50 NEBRASKAland • APRIL 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.
Attached is a photo we
believe was taken in the early
1920s after a successful day of
fishing in the Omaha area.
The man on the left is W.J.
Petersen, the owner of the
truck. He was a first-generation
American as his parents were
born in Denmark. He worked
as a general contractor in
Omaha as noted on the truck.
We believe W.J. Petersen was a
great-uncle to my mom, Esther
Petersen Rishel, who grew up
in Omaha in the 1920s and
1930s. The other two men in
the photo are unknown.
– Steven Rishel, Plattsmouth
▲
This picture was taken in 1930 northeast of Elm Creek during
a coyote hunt. In those days, coyote hunts were quite common in
the winter. The hunters would meet and spread out around several
sections of land, depending on how many hunters showed up. At a
predetermined time, the hunters would walk toward the center and any
coyotes would be surrounded.
My great-grandfather, Herman Kunstman, is in the center holding
the coyote and his Winchester Model 12 shotgun, which he bought
new in 1928. He handed the gun down to my grandfather, Wayne
Kaps, who hunted with the gun around Elm Creek and Broken Bow for
many years before passing it down to my father, Steve Kaps, who has
now passed it down to another generation that will carry on the family
tradition of hunting in Nebraska.
– Tyler Kaps, Lincoln
▲
We were hunting from a duck blind on Stevenson's Lake west
of Petersburg in October of 1974. A pheasant flew right over
the top of George Fritton's blind, who has been featured in a
previous Portraits of the Past [August-September 2013], and
flew straight at us like a Kamikaze. My dad, Bill Leifeld, shot it
out of the sky. "I had to shoot it," he said. "It was self-defense." A
lifelong resident of Petersburg, Bill is now 92 years old.
– Ron Leifeld, Alva, Florida
▲
