The Visitor Center/Museum features an information desk, theater with 12 minute movie, two exhibit galleries, and a bookstore, all overlooking the Niobrara River and its distinctive bluffs.

Photo by Jonathan S. Garcia

After the Dinosaurs

A feeling of “then and now” radiates from a life-size diorama of the mounted skeletons (replicas) of the more unusual fossil animals discovered at Agate, and occupies the entire south side of the main gallery in front of three large windows.  Other displays focus on other real or replica fossils found in the area and invite interaction on the part of the viewer to think like a scientist.  Featured are such beasts as the “terrible pig” Dinohyus, the long necked, claw-toed Moropus, snarling beardogs, and dwarf rhinos in abundance.

Photo by Jonathan S. Garcia

Two Cultures, One Land

Also on display are the remnants of a deep friendship between rancher James Cook and the Lakota (Sioux) of Red Cloud and other High Plains tribes. 

Indians often visited him at his ranch and gave him gifts from the early reservation years, including fancy beaded or quilled moccasins, Indian games, a painted hide of the Custer Battle, guns, decorated clubs, a dog travois, and much more. Black and white photos of Cook’s visitors, a sound track by traditional singer Bill Horn Cloud, and a colorful, contemporary “wintercount” or historical calendar, create a mood for this special collection not to be missed by admirers of indigenous culture.