Big crowd attends Army Depot history presentation

SIDNEY (May 18, 2024) -- University of Nebraska-Kearney graduate history student Tatiana Moore spoke before a crowded house Saturday, sharing her research of the Sioux Army Depot to local residents.

Moore talked about the cultural variety associated with the Depot, as well as the cultural impact. She said there was a wide variety of people: Germans, Italians, Japanese and local workers. She said the building and maintaining the facility required so many people prisoners of war were recruited. Facility managers had to get creative at times, she said, because POWs could not handle munitions.

Some of the POW workers were issued support duties such as welders, fork lift operators and the many jobs keeping the facility operational. She said the social aspect of the Depot caught her attention as well. Among the outcomes of the working facility were several couples who met and later married and started a family. 

She credits the museum for her research; specifically Tom and Dwayne Nightingale. 

"I started with the Cheyenne County Historical Society. They just have some amazing and wonderful board members who have been extremely helpful in this process. Tom Nightingale and Dwayne Nightingale have been my main contacts there. I visited the museum twice in the last year. Both of these men helped me find a wealth of material that I'm still reading through and examining," she said prior to the Sidney meeting.

Following the presentation, she was offered a tour of Adams Industries, what was the Sioux Army Depot.

(Video Courtesy: Marva Ellwanger / News Channel Nebraska)