By Jessie Reestman
Staff writer
After moving to Elgin in the sixth grade, discovering a chunk of bison horn near his home on Cedar Creek, and listening to the many stories shared by his grandfather, Danny Henn, and neighbor, Darryl Miller, young Andrew Engel developed a passion for learning about the history of Elgin.
Today, at the age of 32, that passion continues, as he has spent a good portion of his adulthood collecting memorabilia and artifacts that help tell the story of Elgin’s history. Soon, much of this collection will be on display at the upcoming 2021 Antelope County Evening at the Museum Event to be held on July 3, featuring the community of Elgin.
He explained, “I gave the Museum some really neat pieces of historical artifacts, one being a journal that is from the early 1800s with recordings from a gentleman named Walter Wilbur Knott. Every day, Walter put an entry in the journal. He recorded a lot of earlier events that built this town. Ironically, in that journal, he admitted to being a first-hand participant in the hanging of Nick Foley. He talks about coming to town with a team of horses, getting a coffin, digging a grave. He describes hanging him off that bridge and seeing him hanging there the next day.” To read the complete story, turn to this weeks edition of the Elgin Review.
