Some of you may be familiar with the town of DeWitt, Nebraska, that is located south of Lincoln in Saline County. This cache leads you to the “other” DeWitt, Nebraska. As the marker here indicates, this is the site of the first permanent Cuming County settlement. Take a moment to stop and read about DeWitt’s short-lived history.
This cemetery is all that is left of the town of DeWitt that was established by Benjamin B. Moore in 1857. The DeWitt cemetery is located on the site of an infamous Pawnee Indian raid on DeWitt in 1859. During the raid, the town settlers fled to the nearby town of Fontanelle for safety, as the Pawnee were destroying many homes and killing the pioneers’ livestock. When the pioneers returned, they found great devastation of their town.
Thanks to the Cuming County Historical Society, this cemetery was restored and cleaned in order to gain designation as a Nebraska historical site. Please be respectful of the area. There is no need to walk on any graves to retrieve this cache, although we encourage you to look around and pay your respects to the pioneers buried here.
The cache has room for a few small trade items. There’s not a lot of traffic on this road, so just use your common sense when parking on the side of the road.