Dawson County Museum

The Plum Thicket Gift Shop carries a large variety of gifts, home decor and books. You will find something for everyone on your list!

The gift shop prides itself in having many historical books of the Dawson County area.

NEW PUBLICATIONS:

Forts of the Northern Plains
by Jeff Barnes, $19.95
This book features photos, maps, stories and is a guide to historic military posts of the Plains Indian Wars.

Sixteen Brides
by Stephanie Grace Whitson, $14.99
A fictional novel, based on historical information garned from Dawson County and Plum Creek.  It is the story of sixteen brides as they step off the train of a courageous story of finding love and owning land on the prairies of Nebraska.

Other selections available:

Ladder of Rivers - the story of I.P. Olive
by Harry E. Chrisman, $21.95
The rich and haunting story of the Olive family and the early cattle industry. This story touched off a nationwide uprising between ranchers and settlers.  An epoch tale from the American Civil War to the Age of the Cowboy, Print Olive was and still is a controversial character.  Read about his hopes and aspirations, of his friends and enemies, and of his successes and failures as he carved out his life in the west.

Captive of the Cheyenne
By Russ Czaplewski, hardback, $17.95
The echoes of the Plum Creek Massacre in south central Nebraska on the morning of August 8, 1864, still reverberate through the plains.  Within minutes, 19-year old Nancy Jane Morton’s world was shattered. As she tried to escape, her husband, brother, cousin and eight other men were killed by a Cheyenne war party.  She was captured and thus began her frightening odyssey as she lived to tell of her six-month ordeal before being her ransom.  Her original diary is part of the Dawson County Historical Society & Museum’s collection.

Battle of the Bridges
By Rex German and Russ Czaplewski, $9.95
A great resource book on the settlement and history of the people and communities of Dawson County, Nebraska complete with many early day photos.

We Pointed Them North
by E.C. Abbott & Helenea Huntingon Smith $13.95
The story of a wild and happy cowboy who knew ‘em all: the high rollers, the Cheyenne and Sioux, the Olives, the cussin’ and the cattle. Born in England, lived in Nebraska, he traveled the cattle drives in the great days of the 1870s and 1880s.

The Cattlemen
by Mari Sandoz $17.95
The cowboy is not the romanticized version, but the telling of the history of cattle, settlement, and industry as experienced by noted author, Mari Sandoz. The story encompases the vast changes of early times to what defines the prairie today.

On the Trail of the Pony Express
by Jerry Ellis $17.95

Eddyville, Our Town
Researched and compiled by Dolores McFarland, $14.95

Etna
By Jack Ostergard, $14.95
This book’s sole purpose is to preserve the history of the area known as Etna, Odencrantz Table (New Hope) and Rock Island Table according to its author.

Other selections for children

Death of the Iron Horse
By Paul Goble, $5.99
This children’s book is the Native American version of  Chief Turkey Leg’s attack on the Union Pacific train near Plum Creek, today Lexington, Nebraska.

C is for Cornhusker, A Nebraska Alphabet
By Rajean Luebs Shepherd and illustrated by Sandy Appleoff
From the state’s eastern border along the Missouri River to the towering geologic landmarks of the West, travel from A to Z to the enchantment of Nebraska through fun-filled rhymes and informative text.

Life in the Old West series by Bobbi Kalman

    Life In A Plains Camp, $8.95

    The Wagon Train, $8.95

    The Railroad, $8.95