Have you ever wondered how the current community of Fort Dodge came to be? Or what happened around here decades and even centuries ago?

There is one man in town who can answer many of those questions from memory. And if he doesn’t know the answers right away, he knows where to find a document, map, book or old letter that holds the answers.

That man is Roger Natte. Many know him as the Fort Dodge history expert.

Natte not only knows a lot about local history, he is willing and eager to share that knowledge. Knowledge and the willingness to share it is a powerful combination. And it is what makes Natte special in our community.

The Webster County Historical Society recently honored him by naming its room in the Fort Dodge Public Library the Roger Natte Archives. The naming of the room was a complete surprise to him. Society board members lured him to an April 29 event, saying it was to mark the 50th anniversary of the organization, and then unveiled the sign bearing the room’s new name.

It is a fitting tribute because Natte had a lot to do with the contents of that room. In fact, he had a lot to do with the fact that the community has a functioning historical society at all.

Webster County had a historical society, on paper at least, since 1906. Natte rejuvenated it in 1975.

He had been collecting local historical items since 1965. He presided over the establishment of the society room when the new library opened in 2000.

Collecting and organizing books, papers, photos and other items may seem like mind-numbing work for some people. But without Natte’s efforts to preserve the past, our community would be a poorer one without a sense of its identity or history.

While Natte is firmly linked to Fort Dodge and Webster County history, his personal story did not begin here. He is a native of Sibley who graduated from Iowa State Teachers College, which is today’s University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls.

He was one of our country’s first Peace Corps volunteers, serving in Liberia in 1961 and 1962.

After earning a master’s degree, he returned to Fort Dodge in 1965 to teach history at what is now Iowa Central Community College. He taught there until he retired in 1998.

He has been honored with the Lions Club Community Service Award, Iowa Volunteer Hall of Fame Award and the William J. Peterson/Edgar R. Harlan Award, which recognizes an individual or group that has made significant long term contributions to Iowa history. He was also enshrined in the Iowa Central Community College Hall of Fame.

And now the Historical Society’s room has been named for hm, a fact that he will be reminded of every time he unlocks the door to it.

We believe it is a worthy honor for the man who has preserved and shared so much of our community’s past. Congratulations, Roger.