National Military Medical Center. Half a country away, the medical center has treated hundreds of thousands of soldiers since its inception, a fact most of the population probably already knows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But there\u2019s a connection to Northwest Nebraska and the medical center\u2019s namesake, Walter Reed, with which many might be unfamiliar. Dr. Reed, who earned his medical degree at age 17, was commissioned in the US Army Medical Corps in 1875 and spent five years serving on the American frontier. For three of those years, 1884-1887, he was stationed at Fort Robinson. His time there and a pharmaceutical collection of items from that period in the region are part of the new \u201cHindsight is 20\/20\u201d exhibit at the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Dr. Reed went on to become a major and served as the curator of the Army Medical Museum in Washington, D.C., and a professor at the Army Medical School. He discovered how both typhoid and yellow fever are spread. While at Fort Robinson, however, he was treating soldiers and area settlers, including Old Jules, famed pioneer and the subject of the book \u201cOld Jules\u201d written by Mari Sandoz. As the story goes about Old Jules, he suffered a broken ankle while digging a well and was found by Fort Robinson soldiers 18 days later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Dr. Reed examined his foot, black and green with infection, Old Jules reportedly threatened to kill the good doctor if he amputated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMy orders are to amputate. But your wish to die in one piece shall not be ignored. And it would be just like your particular brand of damn fool to pull through,\u201d Dr. Reed replied.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As Dr. Reed left Fort Robinson to continue his illustrious medical career, the local paper bid him farewell with this missive: \u201cWe doubt if Fort Robinson will ever contain a physician as affable and accommodating as the outgoing doctor has been, not only to the soldiers but settlers as well.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The \u201cHindsight is 20\/20\u201d exhibit chronicles Dr. Reed\u2019s life alongside a display of pharmacy items, including pill bottles and medicines. The section of the exhibit dedicated to Dr. Reed is just one of 20 collections being showcased through March 20. With the start of 2020, Laure Sinn and Holly Counts said it seemed appropriate for the Sandoz Center to look backwards and used the opportunity to display a variety of exhibits that depict everything from early Native American life in the region to agricultural advancements and law enforcement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s a way to show off a lot of the smaller collections of the region,\u201d Counts said, noting that over the years many individuals have approached them about displaying their collections but didn\u2019t have enough to fill the center\u2019s full gallery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A flintknapping display, for example, reveals the tools used and skills exhibited by early humans in their effort to communicate and survive. Another is dedicated to the Elite Theatre in Crawford, owned by Timothy and Georgianna Higgins in the early 1900s. The couple first operated a saloon and added the theatre in 1909. When Mr. Higgins died in 1912, it is believed that Mrs. Higgins became the first woman in the U.S. to own and operate a moving picture theatre, according to research provided by the Crawford Historical Museum. The theatre showed its first talkie in 1930, and Mrs. Higgins retired not long after that, but first constructed a new theatre building.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other exhibits are dedicated to the White River Mill, which was operated by the Hall brothers until 1915, the Native American Church, formed in the 1870s with a Pine Ridge Chapter blessed by Pope Paul VI in 1975, and to The Rev. George Philip Bechtel, who served the local German population and Native Americans on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation from 1929-1943.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There is also a collection of Mari Sandoz\u2019s music and letters, including one from a reader of her book \u201cSlogum House.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/discovernwnebraska.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/20200117_133811.jpg?resize=640%2C782\")
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