62 Nebraskaland • November 2021
admitted to the bank's president and
board that he had loaned Francis Grable
$243,000 — about $8 million in today's
fi gures — without authorization.
Headlines in metropolitan and small
newspapers throughout the nation
promptly told of the Grable "schemes"
on their front pages. Although the
Grables said the projects would
realize returns soon, the investors
backed out.
The Grables immediately departed
the region, the bank closed, the
projects were abandoned, and the
Grable reservoir dam would not be
completely fi nished until 1930 when
the new fi sh hatchery included it in
its appropriations as a pond for rearing
bass.
A log book from the 1940s tells of typical hatchery work, including a trip to Fort Robinson for horse meat.
APRIL GREGORY, D.C. BOOTH NATIONAL FISH HATCHERY AND ARCHIVES
Constructed in 1904, the ice house at Fort Robinson served a vital role prior to
artifi cial refrigeration. HISTORY NEBRASKA
