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NEBRASKA STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTION RECORD

RG3473.AM: Holdrege, George Ward, 1847-1926

Papers: 1878-1934

Omaha, Douglas County, Neb.: Railroad official

Size: 12 boxes; 7.0 cu.ft.

BACKGROUND NOTE

George Ward Holdrege was born in New York City on March 26, 1847, a son of Henry Jr., and

Mary Grennell Holdrege. His father was a merchant of the city of New York, but later established

the family home at Irving-on-Hudson, New York. George Holdrege attended Harvard and was a

member of the crew team in 1867 and 1868. He graduated in 1869.

After graduation, Holdrege moved to Plattsmouth, Nebraska, and was employed as a railroad clerk

for the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company. He advanced steadily, serving as

assistant paymaster, brakeman, conductor, trainmaster and assistant superintendent. In 1882 he

was appointed general manager of the Omaha office of the Burlington. During his career, the

Nebraska lines of the railroad expanded from 495 miles to 4713 miles. Major lines included the

completion of a line from Grand Island through the Sand Hills to Sheridan, Wyoming and later in

1894 to Billings, Montana; the penetration of the Black Hills of South Dakota; and a line which

extended from Alliance, Nebraska to the Big Horn Basin.

On February 12, 1872, Holdrege married Emily Cabot Atkinson at Boston, Massachusetts. Her

death, on February 16, 1873, followed the birth of a son, Henry Atkinson Holdrege. In Omaha on

April 23, 1878, George was married to Francis Rodgers Kimball. They became the parents of three

daughters: Mrs. Mary Holdrege Holyoke; Mrs. Susan Holdrege Hollister; and Leeta Holdrege.

George Holdrege extensively invested in Nebraska land. He owned the famous HO ranch in

Perkins County and upon retirement bought another ranch on the White River, near Chadron,

Nebraska. As pioneers began to settle along the land areas newly opened up by the Burlington

lines, Mr. Holdrege became convinced that the railroad should become active in increasing the

agricultural production of the area it served. To this end, the railroad developed an experimental

farm, irrigation service, and free transportation of the grain produced to market. He hired Hardy

Campbell, a dry farming expert, as agricultural agent for the Burlington Railroad.

Upon his retirement on December 31, 1920, he was lauded for his pioneer efforts. Long publicly

recognized as a central figure in legislative debates in Nebraska, Mr. Holdrege was awarded a

"service medal" by the Lincoln Kiwanis Club in 1925. The town of Holdrege, in Phelps County, is

also named for him. Mr. Holdrege died on September 14, 1926 in Omaha, of a heart attack.

Although retired, he had remained active in railroad affairs.

SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE

The collection consists of manuscript material arranged in seven series: 1) Correspondence, 1876-

1934, and undated; 2) Biographical; 3) Land Development Notebook; 4) Financial, Land, and


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Legal Material; 5) Newspaper Clippings; 6) Maps; 7) Land Circulars; 8) Printed materials; and 9)

Scrapbooks. Series 1, Correspondence, forms a large portion of the collection. It is divided into

eight Subseries: 1) Personal Correspondence with Mrs. Holdrege, 1878-1924; 2-7) Business

Correspondence (arranged chronologically); and 8) Business Correspondence and Documents.

Series 2 contains biographical notes on George W. Holdrege's life and an incomplete copy of a

PHD dissertation about Mr. Holdrege by Thomas M Davis. Series 3 consists of a land

development notebook. Series 4 includes financial, land, and legal materials. Series 5 contains

newspaper clippings about Holdrege and his interests, including items on his Harvard Crew days.

Series 6 contains various maps: mining, irrigation, plats, railroads, etc. from Nebraska and

neighboring states. Land Circulars from Oregon, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado (Denver), and

Nebraska form Series 7. Series 8, Printed Materials, is composed mostly of Railroad Rule Books.

And finally, Series 9 contains Scrapbooks; two with various railroad materials and one relating to

soil and natural resources.

The bulk of the George W. Holdrege collection relates to mining activities, mineral and land

prospects, reports and deeds, railroad construction, and agriculture and irrigation in Nebraska,

Colorado, Wyoming, and South Dakota. Much of it is including correspondence with Mrs.

Holdrege; deeds and land reports; M.J. Miller; Cambridge and Arapahoe Irrigation and

Improvement Company; The Dome Lake Club; Henry Zahn; and the Central Nebraska Water

Association.

Note: See the photo component [RG3473.PH] for related images. See the NSHS Library Catalog

and the Nebraska History index for published materials relating to George Holdrege. See RG3508

and RG4064 for records relating to the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad.

DESCRIPTION

Series 1 - Correspondence, 1871-1934

Subseries 1: Personal Correspondence with Mrs. Holdrege, 1878-1924

Box 1

Folder

1. 1878-1879

2. 1880

3. 1881

4. 1882-1883

5. 1884-1887

6. 1888

7. 1889-1890

8. 1890-1900

9. 1897-1901

10. 1902-1904

11. 1905-1907

12. 1908


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13. 1909-1911

14. 1913-1914

15. 1915

16. 1916

17. 1917-1920

18. 1921-1922

19. 1923-1924

20. undated

Box 2

Folder

21. undated a. undated

Subseries 2: Business Correspondence, Irrigation, Mining, and Land, 1887-1896

22. 1890 Deeds, Business and Land Reports

23. 1890 Deeds, Business and Land Reports

24. Mining Rights on Donkee Creek & Clear Creek Wyoming

25. 1891 Correspondence with M.J. Miller

26. 1892 Mining Reports (M.J. Miller)

27. Deeds and Prospectus: South Fork Improvement and Irrigation Co.; Nebraska Irrigation

and Improvement Co.

28. 1887 Report of Mr. Ensign's Reconnaissance

29. 1891 Articles of Incorporation: Cambridge and Arapahoe Irrigation & Improvement Co.

30. 1892-1896 Cambridge & Arapahoe (continued)

Subseries 3: Business Correspondence 1889-1905

Box 3

Folder

31. Dome Lake Club

a. 1889 Correspondence with Henry Zahn

32. 1882-1889 Business Correspondence

33. 1891-1894 Business Correspondence

34. 1898 (January-August)

35. 1898 (September-December)



38. 1900



41. 1902 (January-May)

42. 1902 (June-December)

43. 1903


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44. 1904 (January-April)

45. 1904 (May-December)


Subseries 4: Business Correspondence, 1905-1916

Box 4

Folder

47. 1905 (May-June)

48. 1905 (July-December)

49. 1906

50. 1907

51. 1908

52. 1909

53. 1910

54. 1911

55. 1912

56. 1913

57. a. 1914 (January-April)

b. 1914 (May-July)

c. 1914 (August-December)

58. 1915 (January-September)

59. 1915 (October-December)



Box 5

Folder

61. 1916 (May-July)

62. 1916 (August)

63. 1916 (September)

64. 1916 (October)

65. 1916 (November)

66. 1916 (December)

67. 1917 (January-February)

68. 1917 (March-December)

69. 1918 (January-May)

70. 1918 (June-September)



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Box 6

Folder


73. 1919 (May-August)

74. 1919 (September)


76. 1920 (January-March)

77. 1920 (April)

78. 1920 (May-September)


80. 1920 Retirement notices and Letters

Box 7

Folder

81. 1920 Retirement notices and Letters



83. 1921 (May-August)


85. 1922 (January-March)

86. 1922 (April-June)

87. 1922 (July-December)

88. 1923

89. 1924-1925

90. 1926

91. 1926 Central Nebraska Supplemental Water Association

92. 1926 Correspondence following the death of Mr. Holdrege

Subseries 8: Business Correspondence and Documents, n.d.

Box 8

Folder

93. Business Correspondence, n.d.

94. Legal Documents, n.d.

Series 2 - Biographical

1. Biographical profile on George W Holdrege

2. Biographical notes on George W Holdrege


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5. Incomplete copy of George W. Holdrege a PHD Dissertation by Thomas M Davis

Box 9

Folder

6. Incomplete copy of George W. Holdrege a Ph.D Dissertation by Thomas M Davis

Series 3 - Land Development Notebook

1. Land Development notebook

Series 4 - Financial, Land, and Legal Materials

1. Land and Mining reports

2. Financial, Land, and Legal Materials



Box 10

Folder







Box 11

Folder





Series 5 - Newspaper Clippings

1. Harvard Crew Activities

2. Miscellaneous

3. Miscellaneous


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Series 6 - Maps (See oversize)

1. Plat map, unknown area along Republican River, n.d.

2. Colorized plat map, Sheridan, Wyoming, 1893

3. Two graphs, Railroad main tracks, western lines, 1906, 1916

4. Blue plat map, Lovell and Garland Burlington Route, n.d.

5. Colorized blue plat map, Sheridan, Wyoming, n.d.

6. Long blue plat map, Furnas County, 1891

7. Long blue plat map, Furnas County, with water damage, 1891

8. Extra-long blue plat map, North Platte Valley, Wyoming and Nebraska, 1920

9. Plat map, Cass County, Nebraska, 1886

10. Colorized Plat map, Sheridan, Wyoming, 1904

11. Blueprint map, Nebraska/Dakota Railway, 1909

12. Blueprint maps, SP&M Company in Wyoming, 1897 (2 maps)

13. Blue plat map, Missouri River (Plattsmouth to Bellevue), 1912

14. Colorized plat map, Oregon, n.d.

15. Plat map, Cambridge and Arapahoe Irrigation and Improvement, 1892

16. Plat map, Cass County, on vellum, 1886

17. Map, unknown area, n.d.

18. Promotional booklet, Oregon and Great Northern Railway, n.d.

19. Plat map, Nebraska, n.d.

20. Blue plat maps, Dome Lake Club, 1897 (3 maps) and Dome Lake Club agreement papers,

1901 (2 copies of papers, 3 pages each)

21. Blueprint, Big Horn County, Wyoming, n.d.

22. Blueprint, "The '94' Tunnel," 1909

23. Blue plat map, Bighorn River, Wyoming, n.d.

24. Irrigation map, Bighorn River Basin, Wyoming, 1912

25. Irrigation map, Bighorn River Basin, Wyoming, 1912, with attached phone message, 1920

26. Railroad map, Wyoming, n.d.

27. Plat map, Nebraska, Chicago Burlington Railroad, n.d.

28. Colorized Atlas Map, Wyoming, 1912

29. Irrigation Map, Bighorn River Basin, Wyoming, 1908

30. Blueprint, Riverton Irrigation project, Wyoming, 1921, with letter from J.J. Arrow, 1921

31. Blueprint Map, unknown area, 1903

32. Drainage map, Northeastern Wyoming, 1889

33. Map, Texas, n.d.

34. Colorized map, Northwest U.S. (Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Idaho,

Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Canada), n.d.

35. Plat map, Range 84 West, n.d.

36. Plat map, Port Valdez, Alaska, n.d.

37. Plat map, Valdez Gold Region, n.d.

38. Weather Map, United States (from U.S. Department of Agriculture), 9 June 1910

39. Map, New Mexico, n.d.

40. Blue plat map, Alice Mining Company's Place Claims at Silver City, Clear Creek County,

Colorado, 1884 (2 maps)

41. Map of proposed tunnel, Alice, Colorado, Dec 1913


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42. Plat Map, Custer County, Colorado and paper with description of land (1 pg)

43. Blue plat map, farm in Weld County, Colorado, n.d.

44. Blue plat map, Luis Maria Baca Grant No. 4, Sanguache County, Colorado, n.d.

45. Plat map, San Luis Valley, Colorado, 1910

46. Blueprint map, unknown railroad, n.d.

47. Plat map, The Arkansas Valley, Colorado, 1910

48. Plat map, Bighorn River, n.d.

49. Nebraska map, Burlington Railroad Route (2 pages)

50. Letter to George, 1899 (3 pgs) and blueprint maps, ditches between Cambridge-Arapahoe

and Culbertson Ditch, 1899 (2 pgs)

51. Letter, 1899 (3 pgs), Blueprint, Cambridge-Arapahoe Irrigation Canal, 1892, and

Burlington Railroad Route Schedule with 1 page letter, n.d.

52. Blue map, Southeast Wyoming and Northwest Nebraska, n.d.

53. Map, Cambridge and Arapahoe Canal, 1889

54. Map, Crow Reservation, Wyoming, 1897

55. Geological sketch, North Platte River Valley, Carlson County, Wyoming, n.d.

56. Plat map, Denver Land District, 1915, with brochure attached, n.d.

57. Plat Map, Dome Lake Canal, Sheridan County, Montana, 1898

Series 7 - Land Circulars

Box 12

Folder

1. Oregon, n.d.

2. Wyoming, 1911, 1921, n.d.

3. Utah, Denver, and Nebraska, n.d.

Series 8 - Printed Materials

1. Railroad Rule Booklets, 1899-1902

2. Railroad Rule Booklets, 1905

3. Railroad Rule Booklets, 1907

4. Railroad Rule Booklets, 1908-1909, 1917

5. Pamphlet, "Campbell's New Method of...Natural Irrigation," 1894

6. Hollywood Map and Map Envelopes, n.d.

Series 9 - Scrapbooks

1. Railroad-related Clippings, 1860s-1880s

2. Soil Studies and Natural Resource Information Newspaper Clippings, 1914

3. Railroad Informational Flyers ("General Orders") with maps, 1877-1887

JEP/ht 05-31-1973

Revised JS/kfk 05-14-2004


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Subject headings:

Agriculture -- Nebraska

Burlington and Missouri River Railroad Company

Cambridge and Arapahoe Irrigation & Improvement Company

Campbell, Hardy Webster 1850-1933

Dome Lake Club (Sheridan, Wyo.)

Dry farming

Holdrege, George Ward, 1847-1926

Irrigation -- Nebraska

Mines and mineral resources

Perkins, Charles Elliott 1840-1907

Petroleum -- Wyoming