During the second half of the 19th century, Nebraska saw a series of rapid and dramatic changes--new people, new government, new technology, and new ways of life. Human rights were being redefined by changing laws and raging battles over slavery and incursions into lands inhabited by Native Americans. With the arrival of beef cattle, railroads, urban centers, and homesteaders, what would become of the bison and the Native people who once relied on them for the basics of life?
With passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act in 1854, the federal government defined the Nebraska Territory. “Popular sovereignty” gave area settlers the right to choose for themselves whether to allow or forbid slavery. Its boundaries were changed as other territories were created around it. Disputes arose as to where to locate its territorial capital, growing so heated at one point the territory nearly split open at the Platte River before a compromise location was chosen--what is now Lincoln.
Nebraska tribes agreed to give lands to the U.S. government in a series of treaties. Each tribe had a way of facing the challenging Plains environment, as hunters or farmers. Technology and diseases brought by fur traders had changed their lifestyles. There was conflict among tribes, and with the settlers came battles with the U.S. Army. Treaties helped but troubles remained as settlers claimed lands sold to them by the government. Tribes were forced onto reservations, sometimes in other states.
The Great American Desert--once Indian land “unfit” for farming--opened to settlers in 1862. Surveyors divided the land as newcomers from kinder climates now learned to farm a sea of grass. Water was essential. Wells and windmills tapped deep sources. Building shelter could require dugouts or sod bricks. Fuel might be cow or buffalo droppings. Settlers faced droughts, blizzards, downpours, scorching heat, and more. Corn was central to the diet. Meat was rare. Watermelon was a treat.
The record shows Sally Bayne was the first free African American settler in the Nebraska territory. The opportunity to claim and farm free land in an area with a reputation for being safe appealed to freed slaves looking for a new life. In the 1870’s, jobs in railroad towns attracted more African American newcomers. Some chose to farm in the western part of the new state.
To encourage settlement, the Homestead Act signed in 1862 gave 160 acres to any U.S. citizen who inhabited and worked the land for five years. Railroad were given free land, some of which they sold at low cost to immigrants. Settlers of all types from the East and from Europe came to face the challenges of prairie life, including isolation, scarce trees, dangerous animals, family deaths, and extreme weather, along with well digging, home building, and difficult daily tasks.
Homestead filers varied. Daniel Freeman filed first. The Homestead Act, Union Pacific Railroad charter, and Morrill Act passed. Filers submitted a form and fee, “proved up” later with a witnessed form about residency and improvements. Freed slaves filed. Half of all claims succeeded. Despite fraud and speculation, settlement grew and built a free public school system. Recreation helped. Women stayed single to win land in their names. Immigrants such as Czechs promised to become U.S. citizens.
With railroads, industrial meat processing, and refrigeration, the beef industry took off. Nebraska offered grasslands for grazing, water for drinking, and corn for feed. Texan cattlemen drove their herds north to connect with railroads to transport beef to eager markets. Ranches were established. The state’s bison population dropped when herds were divided by rail lines, sickened by cattle-borne diseases, and hunted to near-extinction. The lack of natural meat fed the beef industry’s growth.
Railroads were given huge tracts of land, some of which they sold at low cost to European immigrants. Building the transportation system and settling the land were major objectives. With train travel available, migration to the state grew. The railroads wanted customers to ship goods and travel on the rails. They helped farmers with programs to improve agriculture. Railroads remained a major force in Nebraska life through the end of the 19th century.
J. Sterling Morton was a newspaperman who moved to Nebraska in 1854 and served as the territory’s Secretary of State and later as acting governor. He left politics to promote good agricultural techniques, conservation, and tree planting. He helped create Arbor Day, a holiday especially for planting trees that is now celebrated in all 50 states. He returned to politics and went on to serve as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, striving to help farmers and set up forest preserves.
