CRAWFORD, NEBRASKA

Crawford, Nebraska is located in Dawes County in the Pine Ridge area of northwestern Nebraska. It is known as the Big Game Capital of Nebraska. Crawford, Nebraska is surrounded by limestone buttes and pine trees and visitors to the area may see bighorn sheep, mountain lions, buffalo, deer, elk and even some Texas Longhorn cattle. An occasional moose has been sighted in the area.

The Crawford Historical Society and Museum is located at 341 Second Street and is open Monday through Saturday - 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. or by appointment at (308)665-2475. Admission is free. Research volunteers are available and the museum is a member of the Nebraska Memories Project.

The air surrounding Crawford, Nebraska is heavy with history. Dinosaur fossils, bones of buffalo. Native Americans hunted and danced here. United States soldiers were housed in the area, and of course, the railroads came and changed everything thundering ahead of the rolling sandhills.

Fort Robinson, the Agate Fossil Beds, the Hudson-Meng Education and Research Center, Toadstool Park and the Oglala National Grasslands are all within Crawford's outlying countryside. West of Crawford on highway 20 is a historical marker in view of the Cheyenne Outbreak cliffs where a group of Native Americans who had escaped imprisonment at Fort Robinson strove to return to their homelands. Most did not make it.

Further west of Fort Robinson, you may discover Sowbelly Canyon Drive which is a spectacular canyon drive with a lovely oasis named Coffee Park about half way through the 12 mile drive which will bring you out on highway 29 just north of Harrison, Nebraska.

Sioux Sundries in Harrison, Nebraska, was known for its 28 ounce hamburger called the "coffee burger" after rancher Bill Coffee who wanted a "cowboy" sized burger to fill up his hungry workers. Delores Wasserburger began serving up the "coffee burger" until she passed away in 2004.