Nebraska

Lore & Background

Nebraska was home to Indigenous peoples including the Omaha, Missouria, Ponca, Pawnee, Otoe, and various Lakota (Sioux) tribes for thousands of years before European contact. Spain and France competed for control in the 18th century, with the French-aligned Pawnee and Otoe destroying a Spanish expedition in 1720. The Louisiana Territory passed to Spain in 1762, and a short-lived Spanish outpost was established near the mouth of the Platte River in 1794–1795, but the first permanent European settlement was Fort Atkinson in 1819.

Reader's Guide

Nebraska's significance lies in its unique political structure and its role in westward expansion. The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 created the Nebraska Territory, and the Homestead Acts spurred rapid settlement in the 1870s–1880s, transforming the prairie into agricultural land. The state's unicameral legislature, adopted by voter initiative in 1934, remains a distinctive feature. Nebraska also experienced the Dust Bowl in the 1930s and the Omaha Race Riots of 1919. Its geography includes the Dissected Till Plains in the east, where most cities lie, and the Great Plains in the west, with a climate ranging from humid continental to semi-arid. The state is crossed by historic trails and the Transcontinental Railroad, and it is the only triply landlocked U.S. state.

Did You Know?

• Nebraska's name comes from the Otoe Ñí Brásge or Omaha Ní Btháska, meaning 'flat water,' after the Platte River.
• The Nebraska Legislature is the only unicameral state legislature in the United States, with members elected without party affiliation.
• Nebraska is one of only two states (Maine being the other) that divide electoral college votes by congressional district.
• The Arbor Day holiday was founded in Nebraska City by territorial governor J. Sterling Morton.