Montrose is a former village in Sioux County,

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

, United States. The townsite is located near the intersection of the Powder River Trail and the Cheyenne & Black Hills Stage Road and is now a part of the

Oglala National Grassland The Oglala National Grassland is a United States National Grassland in the northwest corner of Nebraska. It is in northern Sioux and northwestern Dawes counties, on the borders with South Dakota and Wyoming. It is in size and is one of the sma ...

. All that remains of the town is the historic Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, built there in 1887.

History

During the

Battle of Warbonnet Creek The Battle of Warbonnet Creek was a skirmish characterized by a duel between "Buffalo Bill" Cody and a young Cheyenne warrior named Heova'ehe or Yellow Hair (often incorrectly translated as "Yellow Hand"). The engagement is often referred to as ...

on July 17, 1876,

Buffalo Bill William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), known as "Buffalo Bill", was an American soldier, Bison hunting, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa, Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), but ...

Cody shot, killed, and

scalped Scalping is the act of cutting or tearing a part of the human scalp, with hair attached, from the head, and generally occurred in warfare with the scalp being a trophy. Scalp-taking is considered part of the broader cultural practice of the tak ...

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...

warrior near the townsite-to-be, which he later often celebrated during his

Wild West shows Wild West shows were traveling vaudeville performances in the United States and Europe that existed around 1870–1920. The shows began as theatrical stage productions and evolved into open-air shows that depicted romanticized stereotypes of co ...

in a reenactment he entitled "The Red Right Hand, or, Buffalo Bill's First Scalp for Custer". Montrose was established in 1887 on a ford across Hat Creek by immigrants from

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

. It was named from its lofty elevation (mont) and native rose bushes (rose). That year, the settlers built Immaculate Conception Catholic Church. In 1890, fear of the

Ghost Dance The Ghost Dance ( Caddo: Nanissáanah, also called the Ghost Dance of 1890) was a ceremony incorporated into numerous Native American belief systems. According to the teachings of the Northern Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka (renamed Jack Wilso ...

cult led the settlers to construct a fortified bunker. Omaha Bishop

Richard Scannell Richard Scannell (May 12, 1845 – January 8, 1916) was an Ireland, Irish-born prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He served as bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Salina, Diocese of Concordia in Kansas (1887–1891) and as bishop of the Ro ...

confirmed 46 Catholics at the church in June 1899. By 1904, the settlement had a school, a blacksmith, and a general store. In 1910, the settlement's population peaked at 24 inhabitants. Montrose had a post office from 1887 to 1948. In 1953, the schoolhouse was moved away from the townsite.

References

Unincorporated communities in Sioux County, Nebraska Unincorporated communities in Nebraska {{SiouxCountyNE-geo-stub