Nebraska

Native American History and European Settlement

Present-day Nebraska (Sioux for “shallow water” or Oto for “flat river”) has been inhabited for at least 10,000 years, with evidence of Paleo-Indians dating back to prehistoric times. Since the 19th century, more than 15 tribes lived in the area, including the Pawnee, Omaha, Oto, Lakota, Cheyenne, Ponca and Arapaho. These tribes grew crops, hunted, settled into villages or lived nomadically. 

European explorers arrived in the late 1600s, bringing horses and trade. Spain and France both claimed the area, with France eventually ceding it to Spain in 1763 at the end of the Seven Years’ War. Napoleon Bonaparte reclaimed it for France in 1800 before selling it to the U.S. in the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. 

Conflicts grew between Europeans and the Plains tribes during this time. Forts, including Fort Atkinson and Fort Kearney, were built to protect travelers and stave off tribal attacks. European diseases such as smallpox, fighting between rival tribes, and conflicts with settlers and the U.S. Army led to significant death and bloodshed. 

From 1825-1892, 18 different treaties forced Nebraskan tribes to cede their land to the government and relocate to Indian Territory or other reservations. After Ponca Chief Standing Bear and others returned to Nebraska to bury his son and were arrested and imprisoned, he filed suit in the 1879 landmark civil rights case Standing Bear v. George Crook. The court ruled in Standing Bear’s favor, recognizing Native Americans as people under the law for the first time and granting them constitutional rights under the Fourteenth Amendment. 

Today, Nebraska is home to six Native American reservations and hosts annual powwows, festivals and celebrations surrounding Native American culture. 

Statehood and Growth

The Nebraska Territory, defined by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, allowed for the settlement of the area and popular sovereignty to decide whether slavery would be legal. Nebraska chose freedom, abolishing slavery in 1861 and drawing African American settlers to the area. 

The area served as a key route for westward expansion, with fur trappers and migrants heading west through the Platte Valley. The Oregon, California, Mormon and Pony Express trails all crossed the state, and the 300-foot tall Chimney Rock, named a National Historic Site in 1956, located in western Nebraska, served as a marker for travelers on the Oregon Trail.

The Homestead Act of 1862 brought more settlers to Nebraska, where they established farms and ranches. Railroad construction further boosted the population, growing 733 percent between the 1880s and 1890s. On March 1, 1867, Nebraska was admitted as the 37th state to the Union. 

Agriculture and Economy

Agriculture has fueled Nebraska’s economy since its early settlement days. Nebraska’s fertile soil and climate have made it one of the country’s leading agricultural states, with production adding more than $25 billion to its annual economy. 

The state is a top leader nationally in beef production, corn, soybeans, pork, eggs and poultry, dry beans, wheat, hay and alfalfa. The state is also a significant player in renewable energy, including ethanol production, wind energy and hydroelectric power. 

Fortune 500 companies in Nebraska include Warren Buffett’s holding company Berkshire Hathaway, Union Pacific, TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. and Cabela’s, among others. The public University of Nebraska system consists of four campuses: the flagship University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the University of Nebraska Medical Center, the University of Nebraska at Omaha and the University of Nebraska at Kearney. 

Interesting Facts

• Notable Nebraskans include: authors Willa Cather and Mari Sandoz, entertainers Marlon Brando, Henry Fonda, Dick Cavett and Fred Astaire, 2024 vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, presidential candidate William Jennings Bryant, and athletes Gale Sayers, Grover Cleveland Alexander and Bob Gibson. Born in neighboring Iowa, Johnny Carson grew up in Nebraska and attended the University of Nebraska. Warren Buffet
• The Ogallala Aquifer is the largest in the nation, with 90 percent of its water used for irrigation. 
• Arbor Day was created in Nebraska in 1872, in part by J. Sterling Morgan, a newspaperman who later served as the state’s acting governor and U.S. secretary of agriculture. 
• Since 1987, tourists have visited Carhenge, a replica of Stonehenge comprised of 38 automobiles near Alliance. 
• The annual spring sandhill crane migration draws about 1 million birds to the state along the Platte River, bringing flocks of photographers and tourists to watch, as well.  
• The Enola Gay B-29 bomber used in Hiroshima in 1945 was built in Omaha.
• Kool-Aid was invented in Hastings in 1927.
• The International Quilt Study Center and Museum in Lincoln is home to the nation’s largest publicly held collection of quilts. 
• Omaha has hosted the NCAA baseball College World Series since 1950.
• Nebraska is the only U.S. state with a unicameral, or single-house, legislature.

Nebraska Facts

• Date of Statehood: March 1, 1867
• Capital: Lincoln
• Population: 1,961,504 (2020 U.S. Census)
• Size: 77,358 square miles
• Nickname: The Cornhusker State
• Motto: Equality Before the Law
• Tree: Eastern Cottonwood
• Flower: Goldenrod
• Bird: Western Meadowlark

Sources 

History Nebraska.
Nebraska: The Cornhusker State, Nebraska Legislature.
History Timeline, Nebraska Studies.
Native Americans Meet the Challenges, Nebraska Studies.