“What is past is prologue.”
Since 1886, The Lusk Herald has recorded the story of Niobrara County. Following are bits of that story. (All misprints and typos in this section are in keeping with the original printing.)

100 YEARS AGO
April 16, 1920
• Deadwood Trail Is Likely To Be State Highway: As a result of investigation by the state highway department, the old Deadwood trail from Cheyenne north as far as Horse Creek hill will probably become a seciton of the highway system. County records show that the old Deadwood trail, a famous route for travel between Cheyenne and Deadwood, S. D., and used by pioneers, scouts and Indians 40 years ago, was surveyed and designated a county highway and an 80-foot right-of-way. This will permit the Laramie county commissioners to provide for the opening without paying homesteaders, who have fenced off portions of the road, for right-of-way. As this road has already been recorded a public highway, the order for removal of all fencers which ave been obstructing sections of the rad will be promulgated a an early date by the county commissioners, who are charged under the law with this duty. This action will be followed up by the state highway commission immediately undertaking the reconstruction of this road with a heavy grading this outfit.

75 YEARS AGO

April 19, 1945
• Six Men Leave For Service Induction: This week twenty-one Niobrara county men left for Denver. Six were called for induction and fifteen were to take their pre-physical examination. Dale Fernau was in charge of the group which left on the bus Tuesday afternoon, April 17, for induciton at Fort Logan. Others in the group were Paul B. Godfrey, Ambrose Kinney, Pearl Gibbons, Wayne Renz and Johnny Aberle. Nineteen men had originally been slated to leave on Wednesday for their physicals, but that group was cut to fifteen by the time they left. The new names have been added to the 1A classificaiton. They are:  Thomas A. Foley, Berverly W. Nelson.
• For thirty days the flag of the Lusk postoffice will fly at half-mast in honored memory of the late President, Franklin Delano Roosevelt. With modern means of communication it hardly falls to the county weekly newspaper to apprise its readers of such a tremendous event. Still in years to come as files of The Herald are read, a proper evaluation of local news cannot be made without knowledge that the President of the Unitied Staets did die. Death came unexpectedly at 4:35 p.m. (Eastern War Time) in a simply furnished cottage bedroom of his Pine Mountain cottage at Warm Springs, Ga. The cause was a “massive” cerebral hemorrage.

50 YEARS AGO
April 16, 1970
• Need Volunteers To Staff Museum: Plans are progressing for the opening of the Stage Coach Museum May 15, and the Niobrara Historical Society is asking for vounteers to staff the building during public visiting hours.

25 YEARS AGO
April 19, 1995
The Lusk Herald is in need of April thru June 1995 editions of the newspaper. If anyone has some and would like to donate them, we would appredicate it; as our records from those months are missing.  Thank you to Debbie Sturman at the Niobrara County Library for the use of your papers for the Peeks at the Past.
• Chadron State College sophomore Dough Lytle of Lusk won the discus at the Fort Hays State Open Track and Field Meet Saturday with a throw of 164-8. That’s almost 12 feet farther than Lytle had previously thrown the discus in competitions and is the best mark for a Chadron State athlete since Bennie Francis set the school recond of 174-5 in 1967.
• The old rejoiner, “See you in the movies”, will soon be more than just a jest for the McDaniel family when Showtime’s original feature film Ruby Dean and Joe airs in May. Gary McDaniel, son of the late Tom McDaniel and grandson of Ada McDaniel of Lusk, was one of two National Fianls Rodeo saddle bronc riders selected to stunt double for actor Tom Selleck in the film about an aging bronc rider.

“If you don’t see it in The Herald it didn’t happen.”