Prairie Visions Summary
Pam Conrad

Prairie Visions Summary

Prairie Visions is a compilation of information about pioneer photographer Solomon Butcher and the Nebraska frontier on which he lived, as well as a look at some of the stories and anecdotes of pioneer life which he recorded. An integral part of the book is the inclusion of black-and-white photographs taken by Butcher of his Nebraska contemporaries and which are now part of the Butcher Collection at the Nebraska State Historical Society.

Butcher first migrated to Nebraska in 1880 when he was a young man of twenty-four. He staked a claim along with other members of his family in Custer County and built a sod house as required by the Homestead Act, passed by the U.S. Congress in 1867. He did not stay in Nebraska, however, but returned to Minneapolis to attend medical school. He lasted only a year at medical training, but during this time he met and...

(read more from the Short Guide)