make our offer of donation more precisely tailored to your requirements. In return, we have asked only that the Park Service not attempt to force sale of the bulk of the land in tracts 3 and 7, particularly of the headquarters area.

This offer you have turned down with no explanation other than generalizing about orderly development of the Monument.

As owners, we are acutely interested in specifics. If your plans include valid, concrete use for this land, or any of its features, that would not be covered by our offer of donation, we need to know what it is. We will attempt to adjust our offer and guarantees accordingly.

We asked you to reconsider your decision; to give yourself and us the opportunity to find an agreeable solution that will satisfy the needs of the Park Service, and at the same time leave us a reasonable basis for an operating ranch. [51]

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*Grayson Meade's letter piqued the interest—and sympathy—of a member of Senator Hruska's staff who decided to involve himself in the controversy. Kirk Coulter wrote: "I don't really like to stir up hornet's nests, but [I] can't help feeling that the Cook children by the first marriage deserve a review of the situation before the die is finally cast. I thought I might at least talk to the Park Service people about the matter before they start condemnation." See Kirk Coulter to Senator Roman Hruska, U.S. Senate memorandum, undated (circa March 1968), Box 196 Departmental Correspondence 90th Congress, 2nd session, folder—Department of the Interior, National Park Service 1968, Hruska papers, Nebraska State Historical Society. See also the results of this compromise initiative in the next section (September 1968 in the chronological narrative).

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Park Service Deputy Director Harthon L. Bill provided a response to the Meade letter on May 27, 1968. Ranch headquarters was unaffected, but the Service agreed to amend the monument boundary by deleting twenty acres in the northwest section to permit cattle access to other ranch lands. In addition, the entire appraisal would be reviewed. [52]

On May 29, a meeting with Simmons, Margaret Hoffman, Richard Holder, and George Sandberg (field representative of the Office of Land and Water Rights) brought forth a new offer: $40,000 for the two tracts including all ranch improvements and severance damages. Mrs. Hoffman requested a mid-June meeting in Spokane, Washington, the site of a family reunion, where the Cook sisters would be present to discuss the new offer with George Sandberg. Kornelis agreed to the arrangement provided all four sisters attended. He advised Robert Simmons:

In the event your clients do not wish to discuss the acquisition further this offer represents the United States' final offer. As you are aware negotiations for this land were commenced over a year ago and cannot be allowed to drag on indefinitely. Therefore, unless we receive a responsive reply to our offer or arrangements are made to meet with the remaindermen we will proceed accordingly. [53]

The proposed Spokane meeting was aborted because the Meades were unable to attend. Nevertheless, Dorothy Meade* put forth a new proposal on June 4: the Service should restore the Bone Cabin and other early ranch structures to reveal the high point of the fossil excavations. She argued this structure was the most significant in telling the story of the area. Parties led by America's noted paleontologists used the Harold Cook's homestead claim cabin as a base of operations throughout the excavations. Many tools and furnishings once associated with the Bone Cabin could be provided by Margaret C. Cook, Mrs. Meade reasoned.

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*Mrs. Meade also appealed to Senator Hruska explaining that Mrs. Cook had "pushed her views on Congress" while the heirs were "never asked to express an opinion." She decried the Park Service's treatment of Mrs. Cook as the representative of the Cook family stating, "Unfortunately, since Mrs. Cook, by her own choice, has been out of touch with the rest of the family since March 1964, she could not possibly represent us." Finally, she questioned why Service planners were willing to respect Harold J. Cook's wishes that the ranch headquarters not be included (via the 1961 Preliminary Study), but upon his death, it was opposed to respecting his heirs' needs. See Mrs. Grayson Meade to Senator Roman Hruska, letter, 28 May 1968, Box 196 Departmental Correspondence, 90th Congress, 2nd session, folder-Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1968, Hruska papers, Nebraska State Historical Society.

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Further, Dorothy Meade stated, the north end of the bunk house, which was the original 0 4 Ranch house, could be moved and restored to represent early ranching conditions. Moved outside the grove of trees east of the highway, the contrast of the barren terrain with the comfortable, modern—and privately-owned and operating—ranch across the road would be striking. Mrs. Meade also suggested the addition of the old post office to the group of moved and donated structures. To restore the main ranch house to an earlier period would create havoc for the much-altered interior and pose exhibit problems for many of the furnishings acquired in later years. Finally, Mrs. Meade concluded the Service's decision to display the Cook collections in a visitor center and not on the walls of three rooms where they had been for sixty-four years made the whole concept of restoring the ranch house "absurd." [54]

Almost as if in answer to Mrs. Meade, Assistant Director C. P. Montgomery revealed a policy shift in a June 14, 1968, letter to Senator Roman Hruska. Negating a provision in the Master Plan to interpret the historical theme in the visitor center, Montogermy stated "we now plan to tell the story of the Cook ranch, including early Indian contact with the Cooks, and the archeological story in the Cook ranch headquarters building" [55] [emphasis added]. Further, the Park Service rejected as inadequate Dorothy Meade's offer to donate small portions of land and the relocation of certain buildings for restoration. [56]

None of the Cook heirs appreciated the manner in which the San Francisco Office handled the acquisition process, i.e.. the standard procedure of threatening condemnation proceedings if no settlement could be reached. One particularly abhorrent tactic was "divide and conquer" by choosing the "weakest link." According to Dorothy Cook Meade, Winifred Cook McGrew was the only sister without a husband and because of this perceived "vulnerability," Mrs. McGrew was singled out and received a number of unpleasant telephone calls at her place of employment threatening immediate condemnation unless a favorable settlement was soon reached. Mrs. Meade later commented: "He... was just threatening her in a very unpleasant way with condemnation and deadlines and it was so obvious that he was trying to stampede her into stampeding the rest of us. I just think that's atrocious. You can't treat people that way, but they did." [57]

Holder, determined to press forward, offered one last compromise to settle acquisition of Tract Nos. 3 and 7 (hereafter designated jointly as Tract No. 3). "If it is rejected either by us or by the four daughters of Harold Cook," Holder wrote, "there will be no alternative short of condemnation." One way or the other, the authorized national monument would soon be established:

With an administrable unit in Federal ownership, the time for establishment seems to be near. I have recommended that the area be formally established at an early date. A ceremony to mark the event might be held this fall, if construction progress is such that it could be combined with formal opening of the interim headquarters complex. [58]

Another Death and A Harsh Reality, August 1968

On August 9, 1968, Mrs. Margaret C. Cook died unexpectedly of a blood clot following routine surgery. [59] The death of the woman who almost single handedly led the fight for the 1965 authorization act left the National Park Service to deal with her four stepdaughters: Margaret Hoffman, Dorothy Meade, Winifred McGrew Howard, and Eleanor Naffziger. With Margaret C. Cook's life tenancy thus terminated, her stepdaughters asserted their full ownership rights to the Agate Springs Ranch. At the request of Grayson Meade, negotiations were immediately opened. Superintendent Richard Holder lamented, "The daughters oppose our plans, and will resist our efforts to obtain the land in fee." [60]

The renewal of negotiations saw an August 28 meeting in Robert Simmons Scottsbluff office between Simmons, Fred Fagergren, William Gray of the San Francisco Land Office, the Meades, and the Hoffmans. Objectives were discussed and Fagergren, before the meeting ended, indicated he had not been aware of all the factors involved. The strongest Park Service argument for acquisition of disputed Agate Springs Ranch land centered around daemonelices. Grayson Meade, however, had previously identified 137 daemonelices on land which was cut off from the main ranch. He argued these were better for display purposes and more conveniently located than the three principal formations on the disputed tract. The Meades and Hoffmans offered to donate the headquarters ranch buildings if the Service would remove them from their grove. [61]

The Scottsbluff meeting resulted in a land acquisition program review by Midwest Regional Director Fred Fagergren on September 5, 1968. The following day Fagergren issued five possible alternatives. His recommendations were notable for the omission of immediate condemnation of the two tracts and the acceptance of the concept of scenic easements. [62]

Three days following Mrs. Cook's death, the Western Plains Construction Company of Lincoln, Nebraska, began construction of roads, parking areas, and utilities in the Niobrara Valley opposite the Fossil Hills. [63] With the receipt of the final two trailers, Richard Holder set a target date of November 1 for an unofficial opening before winter halted construction. A formal opening in conjunction with an establishment ceremony (which depended upon the success of land acquisition) was forecast for late spring or early summer of 1969. [64]

On September 9, Margaret C. Cook's will was filed in probate court without challenge. Attorney Lester A. Danielson and the First State Bank of Scottsbluff were appointed executors. The April 2, 1968, document bequeathed to the National Park Service items in the ranch house and post office* "with the hope that they will be kept at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument." Mrs. Cook gave the government a blank check for almost everything inside the ranch house, but those articles not desired by the Service were to go to three relatives: nephews Stephen A. Chase and Rupert W. Crozier, and sister Laura C. Chase. [65]

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*U.S. Postal officials closed the Agate Post Office on November 30, 1968, with no objection from the National Park Service. Antique furnishings, also park property under Margaret C. Cook's will, were removed for storage by Roy Weaver. Some area residents expressed dismay that the Park Service did not act to keep the facility open. See Holder to Regional Director, 2 December 1968, H14.

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As the will underwent probate, staff members of both Senator Roman Hruska and Carl Curtis devised a "change in position" which urged Director George Hartzog to halt the effort to acquire the core of the Agate Springs Ranch. [66] Senator Hruska himself, upon learning about it, vetoed the initiative [67] and the two proposed compromise letters to Hartzog and Simmons were redrafted. [68] The letter, dated September 30, 1968, and signed by Hruska, Curtis, and Congressman Dave Martin, informed Simmons:

It should be noted that the ranch headquarters area has been included within the Monument boundaries since before enactment of the legislation, and all the land to the east of the Cook Ranch has already been acquired by the Park Service on that assumption. For that reason, it has seemed doubtful that the Service will give up its plan to acquire the ranch headquarters area. The Service has now advised us that the Cook Collection of Indian artifacts is to be displayed in the ranch home, not in the Visitor Center yet to be built. [69]

The vacancy created by Management Assistant Al Werking's departure in July was finally filled on September 22, when Park Ranger Roy W. Weaver entered on duty. Weaver, a ranger trainee, had served three months at Albright Training Center and nine months at Yellowstone National Park. Ranger-in-Charge Roy Weaver reestablished a permanent Park Service presence at Agate Fossil Beds, relieving some of the heavy burden from Richard Holder. A weekends-only policy was reinstituted at the visitor contact trailer. [70]

Among Weaver's duties was oversight of the security and maintenance of the Cook ranch house in coordination with the Hoffmans and ranch foreman Bud Forsling. Weaver readied the home for winter by draining the pipes and adding anti-freeze, and shutting off the gas and electricity. He installed a lock on the "Bone Room" and securely stored the valuable silver and cut-glass items in an upstairs room. In cooperation with Margaret Hoffman, Weaver collected the late Mrs. Cook's files for both the Service and attorney Lester Danielson. In early November, Weaver patrolled the grounds during the auction of the Forsling and Cook machinery. He arranged with Mrs. Hoffman to keep the visitor contact trailer at the Agate Springs Ranch for the winter at a rental fee of five dollars per month for a seven-month period. Meanwhile the office and residence trailers were relocated to the interim headquarters site. [71]

In late September, Lester Danielson pressed for a speedy disposition of the Cook estate. Complicating the situation was the development that not all of the items were at the Agate Springs Ranch. In 1966, Mrs. Cook had transferred a large number of antiques to Fort Robinson State Park for storage. Eighty-five separate items ranging from vintage automobiles to buggies to furniture were at Fort Robinson under the care of the Nebraska Games and Park Commission. A new superintendent was in charge of Fort Robinson and it was feared the items might be dispersed if the Service did not act quickly. Holder asked Fagergren for a museum curator and/or historian to conduct an inventory and determine what items could be used at Agate Fossil Beds, other parks, or offered to the heirs. [72] That the Park Service sought to establish priorities for the objects reveals an early management interest in setting limits on the Cook Collection, if not preliminary preparation for an eventual divestiture of unwanted objects.

A comprehensive inventory came on October 9, 10, and 11. Mrs. Nan Rickey, a curator from the Washington Office; the Regional Solicitor; two daughters of Harold Cook; Roy Weaver; and Richard Holder participated Curator Rickey went room-by-room and building-by-building compiling a list of historical items desired by the National Park Service. [73] Holder noted that it represented "a vital step in determining our entire future course of action, with regard to both land acquisition and development." Referring to a simultaneous land acquisition compromise submitted to Fagergren, Holder mused it "could solve many of the problems which have plagued us for over three years, [but] without prompt action on this proposal, we will be forced to enter into arrangements for hasty (and expensive) storage of a vast quantity of material, at some location off the immediate premises." [74]

The compromise, rejected by the Cook sisters, prompted Richard Holder to recommend condemnation action. On a more positive note, interim headquarters construction concluded on November 20. The complex lacked only directional signs and exhibits for full operation. The Service withheld final payment pending adjustments on the water chlorination system by the Western Plains Construction Company. [75]

Evacuating the Ranch House, 1969

Roy Weaver, wife Carol, and son Jeff were the first National Park Service family to experience an Agate winter in late 1968 to early 1969. Their experience was hard, but valuable lessons were learned. The National Weather Service had installed a weather-monitoring station at the monument six weeks before the first major snowstorm struck the area in mid-December. The storm was typical for the region. Thirty-mile-per-hour winds and wind chills averaging forty degrees below zero halted the already sparse visitation. The county road to the interim headquarters area drifted closed in several places prompting Weaver to request the future use of snow fences. Vehicles failed to start. Telephone and electrical lines went down. Water lines froze. The harshness of the elements nevertheless brought area residents closer together. George Hoffman and his ranch hands helped clear the roads and start frozen vehicles.* The Weavers spent Christmas Day in the Hoffman's home. [76]

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*In a related vein, winter was not the only hazardous season. Summertime brought with it the proliferation of wildlife, particularly rattlesnakes. In one summer, a total of twenty-two rattlesnakes were removed from around the Park Service trailers. One of Carol Weaver's unpleasant tasks before allowing her son to play in the yard was to patrol with a shovel in all the areas the snakes were likely to hide. Such were some of the not-so-unusual happenings of life at Agate, Nebraska.

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Roy Weaver spent January 18, 1969, clearing pathways through the cluttered attic of the Agate Springs Ranch House. He did not reorganize any of the items, fearing that any over-concentration of weighty objects might cause the attic floor to collapse. Five days later, Weaver went to historic Fort Robinson to empty the fort's stable, hotel attic, and dining hall of Cook Collection items in storage there. The material filled two pickup trucks. On January 31, another load was transported to Agate for storage. The items half-filled "Uncle Jack's House" (the former residence of John Cook, Captain Cook's brother), a small house among the cluster of buildings at the Agate Springs Ranch headquarters. Larger items such as horse-drawn carriages and other vehicles remained at Fort Robinson. [77]

With the coming of spring, Weaver found himself spending his lieu days branding cattle and fighting small fires on neighboring ranches. With the seasonal assistance of laborer Terry Osborne, he also installed directional signs, set a flagpole in a concrete base, and planted trees, shrubs, and grass in the interim development area. [78]

About 250 cottonwoods and Russian olive trees were planted and had to be watered by hand two times a week during the hot summer and once a week during the remainder of the growing season. The task required all morning to complete. Because there was no maintenance work space, craft activity took place outdoors on sawhorses. The comfort station trailer, divided into male and female sections, possessed a center section used for storage of tools. Whenever the seasonal ranger vacated his trailer, Weaver converted it into a temporary maintenance shop. Weaver later recalled: "We operated under the I & RM concept. Traditionally that is known as Interpretation and Resource Management but the AGFO modification was Interpretation, Rangerin' (resource management/protection), and Maintenance." [79]

Richard L. Holder transferred to the position of Programs Specialist in the Southeast Regional Office in Atlanta on March 23, 1969. Scotts Bluff's Chief of Interpretation and Resources Management Benjamin Ladd served as Acting Superintendent of the two monuments in the interim administrative period.

On May 16, Robert G. Simmons, Jr., legal representative of the four Cook daughters, notified the Park Service that family members intended to occupy the ranch house for the summer on June 1. He wrote that while his clients respected the government's rights and property interests, they would not be responsible for the care or maintenance of the historical items. [80]

In mid-June, Dinosaur's Geologist/Paleontologist Ted White arrived to sort geological and paleontological material of the Cook estate for exhibit and storage. White gave the Diceratherium slab (placed next to the ranch house in 1934) a new plaster jacket and readied it for removal to the interim visitor center. White found the slab, a right-angle triangle, incompatible with the concrete exhibit base and cover, equilateral triangles. White had to cut the slab in half so that the facilities for exhibiting it could be utilized. The half containing a skull would be exhibited while the other half was jacketed for storage.

White expressed dismay at Margaret C. Cook's donation of the Cook fossil mammal collection* to the American Museum of Natural History: "In as much as it is impossible to establish a paleontological research center without fossils, that activity must be postponed indefinitely." [81] He also assessed the precarious political situation and telephoned Omaha with an urgent plea for a twelve- by sixty-foot storage trailer to contain the most precious items. Acting Superintendent Benjamin Ladd concurred, stating the collections at the ranch were there "at the sufferance of the daughters, and it is possible that we might be told to remove the material within 24 hours. We would have no choice but to comply." He added that some fossils and furniture were already ruined by the weather. At the family's request, a small outbuilding was vacated for their use as sleeping quarters and the structure's contents were crowded into other buildings. [82]

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*This was the collection Harold J. Cook amassed throughout his life from fossil areas other than Agate.

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New Superintendent Homer L. Rouse, formerly of Joshua Tree National Monument, California, who entered on duty in late June 1969, arrived just in time to participate in the first evacuation phase of the Agate Springs Ranch House. Dr. and Mrs. Grayson E. Meade, the family residents who had asked that ranch buildings be cleaned out, were pleased that the Cook Collection materials were being moved into outbuildings which the Meades did not plan to use immediately. The Meades indicated they considered the arrangement temporary, only until the Service could remove all the objects in a couple of weeks.

Interpretive Specialist Charles H. McCurdy from the Midwest Regional Office was present on July 31, 1969,* for the removal of the Diceratherium slab to headquarters. Benjamin Ladd operated a lowboy and forklift. Every thing went well until the slab was being lowered into position at the visitor center trailer when it began to break up. The plaster jacket held it together, but a week of intricate stabilization work was required before it could be put into final position. White instructed Weaver on the techniques of fossil reliefing on the unbandaged portion of the slab. McCurdy was struck by Weaver's dedication:

One might well wonder what there is for a ranger to do at AGFO. Well, Roy Weaver has been putting in a lot of extra time, much of it dealing with the Cook collection. He has good relations with the Meades. He used most of his lieu days to work with Dr. White. His knowledge of the Cook collection is amazing, almost photographic. I got the feeling that he knows every item even though the collection was inventoried on a very general basis. Under his watchfulness, the collection is in good hands until it can be packed up. [83]

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*At 7:45 p.m. on this same day, Weaver responded to a lightning-ignited fire at the Agate Springs Ranch. The only pumper at the scene of the range fire belonged to the Park Service. The fire was under control in ninety minutes. See Agate Daily Log No. 1, entry 31 July 1969.

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On July 7, Regional officials decided the Cook Collection material at the Agate Springs Ranch would be transported to Fort Larned National Historic Site, Kansas, for storage. [84] In Homer Rouse's first meeting with the Meades, Dorothy Meade asked to keep some of the furniture, but remained adamant on fighting the Service's land acquisition effort:

Mrs. Meade brought up the subject of National Park Service acquisition of the ranch, and she informed me that the Park Service would have to condemn the land to ever get it as they plan to retain ownership indefinitely. I advised her that there was no immediate plans concerning the ranch. This exchange was all very cordial, she just wanted to let me know where we stand. [85]

Rouse recommended that, as a goodwill gesture to maintain amicable relations with the family, a special loan agreement be issued to permit the Meades to retain some furniture. Allied Van Lines workmen arrived on July 31, to begin a four-day packing effort, phase two of the ranch house evacuation. Photographs and family records were separated to be stored at Scotts Bluff along with the remainder of the collection already there under the 1963 agreement. The workmen also moved the items from Fort Robinson. [86]* Dr. Ted White and Historian Nan Rickey arrived on July 29 to lend their expertise on sorting and evaluating historical and paleontological items. Cook family members assisted, as did Homer Rouse and Roy Weaver. Manila tags were placed on all items desired by the Park Service. Historian Rickey, overwhelmed that a three-generation family had kept every scrap of written correspondence, asked the heirs to help her sort through what was known as the "Cook Papers Collection." Things of historical significance were separated from the mundane (bank stubs, canceled checks, etc.). Private material, that which the Cook daughters did not want to become public property, were also placed in a separate pile and later examined by Rickey. [87]

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*The objects stored at Fort Robinson originally came from a large barn at the Agate Springs Ranch. Mrs. Cook had terminated all insurance coverage on the ranch buildings—including the house—and did not want to spend any money to repair the dilapidated barn which then had to be torn down. Keeping buildings in repair and fully insured was a stipulation of Harold Cook's will, a provision his second wife chose to ignore. See Mrs. Grayson E. (Dorothy Cook) Meade, interview with author, Agate Springs Ranch, 22 May 1986, transcript, p. 14.

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The movers started in the attic and removed an estimated three tons of material through an opening twenty-three inches in diameter. After sorting, only half of the items were packed. On the third day, two small moving vans arrived and all but eight items were loaded. Mrs. Margaret Hoffman signed a museum loan form for two beds and six pieces of bedroom furniture with the understanding that when the house closed in September, Roy Weaver could then load them in a pickup and take them to Larned, Kansas.

The evacuation effort ended at 6:30 p.m., August 4. A total of 18,070 pounds were shipped at a cost of $1,777.91. Rouse reported that without Rickey and White "to weed out junk," the weight and volume of the shipment would have doubled. He concluded:

Seeing their family treasures packed and moved out was somewhat of a traumatic experience for all three of the sisters who were present throughout the entire operation. They remained amiable even at times of stress, which are inevitable under such conditions. I wish to commend the outstanding efforts of Ranger Weaver, Doctor White, and Mrs. Rickey in accomplishing this project with such consideration for the family. I believe that their efforts have greatly improved our public relations standing with the three sisters. [88]

The Diceratherium slab was jockeyed into final position on July 19. Eugene Kingman of the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha, contractor for four interpretive exhibits, arrived for an inspection tour on September 11 to review plans and measurements. An entrance sign, constructed by Lindell Signs and Display, Ralston, Nebraska, was placed on Highway 29, as were other boundary markers. The same month, a portable compressor for the chlorination system went on-line, but caused a malfunction of the hypoclorinator. Rouse notified Western Plains Construction Company, the original contractor, to repair the system. Rouse recommended delaying any progress in land acquisition until spring when he hoped the Cook sisters would be more receptive. Rouse called for postponing establishment ceremonies further, also until the following year when exhibits could be in place. [89]

On September 3, 1969, three Midwest Regional Office personnel conducted a management appraisal report for Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. J. L. Dunning, Fred Dickison, and LeRoy Brown called the Agate Fossil Beds interpretive program "especially well done" in light of limited staff and temporary facilities. The appraisers noted the principal resource, the fossil beds, "are ignored at the present time because of budgetary and personnel ceilings. This area could become a real attraction if on the site (in situ) exhibits are uncovered and displayed in a manner appropriate for this important paleontological story." [90] The report called for an interpretive prospectus to be prepared. As for planning and development:

As long as the visitor has to wade the river to view the fossil beds, there does not appear to be any need for further expansion of existing facilities. Construction of an access road in 1975 will require an expanded interpretive program. Additional seasonal housing as well as visitor contact facilities will be required. [91]

The study also recommended the addition of a utility building to serve as a fire cache, vehicle storage, paleontological storage and maintenance shop. [92]

In October 1969, Weaver devoted considerable attention to exploring monument lands in search of fossils for exhibit purposes. With a rented horse from the Hoffman Ranch, Weaver found an excellent devil's corkscrew specimen which he reliefed off a cliff face and transported to the visitor center for display. In the course of exploring the Stenomylus Quarry, the ranger unwittingly stumbled upon a rattlesnake den near the top of the quarry hill. Noting his narrow escape from snakebites, Weaver recorded in the Agate Daily Log, "I was more careful from then on." [93]

Among tasks in December 1969 was gathering data for the park's resource management plan. Over the next several years, Roy Weaver complied checklists of all flowering plants and grasses as well as the mammals, birds, and reptiles which he had personally viewed and identified. A second checklist contained those species of flora and fauna which visitors reported seeing on the monument or in the area. [94] Weaver also arranged the negatives in the park's photographic archives and began organizing a print segment of the same photography file. [95]

Land Woes and Organizing the Exhibits, 1970

The new year 1970 began with Homer Rouse and personnel from the Office of Land Acquisition and Water Resources, Western Service Center,* compiling yet another compromise to present to the Cook heirs while at the same time preparing a condemnation complaint. Submitted by Fagergren on March 27, the compromise called for a scenic easement on all ranchlands inside the legislative boundaries as well as a right-of-way along the county road with the future goal of an improved roadway to the quarries. Also included was the "right of first refusal" giving the government the first opportunity to buy the ranch in the event the heirs decided to sell it. Part of the proposal not written in the easement was a request for a letter signed by all the heirs granting the Service permission to enter the grounds to study the area and structures. Confident of a settlement, Homer Rouse declared: "It is our belief that this will meet with their whole hearted approval." [96]

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*Following a reorganization, these were the new appellations for the Office of Land and Water Rights and the San Francisco Planning and Service Center. John E. Ritchie replaced Thomas Kornelis as chief of the WSC division.

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Gloom descended when Robert Simmons, on behalf of the Cook heirs, rejected the March 23 compromise out of hand. Disagreeing with the standard terms of a scenic easement agreement the family planned to submit its own terms which did not promise to bring a settlement any closer. In a May 8 telephone conversation with Simmons, Fagergren again failed to reach an agreement. The National Park Service promptly filed a complaint action with the Department of Justice to acquire the scenic easement and access road easement on the disputed 850.39 acres. Superintendent Homer Rouse preferred to wait for site establishment, already long delayed, after a court settlement. [97]

Despite the initiation of legal proceedings, the National Park Service continued to negotiate for a settlement. The heirs, led by Dorothy and Grayson Meade, wanted to retain gas and oil exploration rights or be compensated for the loss of their present lease while retaining the right to lease for future directional drilling. They also wished to secure area concession rights to open a gift shop or other commercial establishment. Another scenic easement proposal was rejected in July as too restrictive.

A setback in the negotiations came in the early morning of November 6, 1970, when Midwest Regional Director Fred Fagergren died in his sleep. The loss of this key player contributed to complications which delayed a final settlement for several years. The Midwest Regional Office pressed ahead by injecting a monetary incentive for a settlement. Previously, the Cook heirs had always expressed a willingness to donate scenic easements. The Park Service added $10,000, which Simmons rejected while countering with an asking price of $50,000 with other amendments. By the end of the year, the Justice Department called for continued negotiations by the Park Service with the Cook heirs for an out-of-court settlement. On November 27, Service attorneys submitted another revision. It cited a more attractive purchase price, the hope being that five years of continuous negotiations might finally come to an end. [98]

While land acquisition remained a perpetual thorn in the side of park development, other programs showed real progress. Installation of visitor center exhibits, delayed nearly a year, were finally approaching completion. By March, the Miocene Age wall mural was painted and exhibit bases were under construction. The Midwest Regional Office assured the park of a May 1 completion date, and sent two other professionals to conduct preliminary studies on a trail bridge to cross the Niobrara as well as a self-guiding nature trail to the quarries. [99]

On schedule, contract supervisors Eugene Kingman of Omaha and Charles McLauglin of Lubbock, Texas, arrived on May 1 and installed the visitor center exhibits. They were aided by monument staff, augmented by a seasonal historian and a seasonal laborer. [100] The trail, footbridge, and a fossil exhibit were all completed in the spring of 1970. Bridge abutments were poured in mid-May with great difficulty because bags of cement had to be floated across the Niobrara on logs. The focal attraction on the one-mile trail was the twelve-foot reliefed remains of a two-horned rhinoceros at Carnegie Hill Project reliefing work was directed by Ted White with the assistance of Tobe Wilkens of Dinosaur National Monument, Roy Weaver, and seasonal laborer Terry Osborne. The tractor front end loader from Scotts Bluff, operated by Homer Rouse, widened the initial trench. On May 20, the reliefing crew began cutting into the cliff to uncover virgin deposits. Work continued up to the July 13 opening date of the "Fossil Hills Trail."

Additional reliefing came in the fall. On September 15, a team from Dinosaur National Monument arrived and worked with Weaver on Carnegie Hill. They reliefed a four- by fifteen- by twenty-foot area, reaching a rich bone layer on September 17. During the work, visitors were constantly warned not to disturb the exposed fossil specimens. In the ensuing weeks, Roy Weaver and Terry Osborne finished the relief work. In order to ensure protection until permanent plexiglass exhibit cases could be installed the following year, they back-filled the bone layer. [101]

Relations with the Cook heirs remained correct and cordial. Homer Rouse's request for permission to measure and photograph the ranch buildings was granted. Mrs. Dorothy Meade responded that she had no objection to the Park Service having accurate recordings in case some or all of the structures were destroyed by fire or other disaster. [102] Because the family rented the ranch house during the winter, the Service's Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS) dispatched Charles Lessig to the area. Lessig, accompanied by Tom Weeks from Omaha, arrived October 13 to accomplish the task before the new tenants moved in. [103]

Endnotes

1. Acting Regional Director George F. Baggley to Superintendent Richard Holder, 18 January 1966, A2615.

2. Roman Hruska to Margaret Cook, letter, 27 January 1966, box 33; and Dave Martin to Margaret Cook, letter, 3 February 1966, box 38, Cook Papers.

3. Acting Regional Director Harry B. Robinson to Margaret Cook, letter, 11 January 1966, D18.

4. Washington Office Chief, Branch of Master Plan Drawings, Edward S. Peetz, to Regional Director, 22 February 1966, D18.

5. Master Plan For Agate Fossil Beds National Monument (Omaha: Midwest Regional Office, 1966), p. 2, D18; and Howard W. Baker, interview with author, Omaha, Nebraska, 13 May 1986, transcript, p. 8.

6. Ibid., p. 3.

7. Ibid., p. 15.

8. Ibid., p. 16.

9. Ibid., p. 17.

10. Ibid., p. 18.

11. Ibid., p. 19.

12. Ibid., pp 20, 24.

13. Ibid., p. 21.

14. Ibid., p. 23.

15. Ibid., p. 32.

16. Management Assistant Werking to Regional Director Fred Fagergren, 11 April 1966, A2615.

17. Harvey B. Reynolds to Regional Director Fagergren, trip report, 2 May 1966, A2623, SCBL.

18. Superintendent Holder to Regional Director Fagergren, 13 June 1966, A2615.

19. Superintendent Holder to Regional Director Fagergren, 7 July 1966, A2615.

20. "Agate Daily Log File," (handwritten—1966 season), folder—Agate—Daily Log, 1 July 1965 to 1966, CLOSED.

21. Superintendent Richard Holder to Margaret Cook, postcard, 15 September 1966, box 33, Cook Papers.

22. Superintendent Holder to Regional Director Fagergren, 15 August 1966, D18.

23. Acting Regional Director Nelson Murdock to Director, 1 September 1966, D18.

24. Assistant Regional Director, Development to Regional Director, trip report, 16 October 1966, A2623, Scotts Bluff Files (hereafter cited as SCBL).

25. Superintendent Holder to Regional Director Fagergren, 7 July 1966, A2615.

26. Senator Roman Hruska to Mrs. Harold J. Cook (also signed by Carl T. Curtis), letter, 10 May 1966, Box 22 Correspondence Alphabetical 88-89th Congress, folder 53, Hruska papers, Nebraska State Historical Society.

27. Superintendent Holder to Regional Director Fagergren, 9 November 1966, A2615.

28. Ibid., 12 December 1966.

29. Ibid., 12 September 1966.

30. Ibid., 12 December 1966.

31. Ibid., 9 March 1967.

32. Ibid., 12 April 1967.

33. Ibid., 9 May 1967.

34. Ibid., 13 June 1967.

35. Ibid., 11 August 1967.

36. Superintendent Holder to Regional Director Fagergren, 8 August 1967, A2623, SCBL.

37. Superintendent Holder to Regional Director Fagergren, 12 September 1967, A2615.

38. Margaret Cook to Roman Hruska, letter, 29 July 1967, box 33, Cook Papers.

39. Superintendent Holder to Regional Director Fagergren, 23 August 1967, A2623, SCBL.

40. Superintendent Holder to Regional Director Fagergren, 31 July 1967, A5427, SCBL; and Holder to Director, 11 August 1967 and 12 January 1968, A2615.

41. Superintendent Holder to Regional Director Fagergren, 13 November 1967, A2615.

42. "Funds For Agate Work," Scottsbluff Daily Star-Herald (30 January 1968), K3415.

43. "Government Construction Freeze May Affect Agate Monument Work," Harrison Sun (8 February 1968), K3415.

44. Superintendent Holder to Regional Director Fagergren, 12 February 1968, A2615.

45. Superintendent Holder to Regional Director Fagergren, 12 April 1968, A2615.

46. Bill of Sale [Donation], Mrs. Margaret C. Cook to the National Park Service, 2 April 1968, L58.

47. Superintendent Holder to Regional Director Fagergren, 3 May 1968, L58.

48. Margaret C. Cook to Howard Baker, letter, 3 May 1968, and Acting Midwest Regional Director Nelson Murdock to Margaret C. Cook, letter, 8 May 1968, L58.

49. Superintendent Holder to Regional Director Fagergren, 9 July 1968, A2617.

50. Summary of Land Negotiations, Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, Tract 01-103, typewritten list ca. 1973; Grayson E. Meade to Rep. George Mahon, Chairman, House Appropriations Committee, letter, 28 March 1968; Eleanor C. Naffziger to Thomas Kornelis, letter, 2 April 1968; and Mr. and Mrs. George H. Hoffman to Rep. George Mahon, letter, 18 April 1968, L1425. (See also Mrs. Grayson E. (Dorothy Cook) Meade, interview with author, Agate Springs Ranch, 22 May 1986, transcript, p. 1.

51. Grayson E. Meade to Thomas Kornelis, letter, 25 March 1968, L1245.

52. Deputy Director Harthon L. Bill to Rep. George Mahon, letter, 27 May 1968, L1245.

53. Thomas Kornelis to Robert Simmons, letter, 4 June 1968, L1425.

54. Dorothy C. Meade to Robert Simmons, letter, 4 June 1968, L1425.

55. Assistant Director C.P. Montgomery to Senator Roman L. Hruska, letter, 14 June 1968, L1425.

56. Assistant Director Edward A. Hummel to Rep. George Mahon, letter, 5 July 1968, L1425.

57. Mrs. Grayson E. (Dorothy Cook) Meade, interview with author, Agate Springs Ranch, 22 May 1986, transcript, p. 12.

58. Superintendent Holder to Regional Director Fagergren, 9 July 1968, A2617.

59. Roy W. Weaver, Superintendent, Edison National Historic Site, New Jersey, to Ron Cockrell, letter, 14 April 1986, H1417, Cultural Resources Management, Midwest Regional Office Files.

60. Superintendent Holder to Regional Director Fagergren, 3 October 1968, A2617.

61. Robert Simmons to Senator Roman Hruska, letter, 3 September 1968, Box 196 Departmental Correspondence 90th Congress, 2nd session, folder—Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1968, Hruska papers, Nebraska State Historical Society.

62. Summary of Land Negotiations, Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, Tract 01-103, typewritten list ca. 1973, L1425.

63. Superintendent Holder to Regional Director Fagergren, 14 August 1968, A2623.

64. Superintendent Holder to Regional Director Fagergren, 3 October 1968, A2623.

65. Last Will and Testament of Mrs. Margaret C. Cook, 2 April 1968; and Superintendent Holder to Regional Director Fagergren, 10 September 1968, D6215.

66. Kirk Coulter to Senator Roman Hruska, interoffice memorandum, 12 September 1968, Box 196 Departmental Correspondence 90th Congress, 2nd session, folder—Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1968, Hruska papers, Nebraska State Historical Society.

67. Ibid., (attached to the above), Roman Hruska to Dean [Pohlenz, Administrative Assistant to Senator Hruska], handwritten note, 16 September 1968.

68. Ibid., Kirk Coulter to Senator Roman Hruska, interoffice memorandum, 20 September 1968.

69. Ibid., Senator Roman L. Hruska, Senator Carl Curtis, and Congressman Dave Martin to Robert Simmons, letter, 30 September 1968.

70. Superintendent Holder to Regional Director Fagergren, 3 October 1968, A2617.

71. Agate Daily Log, 23 September 1968 to 23 October 1970, Log No. 1, Daily Handwritten activity listings at Agate Fossil Beds National Monument. See entries 21 and 31 October; and 1, 5, 6 and 16 November, 1968. (Hereinafter cited as Agate Daily Log No. 1.)

72. Understanding, Margaret C. Hoffman and John C. Kurtz, Sr., Superintendent, Fort Robinson State Park, 8 September 1968; and Superintendent Holder to Regional Director Fagergren, 24 September 1968, D6215.

73. "Items of Cook Family Property Desired by the National Park Service," Nan V. Rickey, 9-10 October 1968, D6215.

74. Superintendent Holder to Regional Director Fagergren, 16 October 1968, A2623, SCBL.

75. Superintendent Holder to Regional Director Fagergren, 13 January 1969, A2617.

76. Agate Daily Log No. 1, see entries 7 November, 21-25 December; 31 December 1968.

77. Ibid., see entries 18, 23 and 31 January 1969.

78. Ibid., see entries 22-24 and 28 April 1969.

79. Roy W. Weaver to Ron Cockrell, letter, 14 April 1986, H1417, Cultural Resources Management, Midwest Regional Office Files.

80. Robert G. Simmons, Jr., to Superintendent of Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, letter, 16 May 1969, D6215.

81. Geologist Ted White to Regional Chief, Interpretation and Visitor Services, 24 June 1969, D6215.

82. Acting Superintendent Benjamin F. Ladd to Regional Director Fagergren, 23 June 1969, D6215.

83. Interpretive Specialist Charles H. McCurdy to Assistant Regional Director, Operations, trip report, 2-3 July 1969, D6215.

84. Ibid.

85. Superintendent Homer L. Rouse to Regional Director Fagergren, 9 July 1969, D6215.

86. Superintendent Rouse to Regional Director Fagergren, 18 July 1969, D6215.

87. Mrs. Grayson E. (Dorothy Cook) Meade, interview with author, Agate Springs Ranch, 22 May 1986, transcript, pp. 15-16.

88. Superintendent Rouse to Regional Director Fagergren, 6 August 1969, D6215.

89. Superintendent Rouse to Regional Director Fagergren, 30 September 1969, A2617.

90. J. L. Dunning, Fred Dickison, and LeRoy Brown, Management Appraisal Report, Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, 3 September 1969 (Omaha: Midwest Regional Office, 1969), A5427, SCBL.

91. Ibid.

92. Ibid.

93. Agate Daily Log No. 1, see entries 18 and 24 October 1969.

94. Ibid., see entries 5 and 7 December; and Roy Weaver to Ron Cockrell, letter, 14 April 1986, H1417, Cultural Resources Management, Midwest Regional Office Files.

95. Agate Daily Log No. 1, see entry 6 December 1969.

96. Superintendent Rouse to Regional Director Fagergren, 8 April 1970, A2617; and Summary of Land Negotiations, Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, Tract 01-103, typewritten list ca-1973, L1425.

97. Superintendent Rouse to Regional Director Fagergren, 14 July 1970, A2617.

98. Superintendent Rouse to Regional Director Leonard J. Volz, 12 January 1970, A2617; and Summary of Land Negotiations, Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, Tract 01-103, typewritten list ca-1973, L1425.

99. Ibid., and Superintendent Rouse to Regional Director Fagergren, 8 April 1970, A2617.

100. Agate Daily Log No. 1, see entries 1, 18, 19, 20-24 May; all of June; and 11-13 July 1970.

101. Ibid., see entries 15-19 September 1970; and Roy Weaver to Ron Cockrell, letter, 14 April 1986, Cultural Resources Management, Midwest Regional Office Files.

102. Dorothy C. Meade to Homer Rouse, letter, 21 July 1970, D6215.

103. Homer Rouse to Mrs. Grayson E. Meade, letter, 10 September 1970, D6215; Agate Daily Log No. 1, see entry 13 October 1970.