Online Encyclopedia
Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.
NEBRASKA
Online EncyclopediaEncyclopedia Home :: NAN-NEW
del.icio.us it!
|
NEBRASKA , a See also:state just N. of the centre of the U.S.A., lying approximately between 400 and 430 N. and between 18° 18' W., and 27° W. from See also:Washington. It is bounded on the N. by See also:South Dakota, on the E. by See also:Iowa and a corner of See also:Missouri, on the S. by See also:Kansas, on the S. and W. by a corner of See also:Colorado, and on the W. by See also:Wyoming. The Missouri See also:river extends along the eastern and See also:north-eastern border. The extreme length of the state is about 430 m., and extreme breadth about 210 M. The See also:area is 77,520 sq. m., of which 712 are See also:water See also:surface. See also:Physical Features.—The state lies partly in the physiographic See also:province of the See also:Great Plains (covering more than four-fifths of its area) and partly in that of the See also:Prairie Plains, and slopes gently from the N.W. to the S.E. The altitudes of extreme See also:geographical points are as follows: Rulo, in the S.E. corner of the state, 842 ft.; Dakota See also:city, in the N.E., 1102; Benkelman, in the S.W. in Dundy See also:county, 2968; Kimball, in the S.W. in Kimball county, 4697; See also:Harrison, in the N.W. corner, 4849 ft. There are three physiographic sub-divisions; the See also:foot-hills (and See also:Bad Lands), the See also:sand-hills and the prairie—all three being portions of three great corresponding regions of the Great Plains and Prairie Plains provinces. The western portion of the state lies in the foot-hills of the Rocky See also:Mountain See also:system, and is much rougher than western Kansas. The surface of western Nebraska is characterized by high, barren table-323 lands, broken by canyons, dotted with buttes, and dominated by some bold and lofty ridges. See also:Pine See also:Ridge, a picturesque escarpment of the Great Plains, cuts across the N.W. corner of Nebraska from Wyoming into South Dakota. A ridge of See also:low hills and bluffs, often precipitous, marked by buttes and deeply cut in places by canyons, it is the most striking surface feature of the state. The See also:altitude in this region varies from 3500 to 5000 ft. In the See also:fork of the North and South See also:Platte are the See also:Wild See also:Cat Mountains with contours rising to 5300 ft., in which Wild Cat Mountain, See also:long reported as the highest point in the state, attains 5038 ft., Hogback Mountain 5082 ft., and various other hills—Gabe See also:Rock (5006), Big See also:Horn Mountain (4718), Coliseum Rock (5050), Scotts See also:Bluff (4662) &c.—rise to heights of 45oo to 5000 ft. In the extreme N.W. the See also: They are sometimes characteristically flat over wide areas, but are usually gently See also:rolling. Stream valleys and bottom lands are the conspicuous modifying feature of the prairie region; but in general, owing to the See also:gentle slope of the streams and the great breadth of the plains, erosion has been slight; and indeed the streams, overloaded in seasonal freshets, are See also:building up their valley floors. The water-partings are characteristically level uplands, often with shallow depressions, once lakes, and some of them still so. The valleys of the greatest streams are huge shallow troughs. The valley See also:floor of the North Platte in the foot-hills, the See also:flood-plain of an older river, is in places 700 ft. or more below the bounding tableland, and to to 15 m. wide; the present flood-plain being from I to 4 m. in width. Hundreds of small tributaries to the greater streams (especially along the Republican and the See also:Logan) complicate and beautify the landscape. No farming country is richer in quiet and diversifed scenic See also:charm than the prairies of the eastern See also:half of the state. The Missouri is noteworthy for high bluffs cut by ravines, which border it almost continuously or at least one See also:side. In the foot-hills there are typical canyons, as along the Platte forks, and in the See also:northern edge of the sand-hills. Those of the upper Republican are the largest, those of the Bad Lands are the most See also:peculiar; and the Niobrara tributary system is the most See also:developed. See also:Rivers.—The Missouri skirts the eastern border for perhaps 500 M. It is not navigated, and save at Sioux City and See also:Omaha serves practically no economic purposes, See also:irrigation. being unnecessary in the counties on which it See also:borders. Its bluffs, cut for the most part in the See also:loess but at places in the rock, are frequently from Too to 200 ft. high. At See also:Vermilion, South Dakota, its alluvial plain, 1131 ft. above the See also:sea, is 330 ft. above the mouth of the Nemaha. The current is always rapid and heavily loaded with sediment,' and its See also:axis is forever shifting. Large areas of See also:soil are thus shifted back and forth between Nebraska and the bordering states, to the encouragement of border lawlessness and uncertainty of titles; some portions E. of the See also:thread and apparently well within Iowa remain under the See also:jurisdiction of Nebraska, or See also:vice versa; and See also:Yankton has been seriously threatened with a sudden See also:transfer from the South Dakota to the Nebraska side. The Platte system is also heavily loaded with sediment in Nebraska. The North and South forks both rise in Colorado; each, especially the latter, has a rapid See also:primary descent, and a very See also:gradual fall down the foot-hills of the Great Plains? Across Nebraska it maintains a remarkably straight course and an extraordinarily even gradient (about 6 ft. per mile). In the See also:spring freshets it is a magnificent stream, but in summer its See also:volume greatly shrinks, and it is normally a broad, shallow, sluggish, stream, flowing through interlacing channels among the sand-bars it heaps athwart its course. The underfiow is probably much greater than the summer 1 About 52 grains per See also:gallon at low water, 404 at high. 2 The North Platte falls 3700 ft. in 510 m., the South, 7200 ft. in 427 m., above their junction; the latter falling 2692 ft. in 308 m. after leaving its canyon in the Rockies. surface flow in volume. The Loup system is remarkable for the even See also:dip of its parallel feeders, which once joined the Platte separately, until the latter banked up, its deposits across the mouths of their more sluggish currents. he Republican and South Platte—the former an intermittent stream—suffer in their flow from the drain made upon their See also:waters in Colorado for irrigation. The upper course of the Niobrara above the Keya Paha is in a narrow See also:gorge. Its immediate bluffs and the shores of some of its tributaries, notably the Snake, are modified by canons. This system is also notable among Nebraska streams for a number of See also:pretty water-falls. The White river, heading on Pine Ridge, falls 1 See also:loo ft. in 20 M. Some streams wholly dry up in the dry seasons, and in the foot-hills and sand-hills there are a few that disappear by sinking or evaporation. Surface Water.—Swamps and bogs, apart from purely temporary See also:weather ponds, are confined to a few restricted regions of the Missouri river bottoms and the prairies of the S.E. There are some cut-offs or oxbow lakes along the Missouri, and many lakelets origin-ally such are scattered along the Platte, Elkhorn, Big See also:Blue and other rivers. Scores of lakes are scattered about the heads of streams rising in the sand-hills, especially in Cherry county. Some of them are fresh and some alkaline. Springs also are numerous in the sand-hills, where they See also:form considerable streams. They often flow with force and are known locally from this peculiarity as " artesian " springs, or sometimes, from this and their large See also:size, as " See also:mound " springs. The state See also:fish-hatchery is on springs at South See also:Bend; at Long Pine springs of large flow See also:supply the See also:town and railway shops with water, and led to the See also:establishment here of See also:Chautauqua grounds. Underground Water.—The so-called blowing-See also:wells are peculiar. They occur over much of the state, but most frequently S. of the Platte, and are evidently sensitive to barometric conditions; alternately " blowing " or '' sucking " as these vary; so that, in See also:cold weather water-pipes may be frozen too or more feet below the surface of the ground. Atmospheric pressure is probably the See also:principal cause of their action; they are therefore termed ' weather wells " in some localities. Nearly all counties have a practically inexhaustible supply of ground water. Well-depths vary from 15 to 20 ft. in the stream valleys and from 30 to 35 ft. on the loess prairies to 100-400 ft. in the western foot-hill region and isolated prairie areas. Artesian water is also available in many parts of the state. At Niobrara, in See also:Knox county, a well 656 ft. deep, drilled in 1896, yielded for a See also:time 2500 gallons per See also:minute at 95-lb pressure (in 1903 1900 gallons at 65-lb pressure), and furnishes See also:power for a See also:flour-See also: The drift covers the eastern fifth of the state. In striking contrast to Iowa. the Nebraska See also:deposit is very thin, seldom thicker than 1 or 2 ft. Above the drift there is usually a heavy covering of loess or " bluff deposit " (particularly typical in the neighbourhood of Omaha and See also:Council Bluffs). Though thin and worn out in places, it averages probably too ft., and is often as much as 200 ft. in thickness, and runs diagonally across the state from the N.E. to the Colorado inset. The See also:opinion that it is of aqueous origin (and probably See also:dates from the See also:close of the glacial time) has the See also:weight of authority. It was spread by the rivers: some et idences of wind action may be attributed to a later See also:period. The sand-hills, which overlap the loess N. of the Platte, are probably mainly derived from the Arikaree, but probably also in part from the See also:early Pleistocene. See also:West of 102° long. there are beds several See also:hundred feet thick of See also:late Tertiary sands and See also:clays. The Arikaree (Miocene) and Ogallala (Pliocene) formations of the North Loup beds are superficial over much of the western half of the state, the former to the N., the latter to the S. The buttes are characteristically Arikaree or Gering formations topping Brule See also:clay. The same is true of at least considerable parts of Pine Ridge. In the Bad Lands there are scanty outcrops of the Chadron formation (known also as " Titanotherium beds "), the See also:oldest of the Tertiary beds. The thick superficial coverings over the state make difficult the determination of the underlying strata. There are only very scanty outcrops except along the rivers. No Archean rocks are exposed in Nebraska, and the sedimentary formations are undisturbed in situ. The Palaeozoic era is represented only by the Pennsylvanian See also:series of the Upper Carboniferous and a scanty See also:strip of Kansas-Nebraska See also:Permian, and is confined to the S.E. counties. But, though small in area, the Carboniferous is by far the most important formation as regards See also:mineral resources within the state. It is buried probably 2000 or goo ft. in central Nebraska, outcropping again only in the Rocky Mountains. Upon it, in the trough thus formed, See also:rest conformably the basal strata of the Cretaceous; the See also:Jurassic and Triassic being wholly absent (unless in the extreme north-west), The E. limit ofthe Cretaceous extends across the state from N. to S. between 98° and 99° W. long. Its See also:groups include the Dakota formation, characterized by a very peculiar rusty See also:sandstone, and the See also:Benton, both of which are rather widely accessible and heavy; the Niobrara; the See also:Pierre shales, which apparently underlie about three-quarters of the state in a deep and heavy See also:bed; and, in the extreme west, the See also:Laramie. There are almost no Cretaceous outcrops except on the streams, especially the Niobrara, Republican and Platte rivers—and in the Bad Lands. The superficial Miocene and Pliocene deposits in the west, above referred to, are underlaid by the White river groups of the Oligocene, whose outcrops of Brule clay and Chadron formation also have been mentioned. The Bad Lands are essentially nothing but fresh-water mud excessively weathered and eroded. They are often intersected by dikes of See also:chalcedony, formerly mistaken for See also:lava. The Bad Lands and the Arikaree are famous fossil See also:fields, the latter being the source of the Daemonelix, or " See also:Devil's See also:cork-See also:screw," a large See also:spiral fossil, apparently a lacustrine alga. It was once generally supposed that the Pliocene See also:epoch in Nebraska was distinguished by the activity of geysers; but the so-called " geyserite " now known commonly and correctly as "natural See also:pumice " and " volcanic ash," which is found in the Oligocene and later formations, has no connexion whatever with geysers, but is produced by the shattering of volcanic rock. It occurs widely in Nebraska and adjoining states.
Minerals.—Mineral resources are decidedly limited; the See also:total value of the mineral output (excluding See also:coal) in 1907 was $1,383,916, of which $953,432 was the value of clay products, $324,239 of See also: Of building stones limestones are the most abundant and important, the best comes from the Benton beds and when " See also:green " can be sawed into blocks. The Dakota formation, though its sand-stones are in general coarse or otherwise inferior, yields some of splendid quality. Its clays. which are of all See also:colours, are the most valuable of the state. The finest building stone is a beautiful green See also:quartzite rock of dense, See also:fine texture and lasting quality. It is related to the Ogallala beds and occurs only in small areas. The quarries and clay pits of the state are mainly in the Carboniferous region of the S.E. Cretaceous See also:lignite occurs in small quantities in the N.E., and See also:peat more widely. The Carboniferous formations carry only thin seams of coal, never thicker than about 2 ft., and rarely readily accessible, and they can never be of more than small and merely See also:local importance. See also:Flora.—Nebraska lies partly in the arid, or Upper Sonoran, and partly in the humid, or Carolinian, area of the Upper Austral See also:life-See also:zone; the divisional See also:line being placed by the See also:United States Biological Survey at about too° W. long. The most marked characteristic of Nebraskan vegetation is its immigrant See also:character, and the state has been called " one of the finest illustrations of the commingling of contiguous See also:species to be found anywhere in See also:America " (C. E. Bessey). Immigrant species have even come from See also:Texas and New See also:Mexico, from the Dakotas and the Rockies. From the last-named various species have crept two-thirds of the way across the state, one (the See also:buffalo See also:berry) wholly covers it, and some have barely crossed into the border foot-hills from Wyoming. A very few trees and shrubs, and some See also:grasses, are strictly endemic to the plains and to Nebraska. Four floral regions lying in north to south belts across the state, and closely corresponding to—though in boundaries by no means coinciding with—its great topographic divisions are distinguished in the regions of the Missouri border, the prairies, sand-hills and foot-hills. In 1896 some 3196, and by 1905 fully 3300 species had been listed, " representing every See also:branch and nearly every class of the See also:vegetable See also:kingdom " (C. E. Bessey). There are at least 64 trees and at least 77 shrubs growing native in the state; but of their See also:joint number a See also:mere half-dozen or so can be classed as strictly endemic. Small See also:woods of broad-See also:leaf trees (and red cedars) grow very generally along all the water-courses of the state; and coniferous species grow along Pine Ridge and the Wild Cat Mountains. In the East, various trees are readily grown on the uplands; in the West the See also:honey-See also:locust, the Osage See also:orange and See also:Russian mulberry for windbreaks; the green ash, and red See also:cedar are perhaps the most valuable drought resisting species. The conifers are spreading naturally. In the sand-hills the sand-See also:bar See also:willow of the rivers and the cottonwood growing naturally, See also:evidence the good conditions of moisture; and the forestation of much of the region is undoubtedly possible. See also:Forest reserves were established on the See also:Dismal river in 1902 and millions of seedlings had been grown by 1906 for transplantation in Nebraska and other states of the Great Plains. Arbor See also:Day (the loth of See also:April) was instituted by the Nebraska State See also:Board of See also:Agriculture in 1872 at the instance of See also:Sterling See also:Morton, later secretary of agriculture of the United Mates (see ARBOR DAY). It has been yearly observed by the public See also:schools of the state, and no state has done more than Nebraska for the forestation of its See also:waste and prairie lands. In such a purely agricultural state a large wooded area is not desired. Plums, grapes and the See also:dwarf " sand-cherry " (Prunus demissa) of the sand-hills are prominent among many wild fruits. The flora is decidedly rich in species as compared with other states, but less so in the number of individuals. Grasses are perhaps the most noteworthy vegetable forms. Nebraska claims a greater variety of native See also:hay and See also:forage species than grow in any other state of the See also:Union. No less than 200 grasses, at least 154 being wild or commonly cultivated, had been listed in 1904. Of the total 200 species 150 (130 indigenous) are valuable for forage, 34 (20 indigenous) are classed economically as weeds, to are non-indigenous cereals and 6 are ornamental. The See also:short buffalo-grass was originally everywhere abundant, but it had practically disappeared by 1890 from the eastern half of the state, and since then has steadily become more restricted in See also:habitat. The native prairie grasses have been in considerable part displaced by grasses introduced from more humid regicns. Weeds are very numerous (about 125) ; and some, notably the sand-See also:bur (Soianum rostratum) See also:cockle-bur, and tumble-weeds among indigenous, and the Russian See also:thistle (Salsola tragus) and See also:purslane among non-indigenous species, are agricultural pests. Nothing can surpass in beauty the See also:rank grasses and See also:bright See also:flowers that grow on the lowlands and rolling uplands of a virgin prairie—now hardly to be found in the state. The See also:common See also:sunflower (the most conspicuous See also:weed of the state) and allied flowers, which spring up in myriads even in the midst of unbroken prairie wherever this is disturbed, line the roads with yellow bands from See also:horizon to horizon, enclose the broken fields and choke waste places. See also:Fauna.—The fauna of the state is not known with the same thoroughness and detail as the flora, but it too is varied. This is notably true of birds and of See also:insects. Of the latter there are probably 12,000 to 15,000 species, including 140 butterflies, at least 18o grasshoppers, several hundred bees, &c. The so-called " grass hoppers," true locusts, have done great damage at times in Nebraska. About a third of all the species known in the United States are found within the state or close to its borders, and of these, 9 or 10 are so common that their increase under conditions favourable to their development may be a danger Such conditions are found in dry years, unfavourable to their See also:chief parasitic enemies, favourable to their own breeding, and the cause of their migrations. There were locust plagues in 1874, 1876 and 1877. Fungus parasites have been used with some, but on the whole rather slight, success, and See also:mechanical appliances with perhaps greater success, in combating these pests. Birds are more effective. As in the See also:case of See also:plants, western, eastern, northern and See also:southern avian species meet in Nebraska. In 1905 some 415 to 420 species had been found within its borders, and more than half of these were known to See also:nest in the state; 120 had been counted in the See also:winter. The lakes of the sand-hills are the breeding-See also:place--less so as settlement increases—of myriads of water-See also:fowl. Before the See also:advent of the white See also:man Nebraska was full of wild mammals, the buffalo, See also:elk, See also:black and white tailed See also:deer, See also:antelope, bears, See also:timber wolves, panthers (pumas), See also:lynx, See also:otter and See also:mink being common. Almost all that remain are black bears, foxes, coyotes (prairie wolves), mink, See also:musk-rats, raccoons and prairie See also:dogs (or gophers). Antelope were not uncommon in the west and northwest until after 1890. The See also:coyote is still so common even in the east as to be a See also:nuisance to the See also:farmer; in 1907 a See also:bounty See also:law was in force which provided for the See also:payment of a state bounty of $5, on every See also:grey See also:wolf, $1.25 on every coyote and $1 on every lynx (wild cat). A few rodents have increased in See also:numbers; the prairie See also:dog especially is a pest in the See also:alfalfa fields of the arid lands (as are See also:pocket-gophers at places in the east). See also:Climate.—The climate of Nebraska is typically inland or See also:continental; i.e. it is characterized by " winters of considerable severity, summers of unusual warmth, rainfall in limited quantities, marked and sudden changes of temperature, large seasonal and daily temperature ranges, and dry, salubrious See also:atmosphere, with a small percentage of cloudiness, and a large percentage of See also:sunshine."r The See also:average wind velocity for the High Plains of Nebraska and adjoining states is about to to 12 m.; 25 M. is not uncommon; and a velocity of 40 M. and over is recorded a half-dozen or more times every See also:year. In spring velocities of 15 to 20 M. are common. The average velocity of winds for the entire state for 11 years preceding 1906 was 9.8 m. per See also:hour. The prevailing directions are those common to a large part of the western See also:Mississippi valley. The prevailing wind of the year is N.W.; but in the spring, the summer and much of the autumn its predominance is greatly reduced or overcome by S. and S.W. winds blowing from the Gulf of Mexico (but deflected by the rotation of the earth). Sometimes these winds blow in the winter—causing the curious phenomenon of melting snows on the coldest days of the year; in the summer in seasons of drought, especially in the western part of the state, this wind from the Gult sometimes reaches Nebraska r See also:Senate Executive Document 115 (vol. 10), 51 See also:Congress, 1 Session (1890), Climate of Nebraska.wrung dry of its moisture and so hot that in a day or two it shrivels and ruins the crops in its path. Such calamities are, however, uncommon, and the belief that Nebraska is often visited by tornadoes is erroneous. The normal mean-See also:annual temperature of the state is about 48.7 ° F, and the normals for the six approximately equal weather sections into which the state is divided by the See also:National Weather Service are respectively about 48°, 50.5 48.6 50.40, 47`9° and 46.6° F. This illustrates the extraordinary homogeneity of See also:climatic conditions. But there is a considerable difference in the averages for different months—the normal means of See also:January and See also:July through 30 years being 20.9° and 74.6° F., and the means of spring, summer, autumn and winter respectively about 48°, 72°, 53° and 23.50 F. Thus there is for any particular locality a wide range in See also:absolute temperature through the year, which averages for the state probably about 120° (1897-1905). Similarly, the range is large through the day, especially in the higher altitudes, where the nights are almost invariably cool and refreshing after even the hottest day. The number of continuous days with a mean temperature above 50° F., averages probably about 175 for the state. The actual growing-See also:season between frosts is, however, not so great. Temperature is of course See also:lower as one moves to the N. and N.W., the initial planting and harvesting of each See also:crop progressing See also:wave-like across the state in from one to two See also:weeks. Especially in the W. and N.W. there are in some winters occasional See also:anti-cyclonic or high-area storms known as blizzards—wind-storms preceded or accompanied by See also:snow-fall—which are very severe. They continue from one to three days, and are habitually followed by very low temperature. They are the cause of great loss to the See also:cattle owners. Such storms are, however, rare. In the S.E. portion of the state the winters are characteristically mild and open. Temperatures below zero are rare for any locality; and the same may be said of temperatures above 95° in summer. The normal mean-annual precipitation for the whole state is about 23.84 in. in See also:rain and melted snow, the actual yearly fall varying through 30 years between 13.30 and 31.65 in. Such rainfall might seem inadequate for an agricultural country: moreover, the eastern half of the state is more favoured than the western, which belongs, indeed, to the semi-arid Great Plains on which the Reclamation Service of the United States See also:Government is active. But aridity is a. See also:matter of the efficiency rather than of the mere quantity of rainfall, and in this regard Nebraska is very fortunately situated. Rain is most plenteous in the See also:critical months of the year. Seven-tenths of all precipitation falls in the growing season, giving the state, especially in the east, a greater amount at this time than many other states whose aggregate yearly rainfall is greater; so that Nebraska has an abundance for the safest cultivation. Moreover, nine-tenths of the rainfall is absorbed by the loess and sandy soils, only one-tenth being " run-off." It is a widely spread but unfounded belief in Nebraska that the rainfall has been increasing since the settlement of the state. That its storage has very greatly increased as cultivation has been extended (the prairie sod sheds water like a roof) is true; moreover, the spread of scientific principles of farming has increased the See also:advantage derived from the ground-water stored. Efficient rainfall has thus been greatly increased. Intermittent streanilets may well become perennial, and many are probably, as reported, becoming so. It is even conceivable that the settlement of the state may affect the seasonal See also:distribution of precipitation ; and that an advantageous alteration has in fact resulted is believed by many. The climate of Nebraska is exceptionally healthy. Its beneficial qualities must be attributed to the state's inland situation, its dry and pure See also:air, See also:constant winds and splendid drainage, to which its even slope and peculiar soil alike contribute. In some See also:people, however, nervousness is induced; and the winds, in particular, often have this effect. Autumn is perhaps the finest season; the fields are green into the winter, the air is pure and fresh, though dry and warm, and the long season is delightfully mild and beautiful. The arid portion, as compared with the eastern portion, of the state has alike the advantages and disadvantages of a climate more sharply characterized. Soil.—Geologically Nebraska is one of the most typical agricultural states of the Union; although in the present distribution of See also:industrial interests agriculture is by no means so predominant as in some southern states. The basis of the soils is sands (coarse, fine or silt) ; clay beds, though economically important, are in quantity relatively scant. In the eastern half silt, and in the western fine sand, form the bulk of the soil. There are five well-defined soil regions corresponding to the geologic-topographic divisions already indicated of drift loess, sand-hills, foot-hills and Bad Lands. The loess is a " salt, fine sandy See also:loam with a large percentage of sand or silt, and considerable calcareous matter, and usually a small amount of clay." It contains considerable humic matter, discolouring rapidly in the air (when exposed it is characteristically a bright See also:buff). It is of extraordinary fertility, and its great See also:depth (in Lincoln and See also:Dawson counties bluffs 200 ft. thick are found) is a See also:guarantee of almost inexhaustible re-See also:sources. The glacial drift is also a useful deposit, coarse ingredients in it being of small amount (rare boulders, and some gravel). The superficial soil over most of the state, and everywhere in the E. except rarely where the loess or drift is bare, is a rich, black vegetable See also:mould, 1 to 5 ft. thick on the uplands. The sand-hills are not inherently infertile; the soil never bakes, is always receptive of moisture, absorbing water like a sponge and holding it well. There is a great amount of fertile valley See also:land, adequately watered. Alfalfa and other cultivated grasses are encroaching on the whole region, and even the natural arid-land bunch grasses make excellent grazing. The " See also:butte " soil of the W. is a fine sandy soil, characteristically calcareous, derived from the Arikaree. With it also moisture is a great See also:factor in its productivity. The Bad Lands are by no means infertile (their name, it should be noted, was originally Mauvaises terres a traverser) ; but they are almost destitute of ground water, though containing many green " pockets " where surface water can be stored. They contain much clay and marls, non-absorbent and subject to such excessive See also:wash that vegetation cannot gain a foot-hold. In various parts of the west are small tracts of so-called " See also:gumbo " soil; they are due to the Pierre shale, are poorly drained and characteristically alkaline. Small alkaline areas also occur about lakes in the sand-hills. Where surface water is adequate the regions of the Pierre shale make splendid grazing lands; but in general they are not very useful for agriculture. Salt lands occur about Salt Creek notably around Lincoln. The stream bottoms of alluvium are modified by loess and humic deposits, and are of course very fertile; but hardly more so than the loess of the uplands. Agriculture.—Agriculture is not only the chief See also:industry but is also the See also:foundation of the See also:commerce and manufactures of the state. In 1900, of the total area 60.8 % was reported as included in farms, and 37.5% as actually improved. The rank of the state in the Union was 13th in value of See also:farm See also:property, and loth in value of farm products. The farm value was $747,950,057, an increase since 1890 of 46.1 %; while the total product-value was $162,696,386—an increase (partly factitious) of 143.4% in the same period. A greater part of the state was reported improved in 1890 than in 1900; the See also:change was due to the increase of stock-raising in the West. Similarly, the size of the average farm increased from 156.9 acres in 1880 to 190.1 in 1890, and 246.1 in 1900, although in eastern Nebraska there was a contrary tendency. Under the Kincaid law, which permits entire sections instead of See also:quarter sections (160 acres) to be homesteaded, this See also:movement has been fostered. In the years 1880–1900 the number of farms operated by See also:cash tenants See also:rose from 3.1 to 9.6 %; of See also:share tenants from 14.9 to 27.3% of the total. There is no appreciable tendency toward management for absentee owners. The See also:census of 1900 showed that not less than two-fifths of the total See also:net income came from live stock or from hay, See also:grain and forage on farms representing together 96% of the farm-value of the state—live stock being a trifle more important; dairying was similarly predominant for 1.6%, and See also:beet-See also:sugar for o.1 %. Other crops were unimportant sources of See also:revenue. Sugar-beet culture has developed since about 1889; it is localized largely in Lincoln county, near North Platte, though See also:beets are raised over a large part (especially the western part) of the state. In 1907 about Ii,000 acres were planted to sugar beets. The principal factory for the slicing of the beets is one built at Grand See also:Island, See also: Alfalfa can be grown with more or less success in every county of the state, not excepting areas where clay or sand form the sub-soil; but on the uplands of the central part of the state it is produced with the greatest success and in the greatest quantities. In 1908, according to the reports of the state Board of Agriculture, the crop of See also:Custer, Dawson and Buffalo counties was about 15% of the total crop (1,846,703 tons) of the state. The_ product was quintupled between 1899 and 1905, and between 1905 and 1908 the increase was about 40 %. It has been a great aid to western Nebraska as to other portions of the Great Plains. See also:Sorghum and kafir See also:corn are also excellent, and See also:broom-corn fairly good, as drought-resistant crops; the last, which is of lessening importance, is localized in See also:Cass, Saunders and See also:Polk counties. Cereals are by far the most important crops, representing in 1899 four-fifths of farmed land and crop values. Allowing for See also:variations in " off years," but speaking with as much exactness as is possible, Nebraska has established her position since about 1900 in the third, fourth and fifth rank respectively among the states of the Union, in the production of See also:Indian corn, See also:wheat and oats. Of these, Indian corn is by far the most important, representing normally about two-thirds of the total crop value; while wheat and oats each represented in 1906 about one-seventh of the total crop, and See also:rye, See also:barley, kafir-corn and See also:buckwheat make up the small See also:remainder. Indian corn is grown to some extent all over the state, except in the north-west, but the great bulk of the crop is produced east of the 99th See also:meridian. It is rarely cut, but is See also:left to mature and dry on the stalk in the See also: The statistics for 1906 and 1907 are taken from the Year-books of the See also:Department of Agriculture.
(12.4 in 1901) ;1 in 1906 the crop was 249,782,500 bushels, and the average yield per acre 34.1 bushels; in 1907 the crop was 179,328,000 bushels, and the average yield only 24 bushels per acre, According to the See also:report of the state Board of Agriculture, Custer, See also:Lancaster and Saunders counties produced the largest amounts (each more than 5,000,000 bushels) of Indian corn in 1908. Since 1900 Nebraska has become one of the foremost winter wheat states, second only to Kansas. Little spring wheat is now sown except in the northern counties, the state being on the northern edge of the winter wheat See also:belt. From 188o to 1890 the acreage devoted to wheat greatly diminished, because the spring variety was not relatively remunerative, but the acreage trebled in the next decade as autumn planting increased. The winter varieties have the advantages of larger yield, earlier ripening and lesser loss from insects, and afford See also:protection to the soil. The growth of durum (See also:macaroni) wheat is also increasing, but is hampered by the uncertainty of market, which is for the most part See also:foreign. The wheat crops of the decade 1895–1904 averaged 33,208,805 bushels a year; or ranged from a minimum of 9.8 to a maximum of 20.9, averaging 15.8 bushels to the acre; in 1906 the crop was 52,288,692 bushels, and the average yield 22 bushels per acre; and in 1907 the crop was 45911,000 bushels, and the average yield 18.1 bushels per acre. In 1908 Clay, See also: Apples are raised in the N.E. and S.E. sections of the state, and are much the most important See also:fruit grown. Peaches are next in importance, and horticultural enthusiasts believe that the possibilities of this crop are very great. Other fruits are raised with much success, and in 1904 at St See also: Department of Agriculture has long been conducting), a very great See also:deal can be accomplished—no one can say how much; but certainly the Western must long remain at a great disadvantage in comparison with the Eastern portion of the state as regards the growth of cereals. Irrigation.—Water for the western part of the state is a resource of primary importance, and irrigation therewith a fundamental problem. Very generally, especially in the butte regions, the country lends itself to the impounding of surface water. The lakes are of great importance for the stock ranges of the sand-hills. It is commonly believed that of underground water, and generally of artesian water, even the driest counties have an abundance. This is great exaggeration. Though both in central and western Nebraska there are strata that generally yield a considerable flow, the supply is usually limited and the expense is great. Up to 1906 dependence was mainly upon the streams, which it is estimated might furnish 3 or 4 million acre-feet—enough to irrigate between lo and 15% of the arid section—were all the water available, and the land irrigable. As compared with the streams of Colorado, where irrigation is much more advanced, the streams of Nebraska have a very constant flow; the relative supply-capacities of the See also:Arkansas and Poudre in Colorado, and the Loup and North Platte in Nebraska being about as i•000, 1.193, 3.347 and 4.632 respectively, according to the estimates of the state engineer (Nebraska Public Documents 1901-1902, vol. iii. p. 144.). An irrigation law was first passed by Nebraska in 1895. One of the greatest improvement projects under-taken by the national Reclamation Service is one on the North Platte, begun in 1903, which contemplates a See also:reservoir in Wyoming of sufficient capacity to See also:store all the surplus waters of that stream, about 600 m. of canals, and the reclamation of 107,000 acres in Nebraska; it was 74% completed in 1909. The See also:work of the national service began in Nebraska in 1902. Some farmers on the uplands between the valleys in western Nebraska irrigate by means of wind-See also:mills, and although the underground water is 175 ft. or more below the surface one wind-mill often supplies sufficient water to irrigate ten acres. The extent of irrigated acreage increased about thirteen-See also:fold from 1889 to 1899. In the latter year there were 1701 m. of ditch costing about $751.00 per m., irrigating 148,538 acres, which yielded crops averaging $6.61 per acre in value. The greatest part of the irrigated acreage is in the valley of the North Platte and the Upper Platte—probably nine-tenths In 1906—in Scotts Bluff, Lincoln, See also:Cheyenne, Dawson, See also:Keith and Deuel counties. There is, however, a large ditch in Platte county—the farthest E. of any large ditch in the country; and though agriculture is normally quite " successful " here without irrigation, nevertheless it is more profit-able with it. In fact, in 1899 about a quarter of the irrigated acreage See also:lay E. of the section classed as arid. Manufactures.—The rank of Nebraska among the states of the Union in 190o in See also:population, in value of agricultural products, and in value of manufactured products, was respectively twenty-seventh, tenth and nineteenth. In the decade 1890-1900 the state increased the value of its manufactures somewhat more than half. The per capita product-values for agriculture and manufactures in t 00 were $,53 and $135 (as compared with $63 and $88 in 1890. Only 2.3% of the population were engaged in manufacturing in 1900. Of the total factory product (in 1900, $130,302,453; in 1905, $154,918,220), 84.7 % were See also:urban (i.e. were for the three cities which in 1900 had a population of at least 8000) in 1900, and 81.7 in 1905; the percentage for these cities being 53.3 in 1900 and 43.5 in 1905 for South Omaha, 29.2 in 1900 and 34.9 in 1905 for Omaha, and 2.1 in 1900 and 3.4 in 1905 for Lincoln; Nebraska City, See also:Fremont, Grand Island, Beatrice, See also:Hastings, See also:Plattsmouth and See also:Kearney were the only other manufacturing centres of any importance. In 1907 there was a beet-sugar factory at Grand Island; at Nebraska City there are several distinctive See also:industries; at South Omaha very important meat-packing houses; and the other cities have interests rather extensive or varied than distinctive. As yet manufactures are insignificant except in lines immediately dependent upon agriculture, the combined output of the packing, flour and grist mill, dairy and See also:malt-liquor establishments constituting in 1900 nine-tenths of the total state output. Meat-packing is by far the most important single interest, South Omaha being the third greatest packing centre of the country, employing in 1900 and in 1905 a quarter of all wage-earners and yielding nearly one-half the total product-value of the state ($71,018,339 in 1900; $69,243,468 in 1905). The malt-liquor industry is favoured by the great production of barley in Iowa; the value of malt liquors manufactured in 1900 was $1,433,501, and in 1905 $1,663,788. Nebraska wheat, like that of Kansas, combines for milling the splendid qualities of winter wheat with those characteristic of grain grown on the edge of the semi-arid West; flour and grist-mill products were valued at $7,794,130 in 1900 and at $12,190,303 in 1905. The first creamery in Nebraska was established in 1881. A creamery at Lincoln is said to be the largest in the United States. Many co-operative dairies have persisted since the early days of farmers' granges. The value of cheese, butter and other dairy products was $2,253,893 in 1900 and $3,326,110 in 1905. Of manufactures not dependent upon agriculture perhaps the most promising is that of See also:brick and See also:tile products (valued at $839,815 in 1900 and at $1,131,913 in 1905), and the largest in 1905 was the manufacture and repair of steam railway cars (valued at $2,624,461 in 1900 and at $4,394,685 in 1905). Communications.—T here is no longer any river See also:navigation. There were 6,101.5 m. of railway in the state at the end of 1907; the great period of railway building was 1870—1890, the mileage in 187o being 705, in 1880, 1953, and in 1890, 5407. The eastern half of the state is much better covered by See also:railways than the western. Six great east and west See also:trunk-lines connecting the Rocky Mountain region and See also:Chicago enter the state at Omaha (q.v.), and two others, giving rather an outlet southward, enter the same city and serve the eastern part of the state. In 1908 all but 5 counties out of 90 had railway outlets. A marked tendency toward north and south railway lines is of great promise to the state, as outlets towards the Gulf of Mexico are important, especially for local See also:freight. Omaha and Lincoln are Federal ports of entry for customs. Population.—In 'goo the population of the state was 1,066,300 and in 1910, 1,192,214. In 1900 16.6% were foreign-See also:born,and 43'3% natives of other states than Nebraska. The latter came mainly from the north-central states. Of the foreigners, Germans, Scandinavians and See also:British (including See also:English Canadians) made up four-fifths of the total. The most numerous individual races were Germans (65,5o6), Swedes (24,693), Bohemians (16,138), Danes (12,531), Irish (11,127), English (9757), Russians (8083) and English Canadians (8010). In 1900 three cities had a population above 25,000—Omaha, 102,555; Lincoln, 40,169; South Omaha, 26,001—and seven others had a population between 500o and 8000—Beatrice, Grand Island, Nebraska City, Fremont, Hastings, Kearney and See also:York. The population of Nebraska was 28,841 in 1860, 122,993 in 1870, 452,402 in 188o and 1,062,656 in 1890. The increases of population by decades following 186o were 326.5, 267.8, 134.1, 0.3, and 11.8%. From 1880-1890 the absolute increase was exceeded in only four states, and was greater than in any state W. of the Mississippi except the enormous state of Texas; from 1890-1900 it was less than in any state of the Union except See also:Nevada (whose population decreased). In this decade 35 counties out of 90 in the state showed a decrease: the shrinkage was mainly in the first half of the decade, and was due to the cumulative effects of national hard times, a reaction from an extraordinarily inflated land " See also:boom " of the late 'eighties, and a remarkable See also:succession of drought years, and consequent crop failure in the West. Between 1885 and 1895 Kansas and Colorado went through much the same experience, due to a too rapid settlement of their arid areas before the conditions of successful agriculture were properly understood. Many homes, and even small settlements in Nebraska—though not to the same extent as in Colorado and Kansas—were abandoned. Urban population (the population in places having 4000 or more inhabitants) also See also:fell, constituting 25.8% in 1890, and in 1900 only 2o.8% of the total population of the state. In the case of some cities that showed a great decrease (e.g. Lincoln 27.2%, and Omaha 27%) notoriously " padded " censuses in 1890 were in part responsible for the bad showing ten years later. In 1906 there were in the state 345,803 communicants of various religious denominations; of these 100,763 were See also:Roman Catholics, 64,352 Methodists, 59,485 See also:Lutherans, 23,862 Presbyterians, 19,121 Disciples of See also:Christ, 17,939 See also:Baptists and 15,247 Congregationalists. In 1890 there were in the state 2893 untaxed and 3538 taxed See also:Indians, the latter being citizens; in 'goo there were 3,322 altogether, all of them taxed; and in 1908 there were 3720, of whom 1270 were Omaha, 1116 Santee Sioux, 1060 See also:Winnebago and 274 See also:Ponca. Among the Indians who occupied Nebraska immediately before the advent of the whites and thereafter, the only families of much importance in the state's See also:history were the Caddoan and the Siouan. The Caddoan See also:family was represented by the See also:Middle or See also:Pawnee Confederacy; the Siouan family by its Dakota, Thegiha, Chiwere and Winnebago branches. Included in the Dakota branch were the Santee and Teton tribes, the latter comprising the Brule, Blackfeet and Oglala Indians; in the Thegiha branch were the Omaha and Ponca tribes; and in the Chiwere branch, the Iowa, Oto and the Missouri tribes. Other tribes were of less importance; and tribes of other families—with the exception of the Cheyennes and Arapahoes of the Algonquian family, whose permanent See also:hunting grounds em-braced the foot-hill country of the West—were of negligible importance, being only roamers within the borders of the state. The Pawnees contested the plains against the Sioux with undying enmity. Before the See also:Civil See also:War there were no very general troubles between Indians and whites, despite constant frontier difficulties, except the bloodless " Pawnee War " of 1859-60; but in 1863-64 the Indians rose rather generally along the frontier, and many settlers were killed. In 1890--91 there was another war—with the Sioux—marked by the See also:battle of Wounded See also:Knee, just across the line in South Dakota. In dealings with the Indians there have been in Nebraska the usual discreditable features of See also:administration. The maltreatment of the Poncas, a fine and peaceable tribe, was peculiarly and inexcusably harsh. Segregation on reservations was generally accomplished in 187o-1880. There were in 1900 small reservations for See also:Omahas and Winnebagoes in Thurston county and for the Sioux in Sheridan county, and an agency for the Santees and Poncas near the mouth of the Niobrara ; and at See also:Genoa, where the Pawnee agency and See also:reservation had been located, there was in 1908 an Indian school maintained by the United States government with 350 boarding pupils. In 1908, however, almost all the tribal lands had been distributed in severalty: the Niobrara Reservation (under the Santee government boarding school for the Santee Sioux and the Ponca) had only 1130.7 acres reserved for agency, school and See also:mission purposes; the Ponca Reservation (under the same school) had only 16o acres reserved for agency and school buildings; the Omaha Reservation (under the Omaha School) had 12,421 acres unallotted; the Sioux Reservation (under the Pine Ridge Agency) for Oglala Sioux had 64o acres; and the Winnebago Reservation (under the Winnebago School) had 171o•8 acres unallotted and 48o reserved for agency, &c. Government.—The present constitution, adopted in 1875, replaced one adopted in 1866. In 1871 a See also:convention framed a constitution that was rejected by the people. It provided for compulsory See also:education, and for the See also:taxation of See also: The general election of state and local See also:officers is held annually on the first Tuesday succeeding the first See also:Monday in See also:November, but municipal and school See also:district elections may be held at other times. The See also:secret ballot was adopted in 1891; the use of the voting See also:machines was authorized in 189g; and the nomination of candidates by primaries was made mandatory in 1907. By a See also:provision unique in 1875, the constitution authorized the legislature to provide that the electors might See also:express their preferences for United States senators; but this was not treated as mandatory oil the legislature, and though votes were at times taken (1886, 1894), they were not officially canvassed, nor were any senatorial 1 The amendment increased the pay of members from three dollars to five dollars a day " during their sitting," and provided that sessions should last at least sixty days, and that members should not receive pay for more than sixty days at any one sitting "; the See also:original constitution had provided that they should " not receive pay for more than See also:forty days at any one session " and had prescribed no minimum length for a session.elections materially affected by them. In 1907, under a See also:direct primary law, the nomination of candidates for United States senator was transferred from the party convention directly to the people; and in 1909 the " See also:Oregon See also:plan " was adopted, whereby each See also:candidate for the legislature must go on See also:record as promising, or not, always to vote for the people's choice for United States senator; on the ballot which bears the name of each candidate for the legislature there appears a statement that he " promises," or that he " will not promise," to vote for the " people's choice." In the same year the state enacted a law providing for the non-See also:partisan nomination of all See also:judges, of all superintendents of public instruction and of regents of the state university; nominations are by See also:petition, and there is a See also:separate " official non-partisan ballot " bearing the names and addresses of the nominees and the titles of the office for which they are nominated. The legislature of 1909 also provided for open election primaries and for the framing of state party platforms by convention before the time of the primary. The See also:governor is the chief executive officer of the state, but quite See also:independent of him are a See also:lieutenant-governor, a secretary of state, an auditor of public accounts, a treasurer, a See also:superintendent of public instruction, an See also:attorney-general and a See also:commissioner of public lands and buildings, who, as well as the governor, are elected for a See also:term of two years. The governor's appointing power is almost entirely limited to officers of state institutions, and for every See also:appointment he makes the approval of the Senate is required; but he need not ask the consent of that See also:body to remove for incompetency, neglect of See also:duty or malfeasance in office " any officer whom he may appoint." His constitutional power to See also:pardon is regulated by an See also:act of the legislature (1907) which requires that he shall in no instance grant a pardon until the attorney general shall have investigated the case and conducted a public See also:hearing. His See also:veto power extends to items in See also:appropriation bills, but any See also:bill or See also:item may be passed over his veto by three-fifths of the members elected to each house of the legislature. The most important board of which he is chairman is the state board of equalization. As the present constitution was adopted in the year after a See also:grasshopper See also:plague, which had caused great financial loss, it limited the See also:salary of the governor, auditor of public accounts and treasurer, as well as that of the judges of the supreme and district courts, to $2500 each and that of other important officers (including the secretary of state, the attorney-general and the superintendent of public instruction) to $2000. This See also:economy has somewhat hampered the growing state. Salaries have been too low to attract the ablest men; and as the constitution forbade the creation of new offices, and no amendment of this clause could be secured; resort was had to the creation of additional " secretaries " and of boards constituted of existing state officials or their secretaries. The legislature consists of a Senate of 33 members and a House of Representatives of loo members, and meets in See also:regular session on the first Tuesday in January of every See also:odd-numbered year at Lincoln, the See also:capital. Both senators and representatives are apportioned according to population, and are elected by districts in November of each even-numbered year for a term of two years. They are paid at the See also:rate of five dollars a day during 6o days of a regular session and not exceeding too days during their entire term. No bill or joint See also:resolution may be introduced at a regular session after its fortieth day except at the See also:request of the governor. See also:Special legislation of various kinds is expressly prohibited, and in the bill of rights it is declared that " all See also:powers not herein delegated remain with the people." This clause would seem to leave the state government with no powers not expressly granted, and to make the See also:rule for interpreting the Nebraska constitution similar to that for interpreting the Federal constitution; but in their practice the Nebraska courts have been little influenced by it, and it is chiefly of See also:historical interest? The administration of See also:justice, is vested in a supreme court, 15 district courts, county courts and courts of justices of the See also:peace and See also:police magistrates. The supreme court consists of three judges elected for a term of six years, one retiring every two years; each district court consists of one to seven judges elected for a term of four years, and each county court consists of one See also:judge elected for a term of two years. The county courts have exclusive original jurisdiction in the See also:probate of See also:wills and the administration of estates, concurrent jurisdiction with the district courts in civil suits for sums not exceeding $t000, and important jurisdiction in criminal cases. Perhaps the most unique provision of the Nebraska constitution is that _at 2 An almost identical clause was inserted in the See also:Ohio constitution of 1802, and one in exactly the same See also:language'appears in the present (1851) constitution of that state; it appears also in the Kansas constitutions of 1855, 1858 and 1859 (present), in the Nebraska constitution of 1866, in the North Carolina and South Carolina constitutions of 1868, and was retained in the present constitution of North Carolina as amended in 1876. relating to appeals; it appears in the bill of rights and reads as been no bonded See also:debt whatever. The constitution also prohibited follows: " The right to be heard in all civil cases in the court of last resort, by See also:appeal, See also:error or otherwise, shall not be denied." Regard-less of this provision, however, the civil See also:code denies the right of an appeal from an inferior court in cases that have been tried by a See also:jury, and in which the amount claimed does not exceed $2o, and the courts have decided that this denial is not in conflict with the constitution; but in at least one instance an appeal was allowed because of the constitutional guaranty, and that guaranty has doubtless had much See also:influence on judicial legislation. County government exists under both the district-commissioner system and the township supervisor system, the latter being rare. Cities are governed in classes according to population. Except in Omaha there is no great field for social economic legislation; See also:Fat the record of the state has been normally good in this respect. Railways have given rise to the most notable See also:laws. Regulation has been a burning political question since 1876, the constitution making it the duty of the legislature to " correct abuses and prevent unjust discriminations and extortions in all charges of express, See also:telegraph and railroad companies " within the state. The influence of the railways has been very great, and a constant See also:drag on just taxation and other legislative reforms. In 1885, 1887 and 1897 the legislature created a Board of Transportation consisting of existing state executive officers or their secretaries, but this could do little except gather statistics. investigate alleged abuses, and advise the legislature, upon which the regulation of rates remained mandatory by the constitution. The Board was eventually declared unconstitutional by the state supreme court. In 1893 a maximum freight-rate Act was passed, but the rates thus fixed were declared by the United States Supreme Court to conflict with the Fourteenth Amendment, being " unreasonable." The right of the state to See also:fix " reasonable " rates remained unquestioned, but See also:American experience has not found such laws efficacious. In 1906 all political parties conducted See also:campaigns on promises of See also:radical legislation on railway rates, passenger and freight; and a constitutional amendment creating a railway commission was adopted in the manner above described. A result of this See also:campaign was a remarkable series of enactments in 1907 for the regulation of railways. The legislature framed a stringent anti-pass law, reduced passenger fates and express and freight charges, provided for equitable local taxation of railway terminals, regulated railway labour in the interest of safe travel, fixed upon railways the responsibility for the See also:death or injury of their employes, and gave to the newly-created railway commission See also:complete jurisdiction over all steam-railways in the state, over the See also:street railways of the cities, and over express companies, telegraph companies, See also:telephone companies and all other common See also:carriers. In 1909 provision was made for an annual See also:corporation See also:licence tax and for the physical valuation of railways. In the same year, following the example of See also:Oklahoma, Nebraska passed a law guaranteeing See also:bank deposits from a fund created by an See also:assessment on the basis of total deposits. Useful See also:child-labour and pure-See also:food laws were enacted in 1907. See also:Prohibition of the liquor See also:traffic had been established in the Territory in 1855, but liquor licences were introduced in 1858; in 1909 the licence See also:fee was fixed at $1000. A law enacted in 1907 made it illegal for breweries to own See also:retail liquor houses, and one of 1909 required all saloons to close from 8 P.m. to 7 A.M. A See also:homestead law exempts from See also:judgment liens and forced See also:sale a homestead not exceeding $2000 in value and consisting either of a farm not exceeding 16o acres or of property not exceeding two lots in a city or See also:village; the exemption, however, does not extend to See also:mechanics', labourers' or vendors' liens upon said homestead or to a See also:mortgage upon it that has been signed by both See also:husband and wife or by an unmarried claimant. A woman's rights to her property are not affected by See also:marriage, except that it becomes liable for payment of debts contracted for necessaries to the family when a judgment against the husband for the payment of the same cannot be satisfied. The rights of See also:dower and See also:courtesy have been abolished, and husband and wife have instead equal rights to inherit property from the other; but the portion of the property of a deceased See also:spouse that descends to the survivor varies from one-fourth to all according to whose and how many are the children concerned. The grounds for a See also:divorce are See also:adultery, incompetency at the time of marriage, See also:sentence to imprisonment for a term of three years or more, See also:abandonment without just cause for two years, habitual See also:drunkenness, extreme See also:cruelty, and refusal or neglect of the husband to provide a suitable See also:maintenance for his wife. The period of See also:residence in the state required to secure a divorce was formerly six months, but in 1909 it was made two years. See also:Finance.—The constitution limited the debt that the state might See also:contract to meet casual deficits to $too,000, unless in time of war, and required taxes to be laid to maintain interest on such debt (bonds). These provisions were construed to mean that not more than $1oo,000 of debt could be contracted in addition to appropriations made by the legislature. There was from the beginning a constant issue of state " warrants " on the general fund, dependent on taxation. These warrants when issued and presented for payment were paid by the state treasurer, were sold to the permanent school fund, and See also:drew 4% interest until cancelled from the general fund. The floating debt of warrants was practically cancelled in 1909, after a one-mill See also:levy for four years for this purpose. Since 'goo there has
the See also:Carnegie education See also:pensions.
2 He was born in Hinsdale, New See also:Hampshire, on the loth of January 1844; served in the Union See also:army during the Civil War; graduated at See also: There are four state normal schools—one at See also:Peru (opened 1867), one at Kearney (1905), one at See also:Wayne (originally private; See also:purchased by the state in 1909) and one, provided for by the legislature of 1909, situated in the north-western part of the state. The university of Nebraska at Lincoln was established in 1869 by an act of the state legislature, and was opened in 1871. The university is governed by a board of six regents, elected by the electors of the state at large, each for six years, two going out of office each year. The revenue of the university is from the income of Congressional land grants under the See also:Morrill Acts and from a one mill per one See also:dollar tax on the current assessment See also:roll of the state?. Connected with it and governed by the same regents are the State See also:College of Agriculture (including the School of Agriculture) and the Agricultural Experiment Station, on the university farm of 320 acres, 22 M. E. of the university, which receive support from the United States government, and an experimental sub-station at North Platte. The botanical and See also:geological surveys of the state are carried on by the university; the former has been largely under the supervision of See also: In 1908–1909 the university had an enrolment of 3611 students (2077 men and 1534 women). The granting of university degrees is conditioned by a " See also:credit-hour " system; 125 credit See also:hours are required for a See also:bachelor's degree. See also:Elisha See also:Benjamin Andrews2 (b. 1844) became See also:chancellor of the university in 1900; in 1909 he was succeeded by See also:Samuel Avery (b. 1865). Most of the educational institutions of the state are coeducational. Among the private educational institutions of the state are: Nebraska Wesleyan University (1888, Methodist Episcopal), at University Place, a suburb of Lincoln; Union College (1891, Adventist), at College View, suburb of Lincoln; See also:Creighton University (1879, Roman See also:Catholic), at Omaha; York College (189o, United Baptist), at York; Cotner University (1889; legally " The Nebraska See also:Christian University "), at See also:Bethany, a suburb of Lincoln; Grand Island College (1892, Baptist), at Grand Island; See also:Doane College (1872, Congregational), at See also:Crete; Hastings College (1882, Presbyterian), at Hastings; and Bellevue College (1883, Presbyterian), at Bellevue. State penal and charitable institutions include soldiers' and sailors' homes at Grand Island and See also:Milford, an See also:Institute for the See also:Blind at Nebraska City (1875), an Institute for the See also:Deaf and Dumb at Omaha (1867), an Institute for Feeble Minded Youth at Beatrice (1885), an Industrial School for Juvenile Delinquents (boys) at Kearney (1879), a Girls' Industrial School at See also:Geneva-(1881), an Industrial See also:Home at Milford (1887) for unfortunate and homeless girls guilty of a first offence, asylums or hospitals for the insane at Lincoln (1869), See also:Norfolk (1886) and Hastings (1887), an Orthopedic See also:Hospital (1905) for crippled, ruptured and deformed children and a state See also:penitentiary (1867), both at Lincoln. A Home for the Friendless, at Lincoln, incorporated in 1876, was taken over by the state in 1897; See also:admission was restricted to children, and in 1909 its name was changed to the State Public School.
History.—Local See also:pride has prompted some Nebraskans to the Missouri, following the river valleys and the freighting
begin the history of the white See also:race in their state with the See also: Long, in particular, followed the Platte and South Platte across the state in 1819, and his despairing See also:account of the semi-arid buffalo plains—whence arose the myth of the Great American See also:Desert—finely contrasts with the later history and latter-day optimism of dry-farming and irrigation. Meanwhile, See also:fur traders who drew their goods from the country of the Platte had long been active on the Missouri. Trading posts were probably established in Nebraska in 1795, 1802, 1807 and 1812; the last two near the present towns of Ft. See also:Calhoun (about 20 M. N. by W. from Omaha) and Bellevue. See also:Manuel de Lisa, a noted Cuban trader and plainsman, was probably the first white settler (1807). In 1823 Bellevue became an Indian agency, and in 1849 the first United States See also:post-office in Nebraska. Ft. See also:Atkinson was maintained near the present town of Ft. Calhoun in 1819-1827; in 1825 the government acquired the first Indian lands, and in the 'thirties of the 19th See also:century missionaries began to See also:settle among the tribes; the first Ft..Kearney was maintained where Nebraska City now stands in 1847-1848, and in the latter year was re-established on the Platte, some 175 M. inland from the Missouri. Meanwhile there had begun the passage of the See also:Mormons across the state (1845-1857), marked by important temporary settlements near Omaha (q.v.) and elsewhere, the travel to Oregon, and to See also:California, for which depots of supplies were established at Bellevue, Plattsmouth, Nebraska City and old Ft. Kearney, or Dobey Town.' Thus the country was well and favourably known before Congress organized it as a Territory in 1854. Movements in Congress for the creation of a new Territory on the Platte began in 1844, several attempts at organization failing in the succeeding decade. In 1852-1853 Iowans and Missourians along the border of what are now Kansas and Nebraska held elections W. of the Missouri and sent delegates to Congress. A provisional Territorial government formed by See also:Wyandot Indians and licensed white residents on Indian lands in Kansas (q.v.) forced Congress to take action. With what followed, the rivalry of the Platte and Kansas river valleys for the Pacific railway route, and the opposing interests of See also:pro-See also:slavery Missouri and anti-slavery Iowa, and possibly the See also:personal ambitions of Stephen A. See also:Douglas and See also: See also:Lane spent considerable time in the south-eastern counties, and across these an " underground railroad " ran, by which slaves were conducted from Kansas to Iowa and freedom. As organized in 1854 Nebraska extended from 40° N. See also:lat. to British America, and from the Missouri and White Earth rivers to the " See also:summit " of the Rockies; but in 1861 and 1863 it was reduced, by the creation of other Territories, to its present boundaries. By 186o settlement had spread 15o m. W. from ' In 18 months of 1849-185o it was officially reported that 8000 wagons, with 80,000 See also:draught-animals and 30,000 people, passed Ft. Kearney on the way to Oregon, California or See also:Utah.routes. Many who had migrated to See also:Pike's See also:Peak in 1859, stopped in Nebraska on their return eastward; and settlement was stipulated by the national Homestead Act of 1862 (one of the first See also:patents granted thereunder, on the 1st of January 1863, was for a claim near Beatrice, Nebraska), and by the building and land-sales of the Union Pacific and See also:Burlington railways following 1863. Thus in 1861 there were probably 30,000 inhabitants in the Territory, and 3300 men were sent into the field for the Union army in the Civil War. Until well into the 'sixties freighting across the plains was a great business. 'The "Oregon Trail," the "Old California Trail," and the "31d Salt See also:Lake Trail "—all nearly identical in Nebraska— ran along the Platte across the entire state with various terminal branches near the eastern border, to the Missouri river towns; while branches from St See also:Joseph, Missouri and Leavenworth, Kansas, ran up the valleys of the Big Blue and Little Blue rivers and joined the Nebraska roads near Ft. Kearney. The Oregon and California See also:migration was of large magnitude by 1846. St Joseph, Leavenworth and Nebraska City (q.v.) were the great freighting terminals of the West. Over these roads was run in 1860-1861 the famous " See also:pony express " whose service ended with the completion of the overland telegraph in the latter year; it covered the distance from St Joseph, Missouri, to See also:Sacramento, California, in eight days, and even less. Freighting ended when the Union Pacific was extended across Nebraska between 1863 and 1867.
Political interest in the Territorial period centred mainly in a fight for the capital, waged between the towns of the Missouri river front, Bellevue, Brownville, Nebraska City, Plattsmouth, Omaha and See also:Florence, those of the North Platte interior, and of the South Platte. This struggle engendered extraordinary bitterness, since success might mean continued life, and defeat prompt See also:demise, to competing towns. As population increased the question of the capital was complicated by the question of statehood. Both were involved in the agitation in 1858-1859 for the See also:annexation of the South Platte to Kansas (q.v.), which gained considerable strength; annexation promising to the former much earlier statehood than continued union with the backward region of the North Platte, and to northern Kansas also promising earlier statehood, and an advantage in the sectional struggle with southern Kansas. As the expenses of Territorial government were partly See also:borne by the United States, statehood was voted against in 1860, and again (virtually) in 1864 after Congress had passed an Enabling Act; but in 1866 a constitution framed by the legislature was declared carried by the people by a majority of loo votes in 7776, and Nebraska was admitted as a state (in spite of President See also: Several of the old Missouri river contestants had as representatives of their previous claims See also:young towns located at strategic points in the interior. The committee avoided these and selected the site of Lincoln. Just ten years earlier the legislature had considered removal to another site on the Salt, to be called " Douglas " in See also:honour of Stephen A. Douglas, then still in the heyday of his popularity. The decade 1870-188o was marked by the work of the two constitutional conventions described above. The first legislature under the constitution of 1875 met in 1877. The following decade was marked by a tremendous growth in population, by a feverish activity in railway construction (the mileage in the state being increased from 1953 to 5407 M. in the ten years), and by an extraordinary rise in land values, urban and rural. Farm-land prices were raised to a basis of maximum productiveness when the best interests, especially of the western section, demanded steady growth based on average crop results under average conditions. The early 'nineties were marked by an economic collapse of false values, and succeeding years by a painful recovery of stable conditions. The Democratic and Republican parties were first effectively organized in opposition, as parts of national bodies, in the territorial campaigns of 1858. Till then there were practically only Democratic factions; after 1861 the Republicans held the state securely until 189o. After about 1890 the national tendencies towards a re-See also:alignment of political parties on social-economic issues were sharply displayed in Nebraska. This was in the See also:main only an indication of the general Farmers' Movement (q.v.),' but this found in Nebraska special stimulus in large losses (almost $9o0,000) suffered by the state from the See also:negligence and defalcation of certain Republican office-holders. Following 1890 the " See also:Fusion " movement—the fusion, that is, of Populists, Democrats and (after 1896) of See also:Silver Republicans—was of great importance. The only year in which these elements carried the state against the Republicans for presidential electors was in 1896, when See also: 1855 See also:Mark W. Izard . . . . Feb. 1855-Oct. 1857 Thomas B.Cuming (secretary, acting governor) Oct. 1857-See also:Jan. 1858 William A. See also:Richardson . . . Jan. 1858-Dec. 1858
J. Sterling Morton (secretary, acting governor) Dec. 1858-May 1859
Samuel W. Black . May 1859-May 1861
Alvin Saunders . May 1861-See also:Mar. 1867 Algernon S. Paddock (secretary, several times
acting governor, 1861-1867).
State.
See also:David See also: H. James (lieut.-governor, succeeding) 1871-1873 See also:Robert W. Furnas . 1873-1875 See also:Silas Garber . 1875-1879 See also:Albinus Nance 1879-1883 James W. See also:Dawes 1883-1887 John M. See also:Thayer 1887-1891 James E. See also:Boyd 2 . John M. Thayer (acting governor) 1891-1892 James E. Boyd 1892-1893 Lorenzo Crounse . 1893-1895 Silas A. Holcombe . 1895-1899 William A. See also:Poynter 1899-1901 Charles H. See also:Dietrich (elected U.S. Senator) 1901 Republican See also:Ezra P. See also:Savage (lieut.-governor, succeeding) 1901-1903 John H. Mickey . 1903-1907 See also:George L. See also:Sheldon 1907-1909 A. C. Shallenberger 1909-1911 Democrat See also:Chester H. See also:Aldrich 1911- Republican ' Nebraska was one of the states in which the collapse of the co-operative enterprises of the See also:Grange was particularly severe. The Farmers' See also:Alliance was organized for the state in 1887, became a secret organization in 1889, and, as in other states, was a power by 189o. The membership of Grange, Alliance and Knights of Labour went over generally speaking into the People's party. 2 Removed by decision of state supreme court on grounds of non-citizenship, 5th of May 1891; reinstated by decision of U.S. Supreme Court, 1st of See also:February 1892. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML. Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide. |
|
|
[back] NEBO, or NABU (" the proclaimer ") |
[next] NEBRASKA CITY |