History of Nebraska Timeline

In 1812, President James Madison signed a bill creating the Missouri Territory, which included the present-day state of Nebraska.

Image source: Missouri Territory

The Army established Fort Atkinson near today's Fort Calhoun in 1820, in order to protect the area's burgeoning fur trade industry.

Image source: Fort Atkinson (Nebraska)

In 1822, the Missouri Fur Company built a headquarters and trading post about nine miles north of the mouth of the Platte River and called it Bellevue, establishing the first town in Nebraska.

Image source: Bellevue, Nebraska

In 1824, Jean-Pierre Cabanné established Cabanne's Trading Post for John Jacob Astor's American Fur Company near Fort Lisa at the confluence of Ponca Creek and the Missouri River.

The Presbyterian missionary John Dunbar built a settlement by the Pawnee Indians' main village in 1841 by modern-day Fremont, Nebraska.

Image source: Fremont, Nebraska

The Kansas–Nebraska Act, passed by the United States Congress on May 30, 1854, formed the Nebraska Territory and established the 40th parallel north as the dividing line between the territories of Kansas and Nebraska.

Image source: Kansas–Nebraska Act

After gold was discovered in Wyoming in 1859, a rush of speculators followed overland trails through the interior of Nebraska, boosting traffic along the Platte River Road.

Image source: Nebraska Territory

Stagecoaches provided passenger, mail, and express service, and for a few months in 1860–1861 the famous Pony Express provided mail service across Nebraska on its route westward.

Image source: Pony Express

Governor Alvin Saunders guided the territory during the American Civil War (1861–1865), as well as the first two years of the postbellum era.

Image source: Alvin Saunders

On February 28, 1861, Colorado Territory took portions of the territory south of 41° N and west of 102°03' W, reducing the size of the Nebraska Territory.

Image source: Colorado Territory

On March 2, 1861, Dakota Territory took all portions of Nebraska Territory north of 43° N, along with the portion of present-day Nebraska between the 43rd parallel north and the Keya Paha and Niobrara rivers; this land would be returned to Nebraska in 1882.

Image source: Dakota Territory

On March 3, 1863, Idaho Territory took everything west of 104°03' W, further shrinking the Nebraska Territory toward its eventual boundaries.

Image source: Idaho Territory

A constitution for Nebraska was drawn up in 1866, but it contained a controversial provision restricting suffrage to White voters that delayed admission.

Image source: Nebraska

With Colorado split off, Nebraska was reduced in size to its modern boundaries and was admitted to the Union in 1867 as the 37th U.S. state, after extensive settlement under the Homestead Act of 1862 during the 1860s.

The capital remained at Omaha until 1867 when Nebraska gained statehood, at which time the capital was moved to Lincoln, which was called Lancaster at that point.

Image source: Lincoln, Nebraska

There was controversy over Nebraska's admission due to the 1866 constitution restricting suffrage to White voters; eventually, on February 8, 1867, Congress voted to admit Nebraska as a state provided that suffrage was not denied to non-white voters.

Image source: History of Nebraska

In 1870 the Union Pacific sold rich Nebraska farmland at five dollars an acre, with one fourth down and the remainder in three annual installments, encouraging settlement along its lines.

Image source: Union Pacific Railroad

A typical development program was undertaken by the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad to promote settlement in southeastern Nebraska during 1870–80, drawing waves of new farmers to the state.

Image source: Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad

All land north of the Keya Paha River, including most of Boyd County and part of Keya Paha County, was not originally part of Nebraska at statehood, but was transferred from Dakota Territory in 1882.

Image source: Boyd County, Nebraska

With no cohesive federal protective legislation, Nebraska's Live Stock Sanitary Commission was created in 1885 to safeguard the public interest of citizens through regulation of the livestock industry.

Image source: Livestock

In 1887 the commission was reorganized into the Board of Live Stock Agents; it increased collaborative efforts with the federal Bureau of Animal Industry, leading to more federal involvement including passage of the federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906.

Omaha was the location of the 1892 convention that formed the Populist Party, with its aptly titled Omaha Platform written by 'radical farmers' from throughout the Midwest.

Image source: People's Party (United States)

In 1900 Populism faded and the Republicans regained power in the state, setting the stage for a period of progressive legislation.

George Norris served in the House of Representatives as a Republican from 1903 until 1913 and five terms in the U.S. Senate from 1913 until 1943, four terms as a Republican and the final term as an independent. He was defeated for reelection in 1942.

Image source: George W. Norris

In 1907 Nebraska Republicans enacted a number of progressive reform measures, including a direct primary law and a child labor act, in one of the most significant legislative sessions in the state's history.

Image source: Progressive Era

Crop prices began to drop in the final quarter of 1929 and continued falling until December 1932, when they reached their lowest levels in state history amid the Great Depression.

Image source: Great Depression

In 1934, a state constitutional amendment was passed mandating a single-house legislature, and also introducing non-partisan elections where members do not stand as members of political parties.

Image source: Nebraska Legislature

Roy Cochran, a Democrat who became governor in 1935, sought federal assistance and placed Nebraska among the first American states to adopt a social security law.

Construction began in 1913 on a transcontinental road promoted by boosters, but before 1929 only sixty of its miles were hard surface in Nebraska. Its route shifted over time, bypassing Omaha in 1930, and the final section was paved west of North Platte in November 1935.

Image source: Lincoln Highway

The Cornhusker Ordnance Plant in Grand Island produced its first bombs in November 1942. The city adjusted to the plant's closing in August 1945 with surprising ease, though production resumed during the Korean and Vietnam conflicts before finally shutting down in 1973.

Image source: Grand Island, Nebraska

A progressive breakthrough came during the administration of Republican Governor Norbert Tiemann (1967–1971), who successfully pushed for a number of major governmental changes in Nebraska.

Image source: Norbert Tiemann

In 1972, Nebraska became the first state to establish a statutory agency devoted to the needs of Hispanics, a group which then numbered about 30,000 residents.

Image source: Hispanic and Latino Americans

Large-scale Hispanic migration began in the 1980s and 1990s. In Schuyler, the Hispanic population soared tenfold between 1990 and 2000, from just over 400 to about 4,000, while overall population grew from 6,600 to over 10,000.

Image source: Schuyler, Nebraska

On December 5, 2007, the state's deadliest mass shooting occurred at Westroads Mall in Omaha, shocking the community and prompting renewed discussions of public safety and gun violence.

Image source: Westroads Mall shooting