Remembering History: In August of 1867 Union Pacific railroad worker William Thompson was attacked by a band of Cheyenne Indians, scalped, and left for dead. Reviving from the attack and retrieving his scalp, which the Indians had dropped, Thompson made it to Omaha with the scalp in a bucket of water. Doctors were unable to reattach the scalp, and it was eventually donated to the Omaha Public Library, where it was displayed for many years. Source: Nebraska State Historical Society RG2411-5587b,c

In August of 1867 Union Pacific railroad worker William Thompson was attacked by a band of Cheyenne Indians, scalped, and left for dead. Reviving from the attack and retrieving his scalp, which the Indians had dropped, Thompson made it to Omaha with the scalp in a bucket of water. Doctors were unable to reattach the scalp, and it was eventually donated to the Omaha Public Library, where it was displayed for many years. Source: Nebraska State Historical Society RG2411-5587b,c

In August of 1867 Union Pacific railroad worker William Thompson was attacked by a band of Cheyenne Indians, scalped, and left for dead. Reviving from the attack and retrieving his scalp, which the Indians had dropped, Thompson made it to Omaha with the scalp in a bucket of water. Doctors were unable to reattach the scalp, and it was eventually donated to the Omaha Public Library, where it was displayed for many years. Source: Nebraska State Historical Society RG2411-5587b,c