Trailblazing: 100 Years of Our National Parks

Loan from National Park Service, Agate Fossil Beds National Monument
May 12, 2016
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Loan from National Park Service, Agate Fossil Beds National Monument

Agate, Nebraska post office sign
Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, Nebraska

James H. Cook purchased his father-in-law’s northwest Nebraska ranch in 1886 after discovering agate, fossils, and Plains Indian artifacts there. He invited paleontologists and scientists to excavate and study the fossils and minerals. Members of the Cook family operated a post office at the ranch, which they called Agate, from 1899 until it closed in 1968. The ranch became Agate Fossil Beds National Monument in 1997.

Loan from National Park Service, Agate Fossil Beds National Monument