Editing Crawford, Nebraska (section)

==History==
The [[Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad]] reached [[Fort Robinson]] in 1886 on its way to [[Wyoming]]. Several miles east of the Fort, the railroad passed through a tree claim belonging to William Annin (also spelled "Annon"), who sold his claim for a new townsite. The "tent city" that sprang up around the railroad was named after Lt. [[Emmet Crawford]], who had been formerly stationed at Fort Robinson but was killed in [[Mexico]] in January 1886.<ref name="survey"/>

The town's original plat was filed on June 21, 1886 by the Western Townsite Company. E.A. Thompson and William D. Edger (editor of the original ''[[Crawford Clipper]]'') circulated a petition for Crawford to become a village, but upon getting only 69 of the 200 needed signatures, secured the remaining signatures from willing soldiers at Fort Robinson.<ref name="75th">{{cite book |author=Crawford Diamond Jubilee Committee |year=1961 |title=Crawford, Nebraska 1886-1961 |publisher=Crawford Diamond Jubilee Committee}}</ref> Crawford was incorporated in August 1886.<ref>{{cite book|last=Shumway|first=Grant Lee|title=History of Western Nebraska and Its People|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7RM1AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA550|year=1921|publisher=Western publishing & engraving Company|page=550}}</ref>

Seeking entertainment, the soldiers kept the town supplied with much business during its early years.  Crawford was a very wild frontier town, and was home to many [[Western saloon|saloons]] and [[brothel]]s. [[Calamity Jane]] came to Crawford from [[Deadwood, South Dakota]] with ten dancing girls and set up a tent south of town. Several murders took place in Crawford, most involving soldiers from Fort Robinson.<ref name="75th"/><ref name="Lee">{{cite book |title=Wild Towns of Nebraska |last=Lee |first=Wayne C. |year=1988 |publisher=The CAXTON PRINTERS, Ltd. |location=Caldwell, Idaho |isbn=0870043250}}</ref>

[[File:Downtown Crawford, Nebraska Postcard c. 1910.jpg|left|thumb|C. 1910 depiction of Second Street (Crawford's main business thoroughfare) from Main Street.]] A second railroad, the [[Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad|Chicago, Burlington and Quincy]], reached Crawford in 1889, providing an additional boost to the community.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.casde.unl.edu/history/counties/dawes/crawford/ | title=Crawford, Dawes County | publisher=University of Nebraska | work=Center for Advanced Land Management Information Technologies | access-date=4 August 2014 | archive-date=8 August 2014 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140808054056/http://www.casde.unl.edu/history/counties/dawes/crawford/ | url-status=dead }}</ref> In 1907 Crawford became a city, and by 1911 Crawford had the seventh-most business volume in Nebraska. Through the following years, the town had a variety of industries, including a brick works, mica mill, pickle factory, and a [[Nash Finch Company]] warehouse. Crawford lobbied for a state normal school, but the state decided to place the school (now [[Chadron State College]]) in nearby Chadron. The state thought that Crawford's proximity to [[Fort Robinson]] would not be good for the school's young women students.<ref name="survey"/><ref name="75th"/>

The Elite Theater  was established about 1910 in a converted saloon. The theater was owned and operated by Mrs. Georgianna Higgins, thought to be the first woman theater owner in the United States.<ref name="County 100th">{{cite book |title=Dawes County Nebraska: The First 100 Years |last=Pinney |first=Patricia M. |year=1985 |publisher=Curtis Media Corporation |location=Dallas, Texas |isbn=978-1-881070-35-1}}</ref><ref name="who's who">{{cite book |title=Who's Who in Nebraska |author=Nebraska Press Association |year=1940 |publisher=Nebraska Press Association |location=Lincoln, Nebraska |page=240 |url=http://www.usgennet.org/usa/ne/topic/resources/OLLibrary/who1940/co/dawes2.htm |access-date=15 April 2012}}</ref>

Crawford's population peaked at 2,536 in 1910, largely because of the [[Kinkaid Act]]. It attracted many new settlers to western Nebraska who could claim public land for homesteading.  But many found it impossible to successfully conduct dry-land farming on the 640-acre plots made available, and began to sell out to ranchers. The population of Crawford reflected that change and dropped to 1,646 by 1920. Businesses declined with the loss of customers. The town made some minor recovery, and the population was 1,845 in 1940. Because of urbanization and people seeking jobs, and the decline of family agriculture on the Great Plains, the population has been steadily decreasing since.<ref name="survey"/>

In the [[Lakota language]], Crawford is known as ''oglíyotake otȟúŋwahe'', or "Return and Settle City".<ref>{{cite book |last=Ullrich |first=Jan F. |title=New Lakota Dictionary |url=http://www.lakotadictionary.org/nldo.php |edition=2nd |year=2014 |publisher=Lakota Language Consortium |location=Bloomington, IN |isbn=978-0-9761082-9-0 |access-date=2014-03-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161018034145/http://www.lakotadictionary.org/nldo.php |archive-date=2016-10-18 |url-status=dead }}</ref>