LASR.net Homepage




Menu


Spade Ranch - NHR (Ellsworth Vicinity)


category : National Register
Spade Ranch - NHR  (Ellsworth Vicinity) Spade Ranch is located in the Sandhills of northwestern Nebraska on a tract of land in Sheridan and Cherry counties. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the ranch includes numerous buildings and structures, including the log cookhouse built in 1879, bunk houses which were used by the hired hands; the 1889 horse barn; calving sheds; breaking pens; and various corral areas.


Bartlett Richards purchased the Spade Ranch from Bennett Irwin in 1888. Richards and Will Comstock, also involved in many of the ranch's affairs, were instrumental in recognizing the importance of the Sandhills a grazing land. When Teddy Roosevelt targeted western ranches for illegal fences and claims, the Spade Ranch was high on his list. Because of Richards' conviction for illegal fencing of public lands and because of his untimely death while serving a jail sentence, the vast Spade "empire" has become legend in the history of cattle ranching in the Great Plains region.



Address: 27 miles south of Gordon on Highway 27, then 5 miles southeast on paved ranch road

Come visit us in Gordon, Nebraska

Attractions and Upcoming Events

Old Jules Sandoz Country Tour

This is a do-it-yourself tour around the area in which Jules Sandoz lived and references that are made in some of Mari Sandoz'

Gordon, NE Tours

Gordon Golf and Country Club

You will be challenged by a tough nine-hole grass greens course, "the best in the west," located on the west edge of town.

Several tournaments are sponsored during the season. Youth activities are important at the club and visitors are always welcome.

Gordon, NE Recreation

Rushville Museum

The Rushville Museum moved in to the 1890 Armstrong House in 1960

Gordon, NE Museums

Pioneer Mural

The mural located in downtown Gordon created in 1991 expresses the pioneer growth of the area in the late 1800s and early 1900

Gordon, NE Arts

Scamahorn Museum

The Scamahorn Museum is the 1884

Gordon, NE Museums

Things to do National Register near Gordon, NE

Gourley's Opera House - NHR (Rushville)

The one-story, false-front building listed on the National Register of Historic Places, was constructed by Dave Gourle...

Antioch Potash Plants - NHR (Antioch Vicinity)

Prior to World War I, the United States was importing nearly a million tons of potash annually from Germany for use as fertil...

Camp Sheridan and Spotted Tail Indian Agency Site

In 1873 under the leadership of Spotted Tail, the Brule Sioux moved from their prior agency near Fort Randall, South Dakota, ...