Editing Nebraska (section)

===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

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'''<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>