Editing Nebraska (section)

==History==
{{Main|History of Nebraska}}
[[File:Nebraska 1718.jpg|thumb|Nebraska in 1718, [[Guillaume de L'Isle]] map, with the approximate area of the future state highlighted|left]]

=== Early history ===
[[Indigenous peoples]] lived in the region of present-day Nebraska for thousands of years before [[European colonization of the Americas|European colonization]]. The historic tribes in the state included the [[Omaha people|Omaha]], [[Missouria]], [[Ponca]], [[Pawnee people|Pawnee]], [[Otoe tribe|Otoe]], and various branches of the [[Lakota people|Lakota]] ([[Sioux]]), some of which migrated from eastern areas into the region. When European exploration, trade, and settlement began, both [[Spanish colonial empire|Spain]] and [[French colonial empire|France]] sought to control the region. In the 1690s, Spain established trade connections with the [[Apache people|Apache]], whose territory then included western Nebraska. By 1703, France had developed a regular trade with native peoples along the [[Missouri River]] in Nebraska, and by 1719 had signed treaties with several of these peoples. After war broke out between the two countries, Spain [[Villasur expedition|dispatched an armed expedition]] to Nebraska under Lieutenant General Pedro de Villasur in 1720. The party was attacked and destroyed near present-day [[Columbus, Nebraska|Columbus]] by a large force of Pawnee and Otoe, both allied with the French. The massacre ended Spanish exploration of the area for the remainder of the 18th century.<ref name="hanson">{{Cite journal |last=Hanson |first=James A |date=1993 |title=Spain on the Plains |url=http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/history/full-text/NH1993Spain.pdf |url-status=dead |journal=Nebraska History |volume=74 |pages=2–21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525202819/http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/history/full-text/NH1993Spain.pdf |archive-date=May 25, 2017 |accessdate=January 4, 2015 }}</ref><ref>[http://www.nebraskastudies.org/0300/frameset_reset.html?http://www.nebraskastudies.org/0300/stories/0301_0113.html "Villasur Sent to Nebraska".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525202818/http://www.nebraskastudies.org/0300/frameset_reset.html?http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nebraskastudies.org%2F0300%2Fstories%2F0301_0113.html |date=May 25, 2017 }} [http://www.nebraskastudies.org/ Nebraskastudies.org.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010819183039/http://www.nebraskastudies.org/ |date=August 19, 2001 }} Retrieved January 4, 2015.</ref><ref>{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20080210060051/http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/markers/texts/villasur_expedition_1720.htm "The Villasur expedition—1720".]}} {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20161129113841/http://nebraskahistory.org/archeo/pubs/Engineer%20Cantonment.pdf Nebraska State Historical Society.]}} Retrieved January 4, 2015.</ref>

In 1762, during the [[Seven Years' War]], France ceded the [[Louisiana Territory]] to [[Spain]]. This left Britain and Spain competing for dominance along the [[Mississippi River]]; by 1773, the British were trading with the native peoples of Nebraska. Spain dispatched two trading expeditions up the Missouri River in 1794 and 1795; the second, under James Mackay, established the first European settlement in Nebraska near the mouth of the Platte River. Later that year, Mackay's party built a trading post, dubbed Fort Carlos IV (Fort Charles), near present-day [[Homer, Nebraska|Homer]].<ref name=hanson/><ref name=lociana>[https://www.loc.gov/collections/static/louisiana-european-explorations-and-the-louisiana-purchase/images/lapurchase.pdf "Louisiana: European explorations and the Louisiana Purchase".] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181002080050/http://www.loc.gov/collections/static/louisiana-european-explorations-and-the-louisiana-purchase/images/lapurchase.pdf |date=October 2, 2018 }} [https://www.loc.gov/ Library of Congress.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430175700/http://loc.gov/ |date=April 30, 2011 }} Retrieved January 4, 2015.</ref><ref name=charles>Wood, W. Raymond. {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20150809214409/http://www.nebraskahistory.org/publish/publicat/history/full-text/NH1995FtCharles.pdf "Fort Charles or Mr. Mackey's Trading House".]}} ''Nebraska History'' 76 (Spring 1995), pp. 2–9. Retrieved January 4, 2015.</ref>

===American settlement and statehood===
In 1819, the United States established [[Fort Atkinson (Nebraska)|Fort Atkinson]] as the first U.S. Army post west of the Missouri River, just east of present-day [[Fort Calhoun, Nebraska|Fort Calhoun]]. The army abandoned the fort in 1827 as migration moved further west. European-American settlement was scarce until 1848 and the [[California Gold Rush]]. On May 30, 1854, the U.S. Congress created the [[Kansas Territory|Kansas]] and [[Nebraska Territory|Nebraska]] territories, divided by the [[40th parallel north|Parallel 40° North]], under the [[Kansas–Nebraska Act]].<ref name="Establishment">{{cite web |author=Interactive Media Group—Nebraska Educational Telecommunications |url=http://nebraskastudies.unl.edu/0500/frameset_reset.html?http://nebraskastudies.unl.edu/0500/stories/0502_0100.html |title=1854 Kansas-Nebraska Act signed |publisher=Nebraskastudies.unl.edu |access-date=May 22, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426005943/http://nebraskastudies.unl.edu/0500/frameset_reset.html?http%3A%2F%2Fnebraskastudies.unl.edu%2F0500%2Fstories%2F0502_0100.html |archive-date=April 26, 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Nebraska Territory included parts of the current states of [[Colorado]], [[North Dakota]], [[South Dakota]], [[Wyoming]], and [[Montana]].<ref>''The Handybook for Genealogists: United States of America'', 10th ed. (Draper Utah: Everton Publishers, 2002).</ref> The territorial capital of Nebraska was [[Omaha, Nebraska|Omaha]].<ref>{{Cite web |author=Omaha Media Group LLC- |title=History of the Fort - History |url=https://www.fortatkinsononline.org/history |access-date=2024-04-10 |website=Fort Atkinson State Historical Park |language=en |archive-date=April 29, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240429205210/https://www.fortatkinsononline.org/history |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:00DI0943 - Flickr - USDAgov.jpg|thumb|[[Homestead Acts|Homesteaders]] in central Nebraska in 1888

|left]]

'''<big>Late 19th century</big>'''
In the 1860s, after the U.S. government forced many of the [[Tribe (Native American)|American Indian tribes]] to cede their lands and settle on [[Indian reservation|reservations]], it opened large tracts of land to agricultural development by [[European emigration|European immigrants]] and [[American pioneer|American settlers]]. Under the [[Homestead Act]], thousands of settlers migrated into Nebraska to claim free land granted by the federal government. Because so few trees grew on the [[prairies]], many of the first farming settlers built their [[Sod house|homes of sod]], as had Native Americans such as the Omaha. The first wave of settlement gave the territory a sufficient population to apply for statehood.<ref>Marsha Hoffman and Dwight A. Radford, "Nebraska", ''Redbook: American State, County, and Town Sources'', 3rd ed. (Provo: Ancestry, 2004), 408.</ref> Nebraska became the 37th state on March 1, 1867, and the capital was moved from Omaha to the center at Lancaster, later renamed [[Lincoln, Nebraska|Lincoln]] after the recently assassinated President of the United States, [[Abraham Lincoln]]. The battle of [[Massacre Canyon]], on August 5, 1873, was the last major battle between the [[Pawnee people|Pawnee]] and the [[Sioux]].<ref>''The Nebraska Indian Wars Reader, 1865–1877'' By R. Eli Paul p. 88 Publisher: University of Nebraska Press (April 1, 1998) {{ISBN|0-8032-8749-6}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=U.S. Senate: States in the Senate {{!}} Nebraska Timeline |url=https://www.senate.gov/states/NE/timeline.htm#:~:text=Nebraska%20was%20admitted%20to%20the,to%20establish%20statehood%20for%20Nebraska. |access-date=2024-04-10 |website=www.senate.gov |archive-date=May 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525044158/https://www.senate.gov/states/NE/timeline.htm#:~:text=Nebraska%20was%20admitted%20to%20the,to%20establish%20statehood%20for%20Nebraska. |url-status=live }}</ref>

During the 1870s to the 1880s, Nebraska experienced a large growth in population. Several factors contributed to attracting new residents. The first was that the vast prairie land was perfect for cattle grazing. This helped settlers to learn the unfamiliar geography of the area. The second factor was the invention of several farming technologies. New agricultural innovations such as barbed wire, windmills, and the steel plow, combined with fair weather, enabled settlers to transform Nebraska into prime farming land. By the 1880s, Nebraska's population had soared to more than 450,000 people.<ref>''Redbook''</ref> The [[Arbor Day]] holiday was founded in [[Nebraska City, Nebraska|Nebraska City]] by territorial governor [[J. Sterling Morton]]. The [[National Arbor Day Foundation]] is still headquartered in [[Nebraska City, Nebraska|Nebraska City]], with some offices in Lincoln.

In the late 19th century, African Americans migrated from the South to Nebraska as part of the [[Great Migration (African American)|Great Migration]]. Eventually, they moved primarily to [[Omaha]] which offered working-class jobs in [[Meat packing industry|meat packing]], the railroads and other industries. Omaha has a long history of [[Civil Rights Movement in Omaha, Nebraska|civil rights]] activism. Blacks encountered discrimination from other Americans in Omaha and especially from recent European immigrants who were also competing for the same jobs as well.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Making Invisible Histories Visible / African American Migration to Omaha |url=https://www.ops.org/Page/http://www.ops.org/site/default.aspx?PageID=1659 |access-date=2024-04-10 |website=www.ops.org |language=en }}{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

=== 20th century ===
During the early 20th century, In 1912, African Americans founded the Omaha chapter of the [[National Association for the Advancement of Colored People]] to work for improved conditions in the city and state. During the [[Omaha race riot of 1919|Omaha Race Riots in 1919]], many white rioters protested throughout Omaha due to there being an incident in which a black man was accused of sexually assaulting a white woman. [[Great Depression|The Great Depression]] also had greatly affected the residents of Nebraska at the time. From 1930 to 1936 the dust bowl was common in the state due to there being a drought, wind, and dirt being dug up throughout all of the  [[Midwestern United States]]. Residents in Nebraska had passed an initiative in 1934, then the first session in the [[Unicameralism|unicameral]] was held in 1937.  [[Kay A. Orr|Kay Orr]] was elected Nebraska's first female governor on November 4, 1986.<ref>{{Cite web |date=1914-07-28 |title=Timeline of 20th century Nebraska |url=https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/timeline-of-20th-century-nebraska |access-date=2024-04-10 |website=Timetoast timelines |language=en}}</ref>