Montrose is a former village in Sioux County,

Nebraska Nebraska ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Ka ...

, 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 sm ...

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

History

During the Battle of Warbonnet Creek on July 17, 1876,

Buffalo Bill William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), better known as Buffalo Bill, was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. One of the most famous figures of the American Old West, Cody started his legend at the young age ...

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 taki ...

Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. The Cheyenne comprise two Native American tribes, the Só'taeo'o or Só'taétaneo'o (more commonly spelled as Suhtai or Sutaio) and the (also spelled Tsitsistas, The term for th ...

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, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, and

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. 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 (, also called the Ghost Dance of 1890) is a ceremony incorporated into numerous Native American belief systems. According to the millenarian teachings of the Northern Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka (renamed Jack Wilson), pro ...

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

History

See also

References