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(pdf file - requires Adobe Acrobat Reader) (developed by the Scottsbluff/Gering Chamber of Commerce & TCD) (developed by the Scottsbluff/Gering Chamber of Commerce, TCD, & the City of Scottsbluff)
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NEBRASKA HISTORY
North American Continent
The area of the United States that became known as " Nebraska " had its earliest beginnings under water, in the bottom of a great inland sea. Skeletons of millions of animals and plants were embedded in mud that hardened into rock and became the limestone that appears today on the sides of ravines and along the streams in Eastern Nebraska . As the sea bottom slowly rose, a land of marshes and forests appeared. After many thousand years, the land became drier, and trees of all kinds grew, including oak, maple, beech, and willow. Leaves from these ancient trees can be found today pressed and printed in the red sandstone rocks.
Illustration - Mastedon
Then the sea covered the land again, bringing new shells and fish. When the land rose this time, it was covered with grass and trees. The bones of animals such as camels, tapirs, monkeys, tigers, rhinos, elephants, and tiny horses are still found today beneath our soil. Moving fields of ice eventually covered the land. Deep beds of clay and large boulders were left on the hillsides when the ice melted. The ice fields covered the land two or three times, and the climate became so cold that existing plants and animals died. Other plants and animals took their place. The climate became drier, and grassy plains appeared. The rivers began to cut out their present valleys, and Nebraska as we know it today came into being.
Paleo Artifacts
The first humans in Nebraska lived near water in earth-houses formed on the rounded tops of hills. All their tools were made from trees, bone, or stone. Food was hidden in the earth-floor of the dwelling in bottle-shaped holes covered with sticks, clay and sometimes a fire. They had no horses and were different from any of the Indian tribes found by the white explorers who came later. These people buried their dead in mounds, along with tools that their spirits might someday need.
Ancient Nebraska Home
The first white men to explore North America were the Spanish. In 1513 they arrived in what is present day Florida , and in 1520 they explored what is present day Mexico . They referred to all the vast country to the north as " Florida ." Their maps at that time included present-day Nebraska as part of " Florida ." Because the Spaniards were the first white men to find this country, Spain claimed it.
Illustration - Spanish Ship
More than a hundred years later, the French explored this region by way of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers . Indians living at the mouth of the Missouri told the French of Indians who lived in Nebraska . Maps of the Mississippi River made by the French during this period include names of some of the tribes: the Panis (Pawnees), Octotatoes (Otoes) and Mahas (Omahas ).
16th Century "Florida"
A law of nations at this time gave all country drained by any river to the nation first settling on it. In 1699 French ships found the mouth of the Mississippi and started a settlement which later became New Orleans, Louisiana. France, then, laid claim to all land whose waters ran into the Mississippi . France and Spain now both claimed Nebraska. Spain said Nebraska was considered part of Florida, and since they had discovered Florida, Nebraska belonged to them. France countered that they had first settled at the mouth of the Mississippi River, and the waters of the Nebraska region flowed into the Mississippi . Additionally, French fur traders had been trading and living with Nebraska Indians for a long time; Spain had only visited the country once and didn't remain. France and Spain began to compete for the good will of the Indians living in Nebraska. Wars broke out between Indians in Nebraska and those in Kansas, the French helping one side and the Spanish the other. But France and Spain weren't the only countries who claimed the Nebraska area. The King of England had given grants of land to the first English settlers along the Atlantic coast. Each grant was a certain number of miles wide to the north and south, and stretched from the Atlantic Ocean "to the South Sea ," as the Pacific Ocean was then called. Nebraska was within the boundaries of the grants given to settlers in Massachusetts and Connecticut . The settlers themselves were so busy trying to fight Indians on the Atlantic coast in order to keep their homes that they never ventured west. Although these settlers never even saw the prairies of Nebraska, the King of England still claimed them.
Spanish, French & English Flags
While three great nations, Spain, France, and England, laid claim to the Nebraska area, the Indian people living here knew very little about it. They had never seen the English, did not care for the Spaniards, but knew and liked the French. When the great war occurred between the French and English colonies in America , it became known as the "French and Indian War." Control of the Mississippi River, as well as land whose waters flowed into it, was fought for. George Washington, who was destined to become the first President of the United States of America, fought against the French soldiers. The war lasted seven years, and when France was defeated in 1763, the land she had claimed east of the Mississippi went to England, and the land west of the Mississippi, including the Nebraska region, went to Spain.
Spanish Flag mid-1700's
The Spanish flag now floated over the Nebraska region. Spanish governors took their places in New Orleans and St. Louis. But the people who traveled up the Missouri River to Nebraska were French. They spoke French, gave French names to towns and rivers, and married Indian women. Their children, half French and half Indian, grew up to become leaders in the Nebraska Indian tribes. In 1789, the people of France rose against their King. Napoleon Bonaparte was the leader of the revolution and became the eventual Emperor of France . He successfully purchased back all the land west of the Mississippi River, including the Nebraska region, from Spain that France had once claimed. A French province soon grew, in which thousands of emigrants from France were to find homes. But war was eminent between France and England, and England had the strongest navy in the world. Napoleon knew that English ships would sail to the mouth of the Mississippi River and the French colonists could not resist them. So, in order to save Louisiana from surrender to England, he resolved to sell the land west of the Mississippi River, including the Nebraska region, to the United States. This became known in 1803 as "The Louisiana Purchase."
For many years, Nebraska had no name. The early fur traders referred to it as "the Missouri country" or "the Platte country." It was the land of the Omaha, Otoe, Ponca, Pawnee, and Sioux Indians. One common way of describing the region a hundred years ago was "The Council Bluffs." By this, the fur traders were referring to the shores of the Missouri River above the mouth of the Platte River. Later, when the first emigrants to Oregon and the pioneers to the Rocky Mountains began to cross this country, it became known as "The Great Buffalo Plains." The animal most often seen and sought for, by both Indians and non-Indians, was the buffalo. Another designation for the land was "The Great American Desert," which it is referred to on some early maps of the area.
The Buffalo Hunt
From October 1, 1804 to July 4, 1805, the Nebraska area was part of the territory of Indiana. Its "capital" was the town of Vincennes. From July 4, 1805 until December 7, 1812, it was part of the territory of Louisiana. Its "capital" was now St. Louis. In 1812, it became part of the territory of Missouri and remained so until 1821, when Missouri became a state. The Nebraska region was then cut off and left outside the control of any state or territorial government. With no governmental control, the area became known as a wild region, and a great deal of trouble was made by fur traders. They sold whisky to the Indians, cheated them, and killed their game. Quarrels and wars became frequent. In 1834, an attempt was made to end these troubles. The United States declared, on June 30, 1834, that all land west of the Missouri River that was outside of the states of Missouri and Louisiana and the territory of Arkansas was to be known as "The Indian Country." Strict laws were set up that forbade white men to hunt, trap, or settle in this area without special permission from the government. It was now a crime to take liquor into the area. The Indian Superintendent at St. Louis was made governor over "The Indian Country." From the Nebraska region westward, across the Rocky Mountains, lay a vast amount of territory. The United States, England, Spain, and Russia all claimed this land. England 's "Hudson 's Bay Company" built forts in the Rocky Mountains and on the Pacific coast for fur trading. These English forts and the fur traders tried to keep American settlers out, which made the danger of war between England and the United States constant. A few pioneers had settled in Oregon, but between Oregon and the Mississippi Valley was a vast land where no white people lived.
Old United States Map
To protect and help Americans who wanted to go to Oregon to live, a plan was devised in Washington to open Indian country west of the Missouri and bring in settlers to raise crops for soldiers and emigrants on their way to Oregon. In 1842 Lt. John C. Fremont was sent to explore the plains and the Rocky Mountains. It was during this time that the name " Nebraska " first appeared. Fremont 's account speaks of the "Nebraska River." The Otoe Indian name for the Platte River was "Nebrathka," which meant "flat water," and the Platte River was the central stream in the area. An interesting observation was noted by the Secretary of War, William Wilkins, in his November 30, 1844 report: "The Platte or Nebraska River being the central stream would very properly furnish a name to the territory. Troops and supplies from the projected Nebraska territory would be able to contend for Oregon with any force coming from the sea." However, the sea was not the direction from which trouble occurred. It would be the future "Indian Wars" that settlers would have to contend with.
Platte River in Nebraska
The first bill to designate a specific area of land as "Nebraska " was introduced in Congress on December 17, 1844 and included the present day states of Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, and parts of Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana. This first bill failed to pass. For the next ten years there was a great struggle in Congress over the making of Nebraska Territory, which pitted the North and the South against each other. There were many issues involved, including the Indians living on the land, a proposed railroad through the Platte Valley, and whether or not Nebraska would be a "free" or "slave" state, since it was once part of the Missouri territory. Two subsequent bills presented to Congress also failed to pass. In 1854, a fourth Nebraska Bill became known as the "Nebraska-Kansas Bill" and made two new territories out of the Indian country. It provided that settlers in each territory would vote whether it was "free" or "slave." A fierce fight ensued, with the South claiming that Nebraska and Kansas belonged to the whole country, that all people should be allowed to go there with their property, and that a settler from the South had a right to take his slaves (property) just as much as a settler from the North had a right to take his horses and cattle. The North countered that Nebraska and Kansas had been made free by the "Missouri Compromise," which, in 1820, provided that Missouri could retain their slave status, but the rest of the country west and north of Missouri should be forever free. For months nothing was talked about except the "Nebraska-Kansas Bill." Feelings grew more and more bitter, and it began to appear that there might be a war between the South and the North. Eventually, the Douglas Bill was passed and signed by President Pierce on May 30, 1854. Two new territories, Nebraska and Kansas, had been created.
Nebraska and Kansas Territory As Divided in 1854
Nebraska Territory, in 1854, was five times as large as the state of Nebraska is now. All the way from Kansas to Canada, from the top of the Rocky Mountains to Minnesota, as well as Iowa was considered Nebraska. Fur traders had built log cabins in a few places along the rivers, but very few white people lived in this area. Soon after Nebraska was named and made, people began to settle there. Most of the first settlers came from Iowa. Some came from Missouri, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, New York, and Massachusetts. All they had to do was cross the river and choose the most beautiful land for their homes. In March, 1854, the Omaha and Otoe Indians ceded to the United States their country along the Missouri River. No surveys had been made. All the land was open to the first comers. Most of those who came from Iowa picked out the land that suited them, built log cabins to hold it, and went back to Iowa to make their living. Several overland trails crossing Nebraska from the Missouri River to the mountains had developed. Along these trails journeyed thousands of men, women and children with ox teams, carts, wheelbarrows and on foot to settle the great country beyond. Over them marched the soldiers who built forts to protect the settlers. The long freight trains loaded with food, tools and clothing eventually passed that way, and there came to be great beaten thoroughfares, one or two hundred feet wide, deeply cut in the earth by the wheels of wagons and the feet of pilgrims.
Journey by Covered Wagon
The Oregon Trail was the first and most famous. The first "Oregon Trailers" left no track deep enough to be followed. They simply made known the way. Later, fur traders on horseback and on foot followed nearly the same route. Between 1849 and 1860, the Oregon Trail became the greatest traveled roadway in the world, as thousands made their way along it during the California Gold Rush. Some Indians in the area referred to it as the "Great Medicine Road of the Whites." Another important trail, often referred to as the "Mormon Trail," started from the banks of the Missouri River near Bellevue and Florence, Nebraska and followed up the north side of the Platte and North Platte Rivers to Fort Laramie, Wyoming, where it joined the older Oregon Trail. Some immigrants traveling to Oregon and California used this route; it is also sometimes referred to as the " Oregon Trail " or the "California Trail." A third trail across Nebraska was the "Denver Trail." It had many branches between the Missouri River and Fort Kearney, Nebraska. The Pike's Peak immigrants and the supplies and machinery for opening mines in Colorado followed this road. Every summer thousands of emigrants to Oregon and California traveled the great Oregon Trail across the territory. At Fort Kearney and Fort Laramie on the Oregon Trail were companies of soldiers. At Bellevue was a little village of fur traders and missionaries. All the rest of Nebraska was wild plains and mountains, the home of Indians, buffalo and beaver. After a few years, the mail and stage coach and pony express followed immigrant and freight wagons along these overland trails. In 1850, the first monthly mail coaches began running from the Missouri River to Salt Lake City, Utah and California. The old overland trails fell out of use with the completion of the Union Pacific Railroad in 1869. In some areas in Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska, old wagon tracks still remain, and long ribbons of sunflowers still trace the routes of the old trails across our country.
Stage Coach
Later, by 1876, the Legislature in the state of Wyoming authorized a survey and designation of a new road from Cheyenne, Wyoming to Custer City, South Dakota, a route of 180 miles. The road eventually extended to Deadwood, the fabled "gulch" town. Vehicles on the new Black Hills Road included bull-trains, buckboards, spring wagons, and anything else that would roll. The newest vehicle on the road, however, was the Concord stagecoach, which could accommodate 9 first-class passengers inside and 9 outside on the roof, as well as up to 1,500 pounds of cargo and luggage. Six horses were used to pull the stage. Although Hollywood has done its best over the years to portray the image of travelers being preyed upon by "savage Indians," most of the criminal activity during this time was the work of white outlaws. Stray Indians killed mainly for revenge. Outlaws were intent on theft. Killing stage employees and passengers was merely a byproduct. Most passengers, however, arrived at their destinations, as did the gold shipments. Some of the more notable patrons of the stagecoach included General Sherman, General Sheridan, and General Crook, as well as Red Cloud, Spotted Tail, "Wild Bill" Hickok, and "Calamity Jane."
Francis Burt, a Democrat from South Carolina was the first governor of Nebraska. He and the other first officers of Nebraska were appointed by President Franklin Pierce and were paid by the United States. The long journey from his home, part of it by stage and steamboat, brought him to Nebraska City, but he had become ill. He was then taken by wagon to Bellevue, where he arrived October 7, 1854. He grew worse and died on October 18th. The Secretary of State, Thos. B. Cuming of Michigan, became acting governor. Bellevue was the oldest town in Nebraska. It was, in fact, the only town. Here was the old fur trading post and the Indian agent in charge of the Nebraska Indians. Here the first Christian missionaries came and built the only mission house then in Nebraska . It was expected that Bellevue would be the capital of Nebraska.
Eight miles above Bellevue, in the woods fronting the Missouri river, men from Council Bluffs, Iowa, had started a town which they named Omaha. There they built a two-story brick building, which they offered to give for a Capitol. Acting-governor Cuming called the first legislature to meet there on January 16, 1855. The first Nebraska Legislature had been elected by the settlers. It had a Council of thirteen members and a House of Representatives of twenty-six members. The Platte River cut the scattered settlements of early Nebraska into two parts. Twenty-one members came from the North Platte Region and eighteen from the South Platte Region. By the count of the first census there were nearly twice as many settlers in the South Platte Region as in the North Platte Region. The fight between the North and South sections began at the first session of the Legislature and continued through the years. There was much for the first Legislature to do. First, there was a contest for permanent location of the capital, which Omaha won. A body of laws was needed to govern the territory. The Legislature met this need by taking a book of Iowa laws and enacting them for Nebraska . In this way most of the Iowa law was made Nebraska law. The eastern end of the country between the Niobrara River and Kansas was divided into counties by the Governor and the Legislature. All the rest of the great territory was an undivided wilderness. Laws were passed for making roads and ferries. Public roads were made sixty-six feet wide. A law was passed prohibiting anyone from selling or giving away liquor. Whisky had made much trouble with the Indians in Nebraska while it was still the Indian country, and in 1834, the United States had forbidden the sale of whiskey in Nebraska. The first settlers of Nebraska were not satisfied with the land laws. The United States law allowed a man to take 160 acres of land and after living on it for six months, buy it by paying the United States $1.25 per acre. The settlers said that the first pioneers should have 320 acres instead of 160 acres. In order to hold this land, "Claim Clubs" were organized. Each man in a "Claim Club" promised to defend every other member in holding his 320 acres. When the later settlers began to arrive, they were warned that they would be driven off by force if they tried to settle on the land held by members of the "Claim Clubs." The first Legislature passed a law giving each member of a "Claim Club" 320 acres. This was contrary to United States law and was, therefore, illegal. For several years there were quarrels and wars between the "Claim Clubs" and the later settlers. In the end, the "Claim Clubs" disbanded. The second governor of Nebraska , Mark W. Izard, Democrat, of Arkansas, arrived at Omaha on February 20, 1855, and Acting-Governor Cuming once again became Secretary of State. During the year 1855, settlers came slowly into the new territory. The census in October of that year found 4,494 individuals, of whom 1,549 were in the North Platte section and 2,945 in the South Platte section. Nebraska City had become the largest town in the territory, the leader of the South Platte section, and the chief rival of Omaha. By 1856, timely rains had fallen. The few little fields of wheat and corn had borne good crops. Elk, deer, antelope, grouse, wild turkey, and buffalo were abundant. A new capital was planned in Omaha, as well as a good road from Omaha to Fort Kearney. Then came the severe winter of 1856-57. It began with a great storm on the first of December and grew fiercer with each month. The ravines were filled with snow. Elk and deer perished. Roads were blocked. This was known among the early settlers as the "Hard Winter."
When the second Legislature met in 1856, some of the men said: "Pass a law that will let us join together in a company and start a bank. Let the bank issue bank notes. Everyone can use these notes for money and we will grow rich together." So the Legislature made such a law. Only a few brave men, among them J. Sterling Morton and Dr. George L. Miller, opposed it. Five men could then start a bank. They did not need to put in any money at the beginning. Each one promised to pay money at a certain future time. Then the bank opened. Thousands of dollars of bright beautiful bank notes were printed by each bank and loaned to those who wished to borrow. This was the money which the banks promised to make. Everyone soon had plenty of this kind of money. Everybody was willing to buy. Town lots rose rapidly in price. Business was booming. Population doubled; the census of that year showed 10,716 people. Everyone seemed to be getting rich. More banks were started in order to make more money. Towns of only two or three log cabins had a bank. In one year, over $400,000 of these bank notes were issued in Nebraska. Since the bank money was so plentiful and so easy to get, everyone freely bought with it, and those who sold things for a high price at once sought to buy other things.
Outside and Lobby of Fremont Nebraska Bank Late 1800's
These good times lasted a little over a year. Then came the great panic of 1857. All over the West banks broke and closed their doors. People who had beautiful, bright bank notes could buy nothing with them. People who thought they were rich found that they had nothing. Those in debt found that they could not pay their debts, since no one would take the bank notes. There was great distress, poverty, and suffering for a number of years. The people ceased to dream of getting rich after a few months and began to plow up their town sites, plant crops, and live in a quiet and modest way according to their means. The years 1856 and 1857 are called the "Wild Cat Days" of Nebraska, because the bank notes used were known as wild cat money.
The fourth Legislature, which met in Omaha on December 8, 1857, is known as that of the "Florence Secession." The war between the North Platte and South Platte sections had become fierce and bitter. There were twice as many settlers in the South Platte country as in the North. A majority of both Houses of the Legislature were from the South Platte. The North Platte section had been able to keep the Capitol at Omaha, but the South Platte was determined to take it across the river. A bill for that purpose was introduced, and a fist fight on the floor followed between members from Omaha and members from the South Platte section . The next day, January 8, 1858, a majority of both House and Council adjourned to the town of Florence, six miles above Omaha. There they met and passed laws, while the other members met in Omaha . Among the acts passed at Florence was one providing for the removal of the Capitol to Neapolis, Nebraska, a town on the south bank of the Platte, near where Cedar Bluffs, Saunders County, is now located. Nebraska 's third Governor, William A. Richardson, Democrat, of Illinois, arrived at Omaha on January 12, 1858, in the midst of the Florence secession. He refused to recognize the members at Florence or to sign the laws passed there, because that was not the Capitol. So both the Florence and the Omaha Legislators went home after forty days, with nothing done. Soon after this, Secretary of State Cuming died, and J. Sterling Morton, leader of the South Platte section, was appointed by President Buchanan to fill the place. In these territorial days, settlement by colonies began. Groups of people with some common bond, sometimes that of the same neighborhood in an older state, sometimes that of a common language or religion, began to form. Usually the first comers in these colonies wrote back for others, and the colony spread, so that the county where they settled became known as the home of a certain class of people. In this way Germans settled in Hall, Cuming, and Otoe Counties in 1857; French and Germans settled in Richardson County; and an Irish colony grew in Dakota County in 1856. In the year 1858, party politics appeared in Nebraska. At first all the settlers were Democrats, because they came from states where that party was strong. When the Nebraska-Kansas Bill was passed in 1854, the new Republican Party was born. Although the Nebraska-Kansas Bill was the cause of the birth of the Republican Party, there were at first no Republicans in Nebraska. The Democratic Party in the North and the South began to divide into two camps on the subject of slavery. The southern camp said, "A man has the right to take and hold his slaves anywhere in the Union." The northern camp said, "Let the people in each state decide whether that state shall have slaves or not." The Republican party said, "No more slave territory anywhere." Most of the people in Nebraska were opposed to slavery. As the Democratic Party divided on the question, there was a call to organize the Republican Party, and on January 18, 1858, the first meeting for that purpose was held in Omaha. Only a few were present. They were called "Black Republicans" and were looked upon as not quite respectable. In some counties they combined with Democrats and called their ticket the "people's ticket" to avoid using the unpopular name "Republican." The fifth session of the Legislature was called by Governor Richardson to meet on September 21, 1858. Its most noted act was to repeal the Prohibition Law and in its stead, provide a license for the sale of liquor. Republicans were the leaders in making this change. The fourth Governor of the territory, Samuel W. Black, Democrat, of Pennsylvania arrived at Omaha on May 2, 1859. The feud between the North and South Platte regions had now become so bitter that the South Platte people resolved they would no longer live in Nebraska. They decided to secede and join Kansas, taking the entire South Platte country with them. To this end, they sent delegates to Kansas and to Washington asking Congress to separate the South Platte region from Nebraska and join it with Kansas. This attempt failed, but the quarrel between the North and South Platte regions went on. In 1860, the first attempt was made to make the territory a state. The people voted, with the result being 2,094 in favor and 2,372 against, so statehood was postponed. The sixth Nebraska Legislature passed a bill to prohibit holding slaves in Nebraska. Governor Black vetoed the bill, claiming there were so few slaves in Nebraska it was not worthwhile to pass such a bill, and the people could settle the question when Nebraska became a state. The Legislature, however, passed the bill over his veto. The land question was still one of great interest in Nebraska. In 1859, Nebraska lands were first offered for sale by the United States. Settlers living on these lands had to pay $1.25 per acre for their claims or see them sold to speculators. Many of the settlers were so poor that they had to borrow the money at 25 to 100 percent interest, or lose their homes. For this they blamed the government at Washington. The West wanted a free homestead law that would give each settler 160 acres of land for a home if he would live on it for five years. The Republican Party favored a free homestead law, as did part of the Democratic Party. All the people of Nebraska, both Democrats and Republicans, were in favor of such a law, because they wished to have more settlers come in, make homes, and help develop the country. In 1860, Congress passed a Homestead Law that gave each settler 160 acres of land if he would live five years on it and pay twenty-five cents an acre. President Buchanan, however, vetoed the act. Nebraska Changed from Democratic to Republican during the election of 1860 and remained so for thirty years. The veto of the Homestead Bill by President Buchanan probably did more than any other thing to bring this about. Governor Black's veto of the anti-slavery bill also helped. A third cause was the split in the Democratic Party between the North and the South. Abraham Lincoln was chosen President in 1860, and the South soon seceded from the Union. President Lincoln called for soldiers, and Republicans and Democrats in the North answered the call. Governor Black raised a regiment of soldiers in Pennsylvania and was made their colonel, but was killed in Virginia. The people of Nebraska were poor and scattered, but they raised the First Nebraska Regiment of 1,000 men, who marched to the front under Colonel John M. Thayer and fought under General Grant. President Lincoln appointed Alvin Saunders of Omaha Governor of Nebraska territory. He was the first Republican governor and held the office until 1867 when Nebraska became a state.
In 1862, Congress passed the Free Homestead Law, giving every settler 160 acres of land. President Lincoln signed the act. The first homestead in the United States was taken by Daniel Freeman on Cub Creek in Gage County, a few miles from Beatrice, Nebraska. The Homestead Law became one of the most popular laws ever enacted. Under it, Nebraska and other land in the West were settled by thousands of pioneers. The war in the South went on. More soldiers were called for and came from Nebraska. It was while the soldiers from Nebraska were absent, in August, 1864, that the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians, living on the plains of western Nebraska, raided the settlements along the Blue and Platte Rivers, killing men, women and children, burning houses and driving off stock. At the same time, the Sioux in Dakota and Minnesota were on the warpath, and the whole frontier was in danger. The men of the First Nebraska Regiment were recalled from the South and sent to Fort Kearney to protect the settlers. A second Nebraska Regiment was enlisted under Colonel Robert W. Furnas and sent up the Missouri River, where they helped win a great victory over the Sioux at the battle of Whitestone Hills.
Sioux Battle
Following the Civil War, African Americans began establishing themselves in Nebraska. In 1860, there were an estimated 82 African Americans in the state. By 1900, that number had risen to 6,269. Most African Americans moved to Omaha, where chances were greater of finding work. Most opportunities for employment were found with the railroads, packing houses, or other labor fields. . History books indicate that African Americans also contributed to the settlement of Nebraska. In 1870, Robert Anderson was the first African American to homestead in Box Butte County. Other homesteaders included L.B. Mattingly, who resided near David City ; David Patrick, who lived in Hamilton County; and the Speece and Shores families, who settled in Custer County. At this time, the people of Nebraska thought much of becoming a state. The boundaries of Nebraska had been changed several times since it was first marked out in 1854. Between 1861 and 1863, Colorado and Idaho had been cut off on the west and Dakota on the north. For a time in 1863, Nebraska was extended west of the Rocky Mountains, but by 1864 it was nearly its present size and shape. In 1864, Congress passed an act permitting Nebraska to become a state when the people were ready. It was not until 1866 when the question was voted on in a very hotly contested election. It carried by a majority of about 100 votes. The members of the Legislature framed a Constitution, which Congress would not accept, because it permitted only white men to vote. Congress required the Nebraska Legislature to meet again and declare that no one should be deprived of the right to vote. When this was done, on March 1,1867, President Andrew Johnson issued a Proclamation making Nebraska a state.
State of Nebraska Seal
In response to westward migration and the call for a trans-continental railroad, President Franklin Pierce had signed the Kansas-Nebraska Act on May 30, 1854, creating the Nebraska Territory. The ensuing controversy over the location of the Territorial Capitol in Omaha was not resolved until after Statehood in 1867, when the Legislature voted to move the State Capitol south of the Platte River to the western edge of settlement in the new state. The new Capitol City was to be the home to Nebraska 's State Capitol, the University, the Penitentiary, and the State Hospital. Following a scouting trip by the three member Capitol Commission to select a new capitol site, the village of Lancaster was chosen. The small community was renamed Lincoln and construction of the first State Capitol began.
Education and religion also had their parts in Nebraska history. The first schools in this region were held in very early days. There is good reason to believe there were children of the garrison at old Fort Atkinson as far back as 1820 and a school for them. The next schools were for the Indian and half-breed children. Such schools were taught for the Otoes at Bellevue by the first missionaries, Mr. and Mrs. Merrill, in 1833. Soon after, schools were taught for the Pawnees by Rev. Samuel Allis and Rev. John Dunbar. The Mormon schools came next. Thousands of Mormons wintered in log cabins and sod houses where Florence, Nebraska now is and also near Bellevue, Nebraska between 1846-47 while on their way across the plains to Utah. Schools for these children were held during the winter months.
Free schools came to Nebraska with the first government. The terms were short and the schoolhouses made of rough logs, but wherever there were children, schools were started. Each school district could vote on what studies should be taught in the district. Teachers were very hard to get. The district school board examined those wishing to teach.
Mead Nebraska 1886
Religion was an important part of the social life and the formation of public sentiment of early Nebraskans. Missionaries taught the first schools, and pioneer preachers were among the earliest settlers in the territory. Nearly all of the churches in Nebraska today trace their beginnings to little groups of settlers inspired by a common faith.
Fremont Nebraska Church
1859 was an eventful year in Nebraska history. The first corn was shipped to market. Through all that season, steamboats transported the golden grain from the towns along the Missouri River, where it had been hauled in wagons by the settlers. There was no longer doubt that Nebraska was farming country. Gold was found in the Nebraska territory in 1859: at the foot of the Rocky Mountains, in the sands of the streams, and at the headwaters of the South Platte. Soon there was a rush of thousands across the plains eager to dig for this gold in Nebraska. The new gold mines were in sight of Pike's Peak (which is in the southern portion of the present State of Colorado), and the gold seekers painted "Pike's Peak or Bust" on the canvas covers of their wagons.
Pikes Peak in present day Colorado
Nebraska City laid out a new short road to the gold mines, crossing the prairies along the Blue rivers. This new road was very popular and helped to develop Nebraska City and the South Platte. The new territory of Colorado was organized in 1861, and the gold at the foot of the mountains now belonged to the Colorado territory. In 1882, James W. Dawes, Republican, of Crete, was elected Governor. He was re-elected in 1884. His term was marked by the final struggle between homesteaders and cattlemen in western Nebraska. How to handle the state school lands also became a prominent question during this period and continued to be for a number of years. The great movement of settlers west was helped by the changes in the land laws. A settler in Nebraska during 1854 could take 160 acres, and, after living on it six months, buy it from the United States for $1.25 an acre. This was called a pre-emption. In 1863, the Homestead Law went into effect. Under this, a settler could take 160 acres and own it free by living on it for five years. In 1873, the Timber Claim Act was passed. Under this act, an individual could get 160 acres by planting 10 acres of it in trees and taking care of them for eight years. All three of these laws were in force from 1873 to 1891, and under them a settler could, in just a few years, own 480 acres of land. There were ongoing conflicts between the cattlemen, whose great herds fed on free pasture, and the grangers, as the settlers were called, who came to farm. Cattlemen began to move into western Nebraska between 1865 and 1875. Their ranches were located where there was the best grass and plenty of water. These ranches were many miles apart. All the cattle were turned loose during the summer and winter and allowed to find feed and water where it best suited them. The cattle of different ranches ran together on the ranges. Each ranchman knew his own cattle because they were marked with his brand. Once a year, all the cattlemen in a district drove the cattle together and branded each calf with the brand of the cow it followed. This was called the roundup. The grass on the plains died on its roots in the late summer of each year so that the frost did not kill it. Thus the country in the fall and winter was one great, free haystack and a very cheap and easy place to raise cattle. When the grangers first began to settle on the cattle ranges of western Nebraska, the cattlemen told them that it was too dry there to farm, that they had been there for years, and that the country dried up every summer and was fit only for cattle ranges. The grangers did not believe them. They saw the beautiful, smooth prairie, free for homesteads to all who would take them, and they kept on coming. Two things combined to help the homesteaders in their struggle for western Nebraska during the period between 1880 and 1890. First, the hard winters of 1880-81 and 1883-84 caused deep snow. Prolonged cold weather followed. Thousands of cattle died, and many cattlemen were ruined. Then came several years of abundant summer rainfall. The grangers grew splendid crops of all kinds on the high plains where the cattlemen told them no rain ever fell after the 4th of July. So the whole area of western Nebraska was quickly settled with farmers. In 1886, General John M. Thayer, Republican, of Grand Island , was chosen Governor. He was re-elected in 1888. During his term, the settlement of neglected parts of the state, especially the sandhills region, moved rapidly forward. The present State Capitol in Lincoln was completed during his term.
State Capitol Building Lincoln Nebraska 1881
In every period of Nebraska 's history, there has been some stealing of horses and cattle along the frontier, and the settlers there organized to protect their stock and punish the thieves. Hanging was the usual punishment for stealing stock in border settlements. "Vigilance committees" was the name usually given to the settlers' clubs for their own protection. The members of such committees solemnly promised to help each other and punish thieves. Cattle and horses were stolen on a large scale after 1880, when settlements pushed into the far Northwest. There were numerous fights between the settlers and the thieves. "Kid Wade," a leader of the horse thieves, was hung to a telegraph pole at Bassett in 1884, and "Doc Middleton," another, was shot and afterwards sent to the penitentiary. This war between the "rustlers," as the stock thieves were called and the settlers lasted nearly twenty years and ended only when the building of railroads, telegraph and telephone lines drove the rustlers out of the state. Then came 1890, the year of the great drought. No rain fell for weeks, not only in western Nebraska , but over the whole state and other western states as well. Nearly all the crops were failures. In the older parts of Nebraska there were hard times, but the people had something saved from former years and managed to get along. In Western Nebraska many of the people had spent all they had to get settled on their farms. There was great suffering all over the West. When the Legislature met in 1891, it appropriated $200,000 with which to buy food and seed for the settlers. On July 26, 1894 , a hot wind from the southwest again ruined the corn crop and injured other crops. The Legislature in 1895 appropriated $250,000 more to aid the settlers in the western part of the state. In spite of this, thousands were discouraged and left their homes to find work elsewhere. A great panic came in 1893 while Western Nebraska was being settled, just as the panic of 1873 came when Eastern Nebraska was being settled. Banks broke, factories shut down, and merchants failed all over the country. Prices of farmers' produce again fell to the lowest point, and, although food was so cheap, working men in the cities could scarcely buy enough to keep from starving, because they had no work. Thousands of unemployed men gathered in armies and marched across the country to Washington to demand that Congress give them work. In Nebraska , whole townships in the Western part of the state were so deserted that one could ride all day, finding nothing but empty houses and fields growing up to weeds. These hard times lasted from 1890 until about 1900.
Go to Page 3 - "YEARS BETWEEN 1890 AND TODAY"
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