Agate Fossil Beds Administrative History

CHAPTER 1:
THE COOKS OF AGATE SPRINGS RANCH (continued)

A State Park at the Fossil Quarries?

Since 1909 when Kate Graham Cook was committed to the Nebraska Hospital for the Insane in Lincoln, James H. Cook prayed for her recovery. By 1920, all hope was abandoned. To avoid legal difficulties in the event of his death, Captain Cook petitioned to have his son appointed as Kate's guardian to handle all of her affairs. Ownership of the Agate Springs Ranch transferred to Harold J. Cook, but was placed in a Trust Agreement. Necessitated by Kate's mental incompetency, the trust stipulated the son had no right to sell, divide, or otherwise dispose of any property held in trust. If he attempted to do so, all of his rights would cease automatically and revert to the real owner, James H. Cook. [8] Such were the legal avenues the Cooks used to retain their property.

By the 1920s, the Agate Springs Ranch was a popular tourist spot. On display in the ranch house were not only the Sioux Indian and Old West objects, but fossil displays. Many went to the quarries to observe the on-going excavations. In 1921, more than 5,000 visitors came. The popular appeal and interest prompted James H. Cook to act on a recurring idea—how to preserve this historic and scientific resource. In the fall of 1921, Cook mailed a confidential form letter to all of his close friends with an appeal to help him preserve a portion of the Old West. Citing Fort Laramie as the epitome of romance and Old West history, Cook wrote:

It seems fitting, therefore, that there should stand in this region. . . some sort of a perpetual monument or memorial, which should represent, in a measure, the old Plains days and life, so that those who are to follow can actually see and come in personal contact with some phases of that life and a replica of those early days.

For many years it has been a cherished ambition and desire of mine to erect at the Agate Springs Ranch, upon a commanding site, an exact replica, in every detail, of old Fort Laramie; stockade and bastions to be constructed along the most solid and substantial lines possible, and yet preserve all the old original features intact. All building material used in the construction of the memorial would be of adobe or cement and cottonwood logs—a monument that shall stand for all time. The Agate Springs Ranch can furnish all the required material except for the cement.

The interior of the fort proper would be given over to sections devoted to displays of Indian art of the old times, and to replicas of the overland trail days; to the fossilized remains of prehistoric creatures taken from the Agate Springs quarries, and to such other features as would be proper and fitting for such a memorial. A lecture room would be a prominent feature, where learned men could, by motion pictures or lantern slides, furnish entertaining instruction along scientific lines and lecture on out-of-doors topics. [9]

Cook also envisioned an Indian village on the grounds surrounding the fort where visitors could observe the Native American lifestyle and purchase craft items. He was not interested in the operation becoming a "money-making proposition," but could allow for a small fee for maintenance and upkeep. Cook added:

It is my belief that the Fort Laramie memorial, with its entertaining features and attractions, would soon become the mecca of all autoists from the East to the West, and vice versa, and with the contemplated building of a railroad through this valley, thousands of others would be attracted to this spot. [10]

Cook's plea to his close friends proved disappointing. There were few positive responses to form a joint stock company for a monument commemorating the old frontier days. Undaunted, James H. Cook was in Los Angeles in March 1922, lobbying for financial support for his dream. The Cook family was optimistic that the monument ideal would be realized. Harold J. Cook began his own campaign to establish a State Highway in the area to ensure increased visitation. As president of the Good Roads Association in the 1920s, he pushed for a road to replace the rough trail which ran north and south (Gering to Harrison) and passed by the Agate Springs Ranch. [11] He used his father's dream of a monument and/or historical museum as well as the fossil beds to justify the need for a road. Results came in 1923 when engineers of the Nebraska Department of Public Works began surveying Nebraska 29 from Harrison to Agate. [12] By 1929, the last link, Mitchell to Agate, was completed and opened to motorists. [13]

Harold Cook also served on the Nebraska State Park Board in the 1920s. The movement to preserve Nebraska's natural and historic areas, coupled with the failure to attract private investment in the monument ideal, inspired him to suggest the Agate Springs Fossil Quarries as a potential state park. The suggestion captured the interest of members of the Nebraska Federation of Women's Clubs (NFWC). Four NFWC members visited the Agate Springs Ranch on October 23, 1925, and discussed the state park proposal with the Cooks. [14] In early 1926, the NFWC Conservation Department began working on the details for establishing the new state park, one of which was a letter of inquiry to Nebraska Governor Adam McMullen. Governor McMullen subsequently asked Harold Cook's opinion of the NFWC's efforts. [15] Cook's response came in an April 22, 1926, letter:

Some little time back, you asked me what I thought of the proposition made by certain Women's Club members, that the state take over the Agate Springs Fossil Quarries, which I own. I appreciate the intention behind this move, but I question its being very practical. In the first place, if handled by the state, it is of a nature that should be handled entirely outside of politics, and be assured perpetual, proper care and attention,—and be handled by men who know such things, and understand and can interpret them,—or a large degree of their educational use and value is lost. In the next place, I cannot afford to donate those quarries or a good sized section of the ranch to the State; and I very greatly question the legislature being willing to pay us a sum for those beds that we could afford to consider. I AM anxious to see these wonderful deposits preserved properly, and perpetuated for public benefit and use; but as a practical matter, it does not seem likely to me that this can at this time be accomplished in just that way. Possibly it can. If so, I will be glad to consider any practical suggestions that anyone has to offer to solve the problem. [16]

Governor McMullen agreed with Cook that the legislature would probably not be willing to pay what the quarries were worth. [17]

Ironically, it was during the summer of 1926 that the deed in which Harold relinquished fee ownership of the fossil quarries was filed at the Sioux County Courthouse. On July 17, 1926, in a preliminary division of property prior to divorce, Cook transferred ownership to Eleanor Barbour Cook,* while retaining the "exclusive right in perpetuity. . . for the purpose of digging, excavating for, collecting, examining, or exhibiting fossils in the hills. . . or for preparing the fossil bones contained therein." Cook also reserved the right to build a road to the hills and to erect buildings for "preparing, housing, collecting, and exhibiting" the fossils. [18]**

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*Apparently the transaction took place three years prior to the filing of the deed, July 6, 1923. The conveyance was performed in the presence of Margaret F. Crozier, the woman Harold Cook married following his divorce in 1927. Miss Crozier was hereafter noted as "the stimulus for the breaking up of the family." See Robert Simmons to Senator Roman Hruska, letter, 8 June 1963, box 192, Departmental Correspondence, 90th Congress 1st session, folder—Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1967, Papers of U.S. Senator Roman L. Hruska, Nebraska State Historical Society.

**No mention of this change in fee ownership was made in subsequent correspondence on the state park issue.

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While the prospect for State involvement at Agate appeared bleak, the NFWC intensified its efforts. In October 1926, one member proposed to the State NFWC Convention that the club itself take over the Agate Springs Ranch and operate the combined ranch and fossil beds, a suggestion which angered Harold Cook. Although the proposal was not considered, the convention agreed that a bill had to be introduced in the winter session of the legislature before the new State elections brought the possibility of an unfavorable political climate. A NFWC poll of the legislature revealed many Nebraska senators favored the Agate Springs Fossil Quarries State Park, but with so many new state park proposals, chances of passage appeared bleak. By December 1926, NFWC prepared a draft bill and submitted it to Harold J. Cook for review. The NFWC's philosophy was for the State to acquire the fossil quarries immediately; details for the park's administration could be worked out later. [19]

In a January 20, 1927, response to NFWC State Chairwoman Elizabeth C. Hoefer, Harold Cook confessed that it was indeed shameful that the wonders of ancient Nebraska could only be viewed outside of the State, in the Carnegie Institute in Pennsylvania or American Museum in New York. Admitting that the State should act to preserve its own treasures, he stated:

As I have a family to consider, and am not so situated financially that I can afford to donate these beds, and in view of what I KNOW their value to be, in dollars and cents, either developed to sell the material they contain to educational institutions, or as an attraction to tourists and students, I am sure I am not asking a high sum in relation to their value when I put a figure of one hundred thousand dollars on these fossil beds and the land about them of sufficient area for all practical purposes.

As you are aware, I have not been at all keen about the state or anyone else taking this over; I appreciate its value, and know how to handle it; but I have so many other interests that take and demand my time and attention that I find it very hard to protect and develop this as it should be; and, as there is surely ample evidence to prove, we have surely contributed very largely and free to the public of the state and outside, and for years with no charge of any sort whatsoever, as a contribution we really could not afford. We can no longer do this, and it is obvious that such an important natural asset, one that has no known duplicate in the whole world, should be held in public trust, and not in private hands, subject to the vicissitude and caprices of private ownership. [20]

Cook told Mrs. Hoefer that he had been approached by hotel and other commercial interests, including private developers, but wanted the State to have the first opportunity to acquire the quarries. He concluded, "Unless this legislature acts favorably upon this and now; I can say frankly that it is very apt to be the last chance they can have to get it, at this, or a very much higher price. I do not say this to coerce, but as a matter of plain fact, plainly stated." [21]

At the request of Governor McMullen, Harold Cook postponed his resignation from the Nebraska State Park Board until the park board and legislature acted on the Agate Springs Fossil Quarries question. [22] Cook disliked the "ticklish situation" he found himself in, sitting on both sides of the fence. In a lengthy January 22, 1927, letter, Cook presented his position on the state park issue to the Governor:

I well realize that such deposits SHOULD be handled either by the state, or some other competent, permanent organization, to assure their not getting into the hands of either vandals or fanatics—or side-show clap-trap artists!! And I also well realize that they are NOT secure from just this, as long as they are in our hands for any accident could easily happen at any time to father or me which might precipitate endless complications. I well know the commercial possibilities of exploitation of these fossil beds. In fact various people and interest have already discussed such possibilities with us seriously. Thousands of people are already visiting the place and fossil beds annually as it is, as you know. I cannot afford to give them away, and neither have I any desire to hold the state up, should they decide to take them over. At the value of $100,000 that I put on those beds, I am sure that it is possible to make them pay good interest, as a straight commercial proposition, were that the consideration.

In fairness to my family, in case the state does not see fit to do this, it is quite probable that I will be compelled to resort to some type of Commercial development of them as things have gone to a point where I cannot afford any longer to donate all of these things as I have in the past to the museums from all over the world, and maintain free exhibits for the benefit of the increasing thousands who come there to see and to study. I regret the necessity of this, and wish that it might be handled as it should be, simply for public benefit and at most, enough charged to make itself sustaining. It really has wonderful possibilities and surely must not be boxed up or lost to the world. It is as yet hardly scratched—as to the amount of material present.

. . . in case the state SHOULD decide to take this over as a state reserve and monument, or park or spot for research symposiums, or what not, as it may be designated, I can well see the desirability of my being connected with it at least long enough to get it properly organized and in efficient hands and with a set of proper working regulations in line with public interests and welfare. I have had to maintain a similar impartial position in other matters I have been in before, and so I believe I could in this, if it is desired that I do so. [23]

In a March 1927 letter to Nebraska State Senator Emerson R. Purcell, member of the legislature's Fish and Game Committee, Harold Cook further elaborated his concept of a state park at Agate. Reducing his monetary requirement to $80,000, he stressed the importance of immediate action and that he would like to use the money to help educate his four daughters. Of critical significance to future events however, Cook expressed concern that the amount of acquired park land be limited. He professed that surrounding lands would remain active ranchland free from unsightly development. Cook wrote:

The land is held in fee simple, and is unincumbered and with clear title. The Bone Hills themselves, at their base, probably occupy twenty or thirty acres, stating the area offhand. At the price mentioned, we would deed over with the bone hills themselves, an acreage of 160 acres, surrounding them and including them which should be all there if any point in the state taking over, unless it wants to do it on a much larger scale, to make a game park or something of that sort, which is a separate and distinct matter, as I see it, and with no special relation to the Bone Hills. That would give ample room for anything the state might want to do with them, and would not be hard to fence, and would give all the room around them needed in any manner. As the surrounding lands on three sides are rough hills, it will remain wild enough, from a scenic standpoint, to satisfy anyone, without the state needing to take it over to protect it. [24] [emphasis added]

No positive action had come from the Nebraska Legislature when, in June 1927, President and Mrs. Calvin Coolidge came to the Black Hills of South Dakota to vacation. Governor McMullen and Harold Cook both urged the towns of Crawford and Harrison to extend official invitations to the First Family to visit western Nebraska to see the fossil quarries and other historic sites. [25] Unfortunately, the President's secretary wrote from Rapid City that the Coolidges would be unable to take time out to visit Agate. [26] A presidential visit would have provided the capstone for the establishment of a state park at the fossil quarries.

In August 1927, NFWC Chairwoman Elizabeth Hoefer arrived at Agate Springs Ranch to visit with the Cooks and tour the fossil quarries. Mrs. Hoefer contended that the legislature was not eager to consider the Agate state park bill because of funding requirements for the new State Capitol, an elaborate, but expensive, architectural wonder. She hoped when construction was completed, the State and/or Nebraska State Historical Society would, at the very least, acquire the Cook Indian Collection. [27]

The Nebraska Legislature finally acted in 1928. The senators called upon the Nebraska State Park Board* to inspect the Agate Springs Fossil Quarries and make recommendations on its candidacy for addition to the State Park System. Following a meeting of the park board at Agate, Cook again offered his resignation to Governor McMullen citing his precarious conflict of interest. Stating he would not take part in the park board's recommendations concerning his own property, Cook repeated his offer on December 8, 1928, but with a one-year deadline:

I made the state an offer of these Quarries, providing the last legislature saw fit to take them over, at a flat price of $80,000; but said I could not agree to hold that offer open; I well know they are worth much more than that amount; and I can capitalize them and make them pay good interest on a much higher valuation; but I hate to see them commercialized; and I know they should be in other than private ownership, for permanent protection and usefulness. Inasmuch as the last legislature had the matter continued over pending investigation of the beds, I will now repeat that offer to the state, of Eighty Thousand Dollars for those quarries. However, if the present legislature should not see fit to take them over, the state will not get another opportunity to get them at anywhere near this figure as I intend to take active action, one way or another with them, this coming year.

Should the state take it over, I will be glad to do anything in our power to act directly, or in an advisory capacity, to see that this is handled in an efficient manner, in line with educational and scientific and business needs in the case. It can easily be put on a self sustaining basis or be made to return a profit large enough to carry on and develop extensive and most valuable scientific research, and prepare some of the finest and most striking exhibits ever made in America, or anywhere else for that matter. I have some very definite recommendations to make in case the state DOES desire to take it over. [28]

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* One explanation for the inertia on the state park issue was the ineffectiveness of the State Park Board itself. At this time, Nebraska had only three units in its park system. The board had no authority, but served as merely an advisory group for the governor. Harold Cook himself was unable to attend any meetings in 1927 because he was not even living in the State of Nebraska, but working as a curator at the Colorado Museum of Natural History in Denver. See Adam McMullen to A. F. Buechler, Editor, Grand Island Daily Independent, letter, 8 October 1927, box 7 Departmental Correspondence, folder 16 Park Board 1926-1927, McMullen Papers, Nebraska State Historical Society.

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Nebraska Republican Governor McMullen, who decided against a bid for re-election, was in the waning months of his term. He advised Cook against resignation while the matter was still under consideration. Because a final decision would not be made during the McMullen administration, the lame duck Governor suggested it would be more appropriate to tender any resignation to his successor. [29]

The new political machine in Lincoln led by Republican Governor Arthur J. Weaver* differed little from the McMullen era. During 1929, the Agate Springs Fossil Quarries State Park Bill languished. It effectively died in late October when economic catastrophe was triggered on Wall Street in New York City. With the nation entering the Great Depression, any notion of the development of the fossil beds by either the State of Nebraska or the Cook family vanished. The state park question was never again revived.

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*Governor Arthur J. Weaver served a single term, 1929 to 1931. Upon leaving office, Weaver took the bulk of his administration's papers with him. Of the small amount deposited at the Nebraska State Historical Society, nothing pertaining to state parks is contained therein. Indeed, succeeding governor Charles W. Bryan (Democrat, 1931-1935) did not have a State Park Board. It is a possibility, therefore, that this entity ceased to exist following Adam McMullen's term. See Governor Arthur J. Weaver Papers and Governor Charles W. Bryan Papers, Nebraska State Historical Society.

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Ironically, the potential financial windfall represented by the fossil quarries almost became the focal point of a family legal battle. As early as 1922, Eleanor Barbour Cook had left her husband and taken the four Cook daughters to live in Chadron where she had a teaching position. In late 1928, Mrs. Cook filed for divorce. In an initial meeting with his estranged wife's lawyers, Harold Cook agreed to an amicable property settlement outside of court. By September 1929, however Eleanor Cook was threatening legal action to acquire a fair share of the ranch for herself and the four Cook daughters. In a September 25 letter to the attorneys, Harold Cook explained the provisions of the trust agreement under which he was the de facto owner of the Agate Springs Ranch solely because of his mother's mental condition, with no right to sell, divide, or dispose of any trust property. Any attempt by himself or others to do so would result in cancellation of the trust and full rights reverting to the real owner, James H. Cook. If the divorce resulted in a court fight over the property, Harold Cook stood to lose his interests, but so, too, would Eleanor Cook and the children. Harold declared:

. . . my father naturally resents any attempt to divide and parcel out his property, while he lives, without consideration either of him or his rights in the matter.

On the other hand, if no such attempt is made to force a division of the property under such a suit, as I told you both personally, I will gladly sign any proper and reasonable contract or agreement to the effect that when this property does come into my hands.., upon my father's death, I will at once proceed to a definite assignment of their respective interests in such amounts as may be agreed upon at this time as reasonable and proper, in line with accepted standards of fairness. [30]

Although he married Margaret F. Crozier the following year, this sense of family obligation and personal honor led Harold Cook to make good on his 1929 promise. In 1949, seven years after his father's death, Harold Cook executed a will which provided for his real property to be divided equally among his four daughters. This provision is what caused havoc in future efforts to establish a monument at the Agate Springs Fossil Quarries.