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stablishing the first town in nebraska in 1824 jean pierre cabanné established cabanne s trading post for john jacob astor s american fur company near fort lisa at the confluence of ponca creek and the missouri river it became a well known post in the region in 1833 moses p merill established a mission among the otoe indians the moses merill mission was sponsored by the baptist missionary union the presbyterian missionary john dunbar built a settlement by the pawnee indian s main village in 1841 by modern day fremont nebraska the settlement grew quickly as government financed teachers blacksmiths and farmers joined the pawnees and dunbar but the settlement disappeared practically overnight when lakota raids scared the gathered whites off the plains 14 in 1842 john c frémont completed his exploration of the platte river country with kit carson in bellevue he sold his mules and government wagons at auction in there on this mapping trip frémont used the otoe word nebrathka to designate the platte river platte is from the french word for flat the translation of ne brath ka meaning land of flat waters 15 1854 1867 edit territorial period edit main articles kansas nebraska act and nebraska territory further information nebraska territorial legislature 1859 map of route from sioux city iowa through nebraska to gold fields of wyoming partially following old mormon trails the kansas nebraska act of 1854 established the 40th parallel north as the dividing line between the territories of kansas and nebraska as such the original territorial boundaries of nebraska were much larger than today the territory was bounded on the west by the continental divide between the pacific and atlantic oceans on the north by the 49th parallel north the boundary between the united states and canada and on the east by the white earth and missouri rivers however the creation of new territories by acts of congress progressively reduced the size of nebraska most settlers were farmers but another major economic activity involved support for travelers using the platte river trails after gold was discovered in wyoming in 1859 a rush of speculators followed overland trails through the interior of nebraska the missouri river towns became important terminals of an overland freighting business that carried goods brought up the river in steamboats over the plains to trading posts and army forts in the mountains stagecoaches provided passenger mail and express service and for a few months in 1860 1861 the famous pony express provided mail service many wagon trains trekked through nebraska on the way west they were assisted by soldiers at ft kearny and other army forts guarding the platte river road between 1846 and 1869 fort commanders assisted destitute civilians by providing them with food and other supplies while those who could afford it purchased supplies from post sutlers travelers also received medical care had access to blacksmithing and carpentry services for a fee and could rely on fort commanders to act as law enforcement officials fort kearny also provided mail services and by 1861 telegraph services moreover soldiers facilitated travel by making improvements on roads bridges and ferries the forts additionally gave rise to towns along the platte river route 16 the wagon trains gave way to railroad traffic as the union pacific railroad the eastern half of the first transcontinental railroad was constructed west from omaha through the platte valley it opened service to california in 1869 in 1867 colorado was split off and nebraska reduced in size to its modern boundaries was admitted to the union land changes edit on february 28 1861 colorado territory took portions of the territory south of 41 n and west of 102 03 w 25 w of washington dc 17 on march 2 1861 dakota territory took all of the portions of nebraska territory north of 43 n the present day nebraska south dakota border along with the portion of present day nebraska between the 43rd parallel north and the keya paha and niobrara rivers this land would be returned to nebraska in 1882 the act creating the dakota territory also included provisions granting nebraska small portions of utah territory and washington territory present day southwestern wyoming bounded by the 41st parallel north the 43rd parallel north and the continental divide on march 3 1863 idaho territory took everything west of 104 03 w 27 w of washington dc wagon train headed to california civil war edit main article nebraska in the american civil war governor alvin saunders guided the territory during the american civil war 1861 1865 as well as the first two years of the postbellum era he worked with the territorial legislature to help define the borders of nebraska as well as to raise troops to serve in the union army no battles were fought in the territory but nebraska raised three regiments of cavalry to help the war effort and more than 3 000 nebraskans served in the military capital changes edit the capital of the nebraska territory was at omaha during the 1850s there were numerous unsuccessful attempts to move the capital to other locations including florence and plattsmouth 18 in the scriptown corruption scheme ruled illegal by the united states supreme court in the case of baker v morton local businessmen tried to secure land in the omaha area to give away to legislators the capital remained at omaha until 1867 when nebraska gained statehood at which time the capital was moved to lincoln which was called lancaster at that point 1867 1900 edit statehood edit main articles admission to the union and list of u s states by date of admission to the union a constitution for nebraska was drawn up in 1866 there was some controversy over nebraska s admission as a state in view of a provision in the 1866 constitution restricting suffrage to white voters eventually on february 8 1867 the united states congress voted to admit nebraska as a state provided that suffrage was not denied to non white voters the bill admitting nebraska as a state was vetoed by president andrew johnson but the veto was overridden by a supermajority in both houses of congress nebraska became the first and to this day the only state to be admitted to the union by means of a veto override 19 20 all land north of the keya paha river which includes most of boyd county and a smaller portion of neighboring keya paha county was not originally part of nebraska at the time of statehood but was transferred from dakota territory in 1882 further information history of slavery in nebraska railroads edit land sales edit railroads played a central role in the settlement of nebraska 21 the land was good for farms and ranches but without transportation would be impossible to raise commercial crops the railroad companies had been given large land grants that were used to back the borrowings from new york and london that financed construction they were anxious to locate settlers upon the land as soon as possible ensuring there would be a steady outflow of farm products and a steady inflow of manufactured items purchased by the farmers railroads like union pacific also built towns that were needed to service the railroad itself with dining halls for passengers construction crews repair shops and housing for train crews these towns attracted cattle drives and cowboys 22 23 in the 1870s and 1880s civil war veterans and immigrants from europe came by the thousands to take up land in nebraska with this migratory influx helping to rapidly extend westward the frontier line of settlement despite severe droughts grasshopper plagues economic distress and other harsh conditions confronting the new settlers most of the great cattle ranches that had grown up near the ends of the trails from texas gave way to farms although the sand hills remained essentially a ranching country a land offer from the burlington and missouri river railroad 1872 the union pacific up land grant gave it ownership of 12 800 acres per mile of finished track the federal government kept every other section of land rendering a surplus of 12 800 acres to sell or give away to homesteaders the up s goal was not to make a profit but rather to build up a permanent clientele of farmers and townspeople who would form a solid basis for routine sales and purchases the up like other major lines opened sales offices in the east and in europe to advertise their lands heavily far away and abroad 24 offering attractive package rates for migrant farmers to sell out and moved their entire family and necessary agricultural tools to the new destination in 1870 the up sold rich nebraska farmland at five dollars an acre with one fourth down and the remainder in three annual installments it gave a 10 percent discount for cash 25 farmers could also homestead land getting it free from the federal government after five years or even sooner by paying 1 50 an acre sales were improved by offering large blocks to ethnic colonies of european immigrants germans and scandinavians for example could sell out their small farm back home and buy much larger farms for the same money european ethnics comprised half of the population of nebraska in the late 19th century 26 married couples were usually the homesteaders but single women were also eligible on their own 27 a typical development program was that undertaken by the burlington and missouri river railroad to promote settlement in southeastern nebraska during 1870 80 the company participated enthusiastically in the boosterism campaigns that drew optimistic settlers to the state the railroad offered farmers the opportunity to purchase land grant parcels on easy credit terms soil quality topography and distance from the railroad line generally determined railroad land prices immigrants and native born migrants sometimes clustered in ethnic based communities but mostly the settlement of railroad land was by diverse mixtures of migrants by deliberate campaigns land sales and a vast transportation network the railroads facilitated and accelerated the peopling and development of the great plains with railroads and water key to the potential for success in the plains environment 28 populism edit main article people s party united states populism was a farmers movement of the early 1890s that emerged in a period of simultaneous crises in agriculture and politics farmers who attempted to raise corn and hogs in the dry regions of nebraska faced economic disaster when drought unexpectedly occurred when they sought relief through political means they found the republican party complacent resting on its past achievement of prosperity the democratic party meanwhile was preoccupied with the prohibition issue the farmers turn to radical politicians leading the populist party but it became so enmeshed in vehement battles that it accomplished little for the farmers 29 omaha was the location of the 1892 convention that formed the populist party with its aptly titled omaha platform written by radical farmers from throughout the midwest 20th century edit progressive era edit in 1900 populism faded and the republicans regained power in the state in 1907 they enacted a number of progressive reform measures including a direct primary law and a child labor act in what was one of the most significant legislative sessions in nebraska s history prohibition was of central importance in progressive politics before world war i many british stock and scandinavian protestants advocated prohibition as a solution to social problems while catholics and german lutherans attacked prohibition as a menace to their social customs and personal liberty prohibitionists supported direct democracy to enable voters to bypass the state legislature in lawmaking the republican party championed the interests of the prohibitionists while the democratic party represented ethnic group interests after 1914 the issue shifted to the germans opposition to woodrow wilson s foreign policy then both republicans and democrats joined in reducing direct democracy in order to reduce german influence in state politics 30 the political leader of the state s progressive movement was george w norris 1861 1944 he served five terms in the u s house of representatives as a republican from 1903 until 1913 and five terms in the u s senate from 1913 until 1943 four terms as a republican and the final term as an independent in the 1930s he supported president franklin roosevelt a democrat and the new deal norris was defeated for reelection in 1942 31 land use edit since 1870 the average size of farms has steadily increased whereas number of farms rapidly increased until about 1900 remained stable until about 1930 then rapidly decreased as farmers bought out their neighbors and consolidated their holdings total area of cropland in nebraska increased until the 1930s but then showed long term stability with large short term fluctuations crop diversity was highest during 1955 1965 then slowly decreased corn was always a dominant crop but sorghum and oats were increasingly replaced by soybeans after the 1960s land use changes were affected by farm policies and programs attempting to stabilize commodity supply and demand reduce erosion and reduce impacts to wildlife and ecological systems technological advances e g mechanization seeds pesticides fertilizers and population growth and redistribution 32 transportation edit the 450 miles of the lincoln highway in nebraska followed the route of the platte river valley along the narrow corridor where pioneer trails the pony express and the main line of the union pacific railroad ran construction began in 1913 as the road was promoted by a network of state and local boosters until it became u s highway 30 and part of the nation s numbered highway system with federal highway standards and subsidies before 1929 only sixty of its miles were hard surface in nebraska its route was altered repeatedly most importantly when omaha was bypassed in 1930 the final section of the roadway was paved west of north platte nebraska in november 1935 the lincoln highway was planned as the most direct route across the country but such a transcontinental highway was not realized until the 1970s when interstate 80 was built parallel to u s 30 giving the lincoln highway over to local traffic 33 retail stores edit in the rural areas farmers and ranchers depended on general stores that had a limited stock and slow turnover they made enough profit to stay in operation by selling at high prices prices were not marked on each item instead the customer negotiated a price men did most of the shopping since the main criterion was credit rather than quality of goods indeed most customers shopped on credit paying off the bill when crops or cattle were later sold the owner s ability to judge credit worthiness was vital to his success 34 in the cities consumers had much more choice and bought their dry goods and supplies at locally owned department stores they ha...
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