50 NEBRASKAland • NOVEMBER 2018
Send contributions to: Portraits from the Past, NEBRASKAland Magazine, P.O. Box 30370, Lincoln, NE 68503-0370. Or e-mail to Tim.Reigert@Nebraska.gov. Photos should
show people enjoying Nebraska outdoor activities, such as camping, boating, hunting or fishing, and must have been taken before 1980. We will give priority to unusual photos or
activities. When possible, please include a story about the photograph and identify the people, places and approximate date it was taken. Text may be edited and photos adjusted
for reproduction. All photos will be returned.
Appearing in the 1968 issue of The Western
Horseman magazine was my father Albert Simants
(right) with Ray Henry, my brother-in-law – both from
the North Platte area.
This was from the Letters section of the magazine
and was referencing an article "Last of the Cody
Wolves."
On a ranch 18 miles from North Platte, the men were
on the fall roundup when they saw a coyote and gave
chase, finally getting a rope on him. He is alive in the
picture, but frightened, so he laid down and tried to
hide.
My dad owned hounds and had hunted coyotes
many times. At one time, coyotes were a real problem
to ranchers and newborn calves. There used to be a
bounty for them in Lincoln County.
– Shirley Sawyer, McCook, Nebraska
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Our mother, Doris Murphy Poch of Geneva,
enjoyed camping and fishing with her parents,
Frank and Emma Murphy, when she was growing
up. In 1927, they and another family went on a
trip to the Sandhills and camped at Rat Lake
in Cherry County. Doris was 13 at the time and
wrote a journal about their trip. She said in most
places the sandy roads were covered with hay
and straw so they could be driven on, but they got
on the wrong road and they had to push in some
places to get through the sand.
They rented a boat for fishing and caught
about 50 to 60 fish during the week. The men
also hunted for ducks and got all they could eat.
They had two tents – one for sleeping and one
for cooking. Their beds were one to two feet of
hay with quilts on top. They bought milk each
morning from a farm near there. Driving home
they stopped at a ranch outside of Thedford for
water for the car and the people there lived in a
sod house. They also visited the National Forest
Preserve at Halsey.
– Carmelee Tuma, Roca, Nebraska
Grandma Emma Murphy and Aunt Annie Peters showing
off their fish.
Our mother Doris holds a net. Also pictured are her aunt Annie, uncle Martin and her
father, Frank.
Camping in the Sandhills, 1927.
