Facing south from Camp Lookout-Fort Sidney, the distant horizon stretches for miles.

Built on the highest point in Sidney, the fort once provided an unobstructed view of four directions. That was when this was a dusty, treeless frontier town. Today houses and pine trees obscure the views in other directions. Residents undertook tree planting campaigns in the 1980s, and today Sidney celebrates its Tree City status.

This Western Nebraska town of 7,000 people has experienced other dramatic changes. There were two significant exoduses in Sidney’s history – one in its Wild West days and another in the recent past when the town’s biggest employer left. Both times, folks in Sidney had to remind themselves who they were and how they wanted to live. They had to be scrappy and smart to keep their families and community together.

To understand the tenacity of Sidney’s people, the past is an excellent place to start. Marva Ellwanger is one of the town’s local historians. A go-getter on multiple town committees, Ellwanger carries six cell phones, each for different facets of her life, including one for her work as general manager of Adam Autos & Equipment. Juggling comes naturally to the long-maned platinum-blonde mother of five grown children. She’s learned a few things about fence-climbing, too.

At a Cheyenne County Visitors Committee meeting, Ellwanger was distressed that a local nonprofit organization planned to dispose of historical items stored in the Union Pacific Locomotive 407 at Legion Park. A few weeks later, Ellwanger scaled the chain link with a friend and put aside photos, memorabilia and the story of how the train came to the park. With help from other locals, she reunited many artifacts with the original owners’ families. Along the way, Ellwanger, an expert on all things Sidney history, even learned something new: the town once held a Miss Fort Sidney pageant.

Ellwanger tells Sidney’s historical tales with tremendous verve. She leads visitors on tours at nearby historical attractions, including Boot Hill Cemetery, where victims of murders, sickness or lynchings were put to rest, and Camp Lookout-Fort Sidney, a guard station that housed soldiers. 

 

Sidney became a town in 1867 – the same year Nebraska became a state. Named after Sidney Dillon, the president of Union Pacific and a railroad attorney, the railway was central to the town’s development. Facing attacks from Native tribes threatened by the railroad’s expansion into traditional hunting grounds, the army erected a military outpost. 

But the violence in Sidney was only getting started. The Black Hills Gold Rush, beginning in the mid-1870s, introduced a rough cast of characters – and their preferred vices: prostitutes, booze and gambling. Sidney was the southernmost terminus to Deadwood. Anyone heading to South Dakota might pass through – and return. Bars and brothels boomed. Murders and lynchings were rampant. 

Ellwanger recalls this troubled history as she runs her hands over the interior walls of Camp Lookout. She was part of a group of volunteers who rejuvenated Boot Hill Cemetery, they restored this historic building. The mammoth project included pulling off five additions, ripping out electricity and plumbing, resurfacing the limestone, rebuilding the balcony and replacing the windows using historical standards. Maybe Sidney’s criminal element colors its history, but people here have always fought for the town’s betterment – especially when their backs are against the wall. For Sidney’s historical population, a crime in 1880 was the tipping point.

Armed robbers entered the freight clerk’s office and stole $5 million of gold. Union Pacific threatened they’d no longer stop at Sidney if the town couldn’t solve its crime problem. Fed up, vigilante townspeople rounded up some of the most notorious characters and lynched one man by hanging. It took him 15 minutes to die. The next day, the townspeople delivered an edict that may sound familiar to fans of a particular popular Western show: “Get out of Sidney.” As many as 200 conmen, murderers, prostitutes and thieves left within weeks.

Sidney’s second exodus is more recent and not without its unsavory players. The town’s biggest employer, Cabela’s, an outdoor retail chain, sold to Bass Pro Shop after a hedge fund forced the merger. Before the deal was completed in September 2017, the hedge fund cashed out and made nearly $100 million.

The new company began slashing jobs. Cabela’s once employed 2,000. By 2019, Cabela’s employed only 200. Between 2017 and 2018, Cheyenne County lost nearly 350 people, adding to 390 people the year prior. Empty houses lingered on the market. That drove down values for others who wanted to move but couldn’t without selling. Local businesses – from construction companies to mom-and-pop restaurants – felt the impact.

But many who lost their jobs didn’t want to move, like Trent Santero and Mike Riddle. They liked the community and owned homes. Their families were here. Along with six other Cabela refugees, Santero and Riddle started regularly hanging out in Riddle’s garage, brainstorming a way forward. Then, they tapped into locally mobilized resources.

To address the fallout from Cabela’s and help people create new opportunities, the chamber of commerce director, economic development director, and Western Nebraska Community College (WNCC) developed business resource meetings throughout the Western Nebraska. WNCC also opened an Innovation & Entrepreneurship Center, where aspirational small business owners received free office space and mentorship to transition to a brick-and-mortar space. This program helped launch NexGen Outfitters and Karuna Counseling, a mental health and substance abuse counseling facility.

When eight former Cabela’s employees opened NexGen on the east side of town, they used their new 7,500-square-foot space exclusively for online sales. However, it soon became apparent that people still wanted to shop retail in person and receive the guidance wildlife experts could provide. “People kept showing up,” Santero said.

So they built out retail space. On a recent afternoon, Riddle stands behind the counter and holds court with a group of young men shopping for firearms. He expertly answers their questions and cracks jokes. Nearby, other shoppers browse for arrows and fishing tackle. Santero needs to get back to it, too. It’s shaping up to be another busy workday in Sidney. Fortunately, other Sidney entrepreneurs have created places to wind down and fuel up after a long day.

 

Piping hot pies are coming out of the oven at Sam & Louie’s on 10th Avenue. Husband-and-wife owners Stan and Melissa Norgard greet guests by name as they serve flights of the beer they brew in the basement. After buying the place in 2020, the Norgards renovated and reopened the business. They added a bar and outfitted the basement with a small brewery, which they branded Boss City Brewing Co., after Sidney’s toughest-town-on-the-tracks history. The Norgards both worked in food service in San Diego before relocating to Sidney, Melissa’s hometown. Stan is the brewer, but they always name the beers together, with Sidney in mind. Think Lawless City Lite, Hickory Square Hazy IPA, Buckshot Wheat, Fort Sidney Porter and Hot Shot Hefeweizen, among others.

Like many in town, the couple’s jobs were both affected by Cabela’s departure. Stan worked for a video production company that sold work to the outdoor retailer. Melissa climbed from a customer service representative position to a brand partnership program manager to a financial analyst position. After she left, Melissa used her vast array of skills in the role of economic development director for the City of Sidney.

Even now, she remains a town booster who spends her free time advocating for a revitalized historic downtown. After a quick meeting at the restaurant with other volunteers on the town’s beautification committee, she bids farewell to her husband and heads out to pick up the couple’s two sons. Her energy is positive and palpable, despite years of hardship in the industry with pandemic restrictions, staffing shortages and inflation. 

After Melissa departs, former Californian Stan admits he never expected to make a life in Western Nebraska, but he says it’s a good life. “Here, you can stand out instead of being drowned out,” Stan said. But were there sacrifices? “I used to surf.” He shrugs. “Now I golf.” In Sidney, there are some premium places to pursue the sport – and other outdoor fun.

An electric-assist bike can go surprisingly fast. As great gray skies threaten rain, Doug Loghry, a Sidney native, whips along the 4.5-mile paved Deadwood Walking/Biking Trail on his orange cargo bike. The trail offers expansive views of the bluffs surrounding Hillside Golf Course.

From Exit 59, the Deadwood Walking/Biking Trail travels by the Sidney Pony Express National Monument, a frisbee golf course, lakes and well-maintained soccer, softball and baseball fields before ending in Legion Park. It’s primarily flat riding, but occasionally there’s a small hill. That’s when Loghry hits the electric assist. The bike softly whirs and launches forward. Even in the rain, Loghry is grinning. This is what he loves to do.

Loghry and his wife, Vicky, who moved from Denver to Sidney in 2008, renovated a historic filling station at Ninth Avenue and Illinois Street, and opened Pedalers Corner in 2021. Their bike shop sells road, mountain and hybrid (electric/pedal) bikes and offers bike repair. They are working with the city to construct bike trails on the north side of town. Their dream is to see the Sidney/Deadwood bike trail extended all the way to Deadwood, South Dakota, with camping yurts along the way. Vicky and Doug are not only advocates for bikes but also for the community. For example, Doug has fixed many bikes around town. Among his favorites was the childhood bicycle of an elderly retired town veterinarian who now cruises around Sidney as happy and free as a 10-year-old boy. 

Real 10-year-old children know they can stop by the bike shop and grab a complimentary pop from the antique cooler equipped with a bottle opener. Friends – old and new – often come by to chat. The Loghrys organize community bike rides and collect and fix donated bikes for needy kids. They have an outdoor space adjacent to the shop where they host movie nights. The area has a hammock, benches, flowers, birdhouses, a cellphone charging station and a firepit that anyone is welcome to use at any time. That generous spirit of inclusivity may also be found in other parts of town.

 

Frolicking, swinging and climbing children squeal at Legion Park’s newly constructed playground. Some of these children might be in wheelchairs; others might have sensory issues associated with autism. All will find something to engage with at this playground designed with children of all abilities in mind. The playground opened in August 2022 because of the efforts of a group of young Sidney residents and the support of their community.

Madi Wilkinson works as a pediatric physical therapist. One day, her boss, Michelle Weimer, mentioned Sidney could benefit from an improved playground. It would be another public place not only for families of kids with special needs to meet each other, but it could provide another spot for therapists to work on physical therapy exercises with kids. Weimer didn’t have the time to pursue the idea but said she’d support Wilkinson.

Wilkinson first called her older sister, Benzel, who is also a physical therapist. The sisters were close – their relationship drove Wilkinson to return to their hometown after pursuing her studies in Omaha. They’d grown up playing in Legion Park. Now Benzel was a mother and took her children there. 

“Madi said, ‘I have a little project in mind,’ ” Benzel said with laugh. “I just need a few things.”

Benzel liked the idea. A park renovation could also benefit the people she worked with in her physical therapy practice – older folks who wanted to take their grandchildren to the park. Gravel was tough for walkers. Taller benches could ease the difficulty of getting up.

Soon, a small volunteer committee of about a dozen people gathered to determine what needs weren’t being met by the current playground. Teachers, moms, therapists and emergency services people conducted surveys in the community. The sisters connected with Jeremy Lee, who had construction and fundraising experience, and Sarah Sinnett, who helped with finances and business planning. They reached out to playground construction companies – particularly those specializing in inclusive playgrounds.

The volunteer committee grew to about 40 people – with them came more expertise in construction and fundraising and more local connections to potential donors. The volunteer committee raised more than $700,000 in donations from community members, the Sidney Community Donor-Advised Fund, Knights of Columbus, Farris Engineering, Platte Valley Bank, Sidney Regional Medical Center, Adams Industries, Black Hills Energy, Nelnet and others.

In April 2022, work on the playground broke ground. A few months later, kids in wheelchairs were riding an accessible merry-go-round or sitting in a zipline chair. Other children, with or without special needs, played wind chimes, bounced on a seesaw or sailed high on swings. Laughter and delighted screams ring through the sylvan escape.

Throughout its history, people in Sidney have surmounted challenges with grit and vision. They’ve done it by collaborating on an optimistic future. Whether native or transplant, Sidney folks agree their town isn’t defined by its criminal or corporate past but by the strength of its citizenry and the bright skies on the horizon.