58 NEBRASKAland • JANUARY-FEBRUARY 2015
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. Photos will be returned.
Bounty from a short
afternoon of fishing at Dead
Timber Recreation Area
near Scribner in June 1968.
Pictured (L-R) with great-
Uncle Gus Legband of rural
Snyder are Roger, Fred,
and Jim Spath (myself) of
Webster. All of the bullheads
were literally caught a few
feet off of the bank. Uncle
Gus was an avid fisherman
who loved taking his
grandchildren and grand-
nephews to Dead Timber
and was almost speechless
that day that so many could
be caught so close to the
bank. He could only surmise
that a school of fish was
swimming by at the time.
Adding to the feat was the
fact Uncle Gus spent most
of the afternoon untangling
lines.
– Jim Spath,
North Platte, Nebraska
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The photo was taken in the fall of 1973 of Uncle Royceton Jones and his
nephew, Steve McDonald, with a Vizsla named Lady. Taking a break from work
and football, these two would sneak off to enjoy the camaraderie and beauty of
the Nebraska countryside near Bennett. Uncle Royceton made sure his nephew
Steve was educated in the rules and techniques of bird-hunting (and fishing in the
summer months) – a love that Royceton passed on to his own sons, and nephew
Steve passed on to his.
– Donna J. McDonald, Lincoln, Nebraska
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This picture is of my brother, Leo Marek, who
farmed four miles south of Exeter, now deceased.
There were two small ponds in his pasture. You
could sneak up the dam and pop over the edge.
There were so many ducks on the pond they were
shoulder to shoulder. The pond was completely
covered with the ducks. Together we shot the ones he
is holding in the picture. This was in 1958 about corn
picking time.
– Don Marek,
West Des Moines, Iowa
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