Tuesday, March 15, 2011

MY NEBRASKA: The Sioux Army Depot

           
            When I was writing my 2007 novel The Day After Yesterday, I wanted the big climactic scene—in which an exchange of ransom payment for a kidnap victim takes place—to occur in a remote, unique, somewhat ominous setting. And I wanted it to be an actual place. I toyed with several different locales and had about settled on a crumbling old abandoned sugar beet factory with vacant, broken-windowed buildings, tall towers, and a network of sagging conveyor tracks … until one day a co-worker (this was back before I retired from my full-time job in manufacturing) happened to mention something about the old "storage igloos" out in Cheyenne County. When I questioned him further, I first began to learn about the Sioux Army Depot …

            In March of 1942, as part of our country's buildup for World War II, the Sioux Army Depot was established in Cheyenne County near the lower edge of Nebraska's panhandle, about six miles northwest of the town of Sidney. It would go on to become the only U.S. Army Ammunition Depot functioning in Nebraska through WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.
            The Sioux Depot was initially under the command of the U.S. Army Ordnance Department and later the U.S. Army Material Command. Its mission throughout its history was the receipt, storage, and issue of all types of ammunition from small arms to 10,000 bombs, all types of general supplies from small automobile parts to jeeps, and various strategic and critical materials. Near the end of its existence it briefly stored a small number of ICBM missiles.
            At its peak, the depot occupied 19,771 acres and included 801 ammunition storage igloos, 22 general supply warehouses, 392 support buildings, 225 family living quarters, 51 miles of railroad track, and 203 miles of roads. As many as 2,100 civilian workers were employed in the day to day activities, along with 40 to 60 military personnel.
            The depot was de-activated in June of 1967, during the Vietnam war.

            All of this may seem like just a lot of dry historical data and details, especially for anyone reading this who lives outside Nebraska and/or is located in a more urban or more densely populated area. To get the full impact of what I'm trying to convey—what the Sioux Army Depot was and what it meant to the area—you must take into consideration the stark high plains landscape in which it was located. The Nebraska panhandle, except for the Pine Ridge area to the north, is a treeless expanse of grassy, rolling hills with widely scattered small towns. Cheyenne County is 1300 square miles in size with a population of just under 10,000, found mostly in four small towns each with a population of under 400 plus the county seat, Sidney, boasting about 6300. You can imagine what the army depot meant to the area when it existed and how economically devastating it was when it closed down. (It is an ironic aside that the community of Sidney saw its first big boom in the 1870s when it was a "wide open" town serving nearby Fort Sidney and then almost a century later boomed again—albeit in a much tamer way—from its proximity to another military facility.)
            To visit the remains of the Sioux Army Depot today, the first thing you are struck by is leftover ammunition "igloos" standing in rows upon rows, almost as far as the eye can see, across a wide, flat expanse now overgrown with high grass and brush. I first visited there in the late afternoon, with dusk descending, and as I topped a low hill and the rows of shadowy igloos first came into sight it was like something out of a 1950s science fiction movie. Visualize something akin to scores of giant egg cartons turned upside down and strewn side by side all the way to the near horizon and you get a rough  mental picture.  (Hey, I'm a writer – I have an imagination.) These igloos are concrete domes with massively thick walls and tall steel-latch doors, standing about twenty feet high at the peak and fifty feet in diameter. They are (and always have been) grass-covered so that, from the air, they would blend into the rolling, grassy landscape and be virtually invisible. The gridwork of streets that served truck traffic between these structures is still mostly in place, though rough and broken and choked with weeds. If you stand in the middle of all this on a sunny day and (again) use your imagination just a little bit you can almost feel the pulse of the bygone activity and energy that ran through here.
            These days the igloos are used by area farmers for grain and equipment storage. Some of the doorways are boarded over, to hold in the grain. Others are secured with heavy padlocks. Several, however, are wide open and you can walk inside.
            The railroad tracks are long gone. The administration buildings located to the south of the igloo field are mostly still standing, some of them with their purpose still evident via faded signs that read Commissary, Hospital, etc. A row of badly dilapidated corrugated buildings where they must have loaded and unloaded freight trains are still standing and the massive crane framework and giant dangling hook still straddle a remaining short section of track.
            As I spend time roaming the grounds, I can't help but feel a kind of sadness, a sense of loneliness and unfinished business hanging over the place. Almost like walking the streets of a ghost town … Maybe some ghosts are watching and walking there with me.
           
            The igloo field served the scene in my book well.
            But, as I trust you can tell from the foregoing, the Sioux Army Depot and its history made an impact on me well beyond just that.


Persevere — WD

11 comments:

David Cranmer said...

Fascinating, Wayne. Almost all of this history was new to me.

Dale said...

What a read! I was at the old Sious Army Depot two weeks ago with my mother, who worked there during WWII. It was eerie for her and a little creepy for me. I'm drafting an article about the depot for the local newspaper and will re-visit the site in May, now that I know it's possible to get into the igloos. We did visit some of the "refurbished" apartments and thought how lonely and windy it must be to live there. Thanks for the blog!!!

jane weed said...

Neat to see this account of the Depot. I worked at the High Plains Ag Lab, an agricultural research station located at the site, in the 90s. I never felt ghosts or unfinished business there, though the landscape is somewhat eerie with all those igloos. The fact that the land was turned over to the University of Nebraska for a research station and sold to local farmers makes it, for me, an awesome example of literally turning swords into plowshares.

Anonymous said...

My dad worked at Sioux Army Depot. I lived in the civilian housing. I remeber the bunkers We moved away in 1966 when they began to close the depot down. It's sad to see there is nothing there. I kind of feel like my childhood is lost.

Anonymous said...

Lots of activity going on there 8/13--building large ovens to dry lodgepole pine for telephone poles in BIG buildings. Pine poles have to be shippped in from far away as the area is not known for it's timber stock. Storage area for MILES of various sizes steel pipe. Who is doing all this upgrading in the middle of nowhere ??? Could be an asset to more jobs for the area.

Bill Eddy bandaeddy@windstream.net said...

Bill Eddy, Lincoln Ne
My parents both worked at Sioux and eventually met and were married. My twin brother and I lived in Ordville twice, first as infants and later when we were about 11-14 years old. A younger sister was there for the second stay. In-between we lived at Sunflower, Kan., another ammunition storage site, and at Dalton, Neb. Dad commuted from Dalton to Sioux for a dozen years or more. I have many fond and a few other memories of Ordville and Sioux. Among the best: the baseball diamond, a half block from our home; the school, the theater, the building (it went by a number I can't recall) where we had youth dances, the green Army buses that took us to school in Sidney, the long hikes to frozen Lodgepole Creek for ice-skating, but mostly some really good friends. Some of us will see each other again in September 2014 when the Sidney High School Class of 1964 has its 50-year reunion. We have many memories to share.

Anonymous said...

My Dad worked at Sioux Ordnance Depot aroun 1943-44 or so. We moved there from Chappell for the job opportunity and because my dad couldn't get into the military. He was responsible for the maintenance for the diesel engine(s) that hauled the train around and also had under his care two Italian prisoners of war, Ramos and Ares Trentini, whose great smiles I remember to this day. We lived in a concrete block house/apartment which was ill-heated. It had a coal storage out in back. It was something to watch the Italians play soccer near the post exchange. We also got some sodas there. Now Sidney boasts Cabelas, started by a Chappellite and his brother.

Kathy Berry Hopkins said...

My dad too worked at SOD/SAD. I went to school from 1st grade to 5th (1958-63). Have many fond memories and often wondered what happened to my friends. Should any of you read this, please feel free to contact me. Kathy Berry Hopkins . Daughter of Tony an Dorothy Berry. Hopkinsjw47@yahoo.com

Unknown said...

My dad worked at SOD from 1945 to 1954 as a carpenter, Ordville housing manager, guard and finally as a fireman. I grew up there until I was 16 and had many great friends. Had great times there although I was in trouble a lot. Went to St. Patrick Academy on the bus every day. Will never forget the big blizzard on ‘48-49’ when us kids would run out in the wheat field and pick up bread and powdered milk the planes from Cheyenne would drop.
Recently moved to Omaha and took my wife (who born and raised in Baltimore) to visit and she was surprised to see the vast area of nothing. Anyway, I enjoyed my 9 years there.
Tex Ream. (Ream01@cox.net)

MamaVogt87 said...

Fascinating to read about from this perspective! You've definitely a talent for painting pictures in the mind!

I grew up wandering around, through, and between all of these igloos (as us locals call em). Fun fact: most of these are rented out to regular people for storage purposes...not only grain and the likes, but a lot of people use them as storage units for household items as they are nearly climate controlled-maintaining 50-55 degrees year round. Another fun fact: they are now all privately owned. The moment you leave the main graveled road for the weed-riddled pathways down the rows, you are trespassing on private property. My family owns quite a few of these, and as such we highly encourage visitors to contact the Cheyenne County Chamber of Commerce to request a tour of the area...this allows us to monitor the traffic, provides sort of a "CYO" (cover your ass) situation if something gets vandalized, and lastly allows us to keep our land, as well as the items that citizens have trusted to store in these secure and safe. Please, don't walk through empty igloos without permission...that is akin to walking into someone's garage just because the door is left open!

I'm thrilled that you felt such...well passion, for lack of a better word, about this place...it is where my soul feels at home...at peace. The anxiety and stress of a hectic world just seem to melt from me when I am out here...I, too, often feel as if I am not the only one wandering the rows, enjoying the peace of the place...I always attributed it to the fact that every family pet for 3 generations that have crossed the rainbow bridge before us have been laid to rest amid the rows and fields. Also, there is no better place to stargaze from than atop one of these magnificent mounds...and the meteor shower on 12/14/2018 was no exception...I was so lost in the beauty I didn't even take any photos!

Anonymous said...

I currently reside in Sidney and it's always fascinating to find articles written about my home area. Yes many of these igloos are still wide open, many are being used for storage and crops. I actually knew a couple that lived in one of them. I remember taking my now husband out north of Sidney to show him some of the history and he was rather impressed. I showed him the old college area that now has minor apartments. Every year, usually the first Friday of December, the town lights the Christmas tree and open up the Commanders home to show off the towns groups and their choice of decorating one room each. It's always such a beautiful display. As for night time 😊, Sidney doesn't give off much for back light so you can layout under the night sky and star gaze for hours.