Sidney: A colorful past leading to a prosperous future

Second in a series . . .

Cheyenne County was carved out of a larger previously established county by the name of Shorter County in 1870 with Fort Sidney as the county seat and took up about half the Nebraskan panhandle.

Established originally by soldiers and railroad workers Sidney saw its first real boom in the late 1870s and early 1880s.

During this time, Sidney’s first recorded “hay day,” it truly was a Wild West town with lynching, outlaws, brothels, saloons, gambling and a murder rate that would amaze people these days.

Fort Sidney’s rapid growth was due to the location of the railroad, m...