Horse-drawn wagon and conveyance collection highlights history

By Hastings Tribune via TN Content Exchange

GRAND ISLAND — Lost about 50 years, the remnants of a horse-drawn wagon were discovered in 1967 in a ravine about 20 miles north of Omaha near the Missouri River.

The Storz Brewing Company logo was barely visible on the side of the wagon, which had been buried to the axles and long since abandoned.

It took three men about five hours to dig the wagon free and salvage what they could.

William “Bill” H. Baasch of Grand Island took the pieces and painstakingly recreated the wagon, using photos from the early 19th century to find various details.

The Storz wagon was one of the pieces included in the Baasch estate auction held by Ruhter Auction & Realty of Hastings at Fonner Park in Grand Island on March 23.

Baasch passed away in September 2023 at age 87.

Randy Ruhter, longtime auctioneer with Ruhter Auction & Realty, said the Storz wagon likely was one of the favorites Baasch had in his collection.

“He put so much work into retrieving it and restoring it,” Ruhter said.

With 37 pieces in the collection, Baasch claimed it was the nation’s largest collection of private dray wagons and horse-drawn conveyances.

Ruhter first saw the collection about 20 years ago when Baasch brought him by the storage building used to house the collection. Inside, the wagons and conveyances had been mostly stored wheel to wheel.

Baasch often loaned out pieces through the years, showcasing the history recorded in them. Many wagons in his collection had been shown in parades and state and county fairs, as well as historical re-enactments.

The collection included old hearses, cargo wagons, buckboards, mail wagons, surreys, oil tankers and freight wagons.

Included was an iconic Concord-Wells Fargo stage coach. Area businesses represented in the collection include the Plate Valley Independent, the Grand Island School District, Grand Island Brewing Company and Fairmont Creamery Co.

“Most of them are in really nice shape,” Ruhter said. “He got them as close as he could to the original. They are so beautifully done, they bring back a lot of memories.”

Baasch’s love for antique wagons and restoring them was shown through the meticulous attention to detail with every piece in his collection.

The Storz Brewery wagon featured beer kegs and lanterns of the time to light the way.

A Fairmont Creamery wagon from 1900 was loaded with sparkling red milk cans. A Jack Daniels wagon displayed whiskey barrels with No. 7 on the tops.

Baasch used his blacksmithing skills to craft old carriage lamps for his wagon collection.

Norma (Baasch) Kehm, his sister, said it was a lifelong passion for her brother.

She said Baasch became interested in restoring old wagons as a boy when he found a Platte Valley Independent wagon in an underground tunnel below Grand Island’s Koehler Hotel, where he worked as a bellboy in high school.

Baasch convinced the hotel owner to sell the old wagon, and it became the first restoration project of his wagon collection.

“He liked doing that in his old days,” Kehm said.

About 37 wagons and nearly 100 carriage lamps were sold at auction.

Ruhter said due to the narrow scope of the estate, the auction was conducted online and in-person following advertising across the United States.

The Concord-Wells Fargo stage coach sold for $23,650 as the highest priced item, followed closely by the Jack Daniels wagon for $22,330.

A Coca-Cola wagon and Overland stagecoach each went for $17,600.

The Storz wagon sold for $10,400.

A viewing of the inventory on March 22 and the auction on March 23 were the last times the collection was displayed intact.

Baasch likely would have been pleased to see bidders and non-bidders alike enjoying the collection one final time.

“People like to connect with history,” Ruhter said. “This is a chance to take a look and see what it used to be like.”