40 Nebraskaland • July 2023
Leaving the Niobrara
When Allen graduated from high school in 1962, his
parents gave him $100, a saddle and a suit. Leaving home, he
worked summers on western Nebraska ranches and attended
Wayne State College during the school year. At Wayne, he
took classes for two and half years until fl u nking a required
statistics class, killing his dream of earning a business degree.
He then attended Chadron State College for a year and
earned a teaching degree. After graduation, he taught at a
Sandhills country school with fi ve students for a year and
elementary school in Henry for two years. During his time
out west, Allen rode the weekend rodeo circuit to earn a few
extra bucks until a hard kick in the face by a bucking bronco
left a scar and knocked enough sense into him to give up the
business.
In 1969, Allen married his fi rst wife, Diane. She had grown
up in a ranch house located in the shadows of Spencer Dam
and had been friends with Allen since childhood. A year after
their marriage, fulfi lling a desire to help others, they joined
the Peace Corps, spending two years in Venezuela teaching
Spanish-speaking residents how to speak English and
helping them improve their farming practices, the latter of
which mostly failed. "No matter what you try, you just can't
grow alfalfa in Venezuela," Allen said with a laugh.
After the Peace Corps, the couple moved into Allen's
childhood home on the Niobrara, his parents having moved
into town. "By then, the old house wasn't much more than a
shack," Allen said. "There were bees living in the walls and we
had no well." They hauled drinking water in fi ve-gallon cream
cans from an artesian spring that fl owed into the river. Five
years later, Allen built a new house low on the bluff , something
he had promised his bride when they got married. They would
raise four children there. Diane passed away in 1991.
Refining His Craft
Back on the Niobrara, Allen began to refi ne his angling
skills, and fi shing downstream of Spencer Dam, he was doing
so in catfi sherman heaven.
Built in 1927 for hydroelectric power generation, Spencer
Dam was located 39 miles upstream from the Niobrara's
confl uence with the Missouri River. The powerhouse and 500
foot-long concrete spillway jutted out from the river's north
Allen holds an old baitcasting rod and reel with which he caught countless channel catfi sh from the Niobrara.
GERRY STEINAUER, NEBRASKALAND
CHANNEL CATFISH (Ictalurus punctatus) are North America's
most numerous catfish species. They are also the official
fish of Nebraska. Shown are male top, female bottom.
ARTWORK BY JOSEPH TOMELLERI
