Custer County’s First Courthouse

Marker Text: Custer County, named in memory of General George Armstrong Custer, was organized July 27, 1877. Frontiersmen and pioneer ranchers had been living in the area since 1872. Earlier, soldiers from Fort McPherson and settlers from the Platte River counties had regularly made hunting expeditions here, for its river valleys were noted feeding grounds for deer, elk and antelope. The log ranch house of Milo F. Young, then located in Section 23, Township 15N, Range 22W, was designated as the temporary county seat. Built in 1876, it officially served as the courthouse for seven years, though most county records were kept in the home of the officials. On December 17, 1880, here was held a hearing for the re-arrest and re-trial of Olive and Fisher, for the lynching of Mitchell and Ketchum, one of history’s most noted feuds between ranchers and homesteaders. No charges were pressed and the case was dropped. The log house continued to serve as a private residence for many years but was finally abandoned. At the request of several community organizations in 1933, the Young Estate donated the house to the village of Callaway, and it was moved here to Morgan Park