Sioux County, Nebraska

Sioux County, Nebraska

County seat: Harrison · Created: February 19, 1877; organized 1886 · Named for: the Sioux (Lakota) people · License plates: prefix 80 · Population: 1,135 (2020 census); peak 5,599 in 1910 · Area: 2,067 sq mi · Time zone: Mountain

About Sioux County

Sioux County is Nebraska's northwestern corner, one of the largest and least populated counties in the state, bordering Wyoming and South Dakota. The Pine Ridge escarpment crosses it near Harrison, its only town; to the north lie the badlands and grasslands of the Oglala National Grassland, and to the south the Niobrara River and the fossil hills at Agate. On July 17, 1876, the 5th Cavalry and Buffalo Bill Cody fought the Cheyenne at Warbonnet Creek near today's Montrose.

The legislature created the county on February 19, 1877, and it was organized in 1886, after Dawes County was carved from it. The Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad, later the Chicago & North Western, built across the county in 1886, and from Coffee Siding and Harrison ranchers shipped cattle east; Bowen, renamed Harrison in 1887, won the county seat over Bodarc, Andrews and Montrose. The Burlington crossed the northeast corner in 1889 through Joder and Orella. Kinkaid homesteaders brought the population to 5,599 in 1910; it has fallen to about 1,100 today. Agate Fossil Beds and the Hudson-Meng bison bonebed are among the county's seven National Register listings.

Towns of Sioux County

Travel Corridors

US 20 — the Bridges to Buttes Byway, from Lusk, Wyoming, through Harrison and across the Pine Ridge to Fort Robinson and Crawford. US 20 Corridor →

NE 29 — south from Harrison past Agate Fossil Beds to Mitchell and US 26, about 56 miles. NE 71 crosses the southeastern corner between Scottsbluff and Hemingford.

Cameras: View Sioux County cameras → · Road conditions: Nebraska 511

Things to See

Agate Fossil Beds National Monument, with its 20-million-year-old fossil hills, Daemonelix burrows and the Cook Collection of Lakota gifts (no fee); Toadstool Geologic Park and the Hudson-Meng bison bonebed in the Oglala National Grassland north of Crawford; the Warbonnet battlefield and the 1887 church at Montrose; and in Harrison the 1930 courthouse and the Sioux County Historical Museum. State markers stand at Coffee Siding on US 20 and, near Fort Robinson, for the Cheyenne Outbreak of 1879.

Outdoors

The Oglala National Grassland covers about 94,500 acres in the north of the county and western Dawes County; Toadstool has 12 campsites. Wildlife areas open to hunting: Gilbert-Baker (about 2,535 acres, north of Harrison, free primitive camping), Peterson (4,261 acres, on US 20 west of Fort Robinson) and Fort Robinson WMA. Part of Fort Robinson State Park and the Soldier Creek Wilderness lie in the county. In Harrison, Harrison City Park has free RV pads.

Sioux County Business Directory

Businesses within 20 miles of: Harrison · All listings →

Adjacent Counties

Fall River County, South Dakota (north) · Dawes County (east) · Box Butte County (southeast) · Scotts Bluff County (south) · Goshen County, Wyoming (southwest) · Niobrara County, Wyoming (west).

Events

Each year: the Sioux County Fair in Harrison in late July and early August, with rodeos, a parade and a demolition derby; Hudson-Meng tours on summer Fridays; and a September Mass at the 1887 church in Montrose.

Sioux County at a Glance

Sioux County, Nebraska — the state's northwestern corner, on the Wyoming and South Dakota lines. County seat Harrison, the only town; Mountain Time.

Getting there: US 20 from Lusk, Wyoming, or Crawford; NE 29 from Mitchell.

For visitors: Agate Fossil Beds, Toadstool Geologic Park, Hudson-Meng and the Warbonnet battlefield. No hospital: Lusk, Wyoming, or Chadron. Fuel and food are scarce; plan ahead.