Robert F. Gilder - “Pioneer Archaeologist” Exhibit

Prepared by Dr. Alan Osborn

      Robert Fletcher Gilder was born in 1856 in Flushing, New York. He attended school in New Jersey and Connecticut where he studied art and became very interested in the natural environment.  Gilder moved to Omaha, Nebraska in 1887 where he worked the night shift as a printer and, later, an editor for the Omaha World Herald. By day, he explored the countryside along the Missouri River bluffs driven by his interests in nature and art.  During these treks, Gilder observed many “ancient ruins” that proved to be prehistoric earth lodges, trash heaps, and burial mounds. He began his archaeological investigations of house sites in 1903 along Ponca Creek north of the city of Omaha. Later, Gilder recovered many human remains from burial sites in this area including “Loess Man.” He, then, shifted his work south of Omaha to numerous earth lodges and mounds on Child's Point, now known as Fontenelle Forest. He carried out his excavations in order to answer questions about prehistoric and historic Native Americans of the eastern Great Plains 

      He was hired by Edwin H. Barbour, director of the Nebraska State Museum, to serve as “field archaeologist.” In 1917, Gilder was awarded an honorary doctoral degree by the University of Nebraska.  Based upon his correspondence, we find that Gilder continually strived to share his knowledge of Nebraska archaeology and his scientific collections with other scientists, university professors, and the general public. Gilder saw first hand that the archaeological record of early Native Americans was rapidly being destroyed by construction projects in and around the city of Omaha and neighboring communities. Dr. Gilder continued his investigations of Plains archaeology until his death in March of 1940 at the age of 84.