French
fur traders first visited Nebraska in the late 1600s. Part of the Louisiana
Purchase in 1803, eastern Nebraska was explored by Lewis and Clark in 1804–1806.
A few years later, Robert Stuart pioneered the Oregon Trail across Nebraska in
1812–1813, and the first permanent white settlement was established at Bellevue
in 1823.
Western
Nebraska was acquired by treaty following the Mexican War in 1848. The Union Pacific
began its transcontinental railroad at Omaha in 1865. In 1937, Nebraska became
the only state in the Union to have a unicameral (one-house) legislature. Members
are elected to it without party designation.
Nebraska
is a leading grain-producer with bumper crops of sorghum, corn, and wheat. More
varieties of grass, valuable for forage, grow in this state than in any other
in the nation. The state's sizable cattle and hog industries make Dakota City
and Lexington among the nation's largest meat-packing centers.
Manufacturing
has become diversified: Firms making electronic components, auto accessories,
pharmaceuticals, and mobile homes have joined such older industries as clothing,
farm machinery, chemicals, and transportation equipment. Oil was discovered in
1939 and natural gas in 1949.
Among
the principal attractions are Agate Fossil Beds, Homestead, and Scotts Bluff National
Monuments; Chimney Rock National Historic Site; a recreated pioneer village at
Minden; SAC Museum near Ashland; the Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer Grand
Island; Boys Town; the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and the Lied Center for the
Performing Arts at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln; the State Capitol in
Lincoln; the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha; the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha; Museum
of Nebraska Art in Kearney; Museum of Nebraska History in Lincoln; and the University
of Nebraska State Museum in Lincoln.
Coming
Soon!
See
more on Nebraska: Encyclopedia: Nebraska Encyclopedia: Geography Encyclopedia:
Economy Encyclopedia: Government Encyclopedia: History Monthly Temperature
Extremes
Accredited
Colleges and Universities
Selected
famous natives and residents:
Grace Abbott social worker; Bess
Streeter Aldrich author; Grover Cleveland Alexander baseball pitcher; Fred
Astaire dancer and actor; Max Baer boxer; Bil Baird puppeteer; George
Beadle geneticist; Marlon Brando actor; William Jennings Bryan political
leader; Warren Buffett investor; Johnny Carson TV host; Willa Cather
author; Dick Cavett TV entertainer; Richard B. Cheney vice president;
Montgomery Clift actor; James Coburn actor; William “Buffalo
Bill” Cody showman; Sandy Dennis actress; Mignon Eberhart author;
Harold “Doc” Edgerton inventor; Ruth Etting singer and actress;
Fr. Edward J. Flanagan founder of Boys Town; Henry Fonda actor; Gerald
Ford former president; Bob Gibson baseball player; Howard Hanson conductor;
Leland Hayward producer; Robert Henri painter; David Janssen actor;
Francis La Flesche ethnologist; Melvin Laird politician; Frank W.
Leahy football coach; Harold Lloyd actor; Malcolm X civil rights advocate;
Dorothy McGuire actress; Julius Sterling Morton politician and journalist;
John G. Neihardt epic poet; Nick Nolte actor; George W. Norris senator;
John J. Pershing army general; Nathan Roscoe Pound educator and botanist;
Red Cloud Indian rights advocate; Mari Sandoz author; Standing Bear
Indian rights advocate; Robert Taylor actor; Susette La Flesche Tibbles
Omaha Indian activist; Paul Williams singer, composer, and actor; Julie
Wilson singer and actress; Darryl F. Zanuck film producer.
Capital:
Lincoln
State
abbreviation/Postal code: Nebr./NE
Governor:
David Heineman, R (to Jan. 2007)1
Lieut.
Governor: Rick Sheehy, R (to Jan. 2007)
Senators:
Charles Hagel, R (to Jan. 2009); Ben Nelson, D (to Jan. 2007)
State
symbols: flower goldenrod (1895) fish channel catfish (1997) American
folk dance square dance (1997) ballad “A Place Like Nebraska” (1997)
tree cottonwood (1972) bird Western meadowlark (1929) insect honeybee
(1975) gemstone blue agate (1967) rock prairie agate (1967) fossil
mammoth (1967) song “Beautiful Nebraska” (1967) soil typic argiustolls,
holdreges series (1979) mammal whitetail deer (1981) grass little bluestem
(1969) beverage milk (1998)
Nicknames:
Cornhusker State (1945); Beef State
Origin
of name: From an Oto Indian word meaning “flat water”
10
largest cities (2003 est.): Omaha, 404,267; Lincoln, 235,594; Bellevue, 46,734;
Grand Island, 43,771; Kearney, 28,211; Fremont, 25,198; Norfolk, 24,061; North
Platte, 23,924; Hastings, 23,536; Columbus, 20,880
Land
area: 76,872 sq mi. (199,098 sq km)
Geographic
center: In Custer Co., 10 mi. NW of Broken Bow
Number
of counties: 93
Largest
county by population and area: Douglas, 482,112 (2004); Cherry, 5,961 sq mi.
State
parks: 87
Residents:
Nebraskan
2004
resident population est.: 1,747,214
2000
resident census population (rank): 1,711,263 (38). Male: 843,351 (49.3%);
Female: 867,912 (50.7%). White: 1,533,261 (89.6%); Black: 68,541 (4.0%); American
Indian: 14,896 (0.9%); Asian: 21,931 (1.3%); Other race: 47,845 (2.8%); Two or
more races: 23,953 (1.4%); Hispanic/Latino: 94,425 (5.5%). 2000 percent population
18 and over: 73.7; 65 and over: 13.6; median age: 35.3.
1.
Mike Johanns left in Jan. 2005 to become Secretary of Agriculture. Lieutenant
governor David Heineman became governor and appointed former Hastings mayor Rick
Sheehy as the new lieutenant governor.
