Historians reflect on defining moments in Nebraska history

Feb. 23, 2017, 6:45 a.m. ·

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Peru State professor Sara Crook teaching her History of Nebraska class (Photo by Mike Tobias, NET News)

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Nebraska celebrates its 150th birthday on March 1. NET News talked with historians about the defining events from our state’s history and what we can learn from the past.


On a Peru State College campus that’s as old as Nebraska, Sara Crook peppered students in her History of Nebraska class about the state’s past. On this day the topic is post-Civil War immigrant settlement. She asked one student “what immigrant groups tended to prefer rural areas?” “Swedes, Danes, Czechs, Poles and Germans,” the young man answered.

Nebraska 150 Celebration

The birthday is March 1, but the official Nebraska 150 Celebration started last year and will continue throughout 2017.

“When we started planning for the sesquicentennial we really kept three goals in mind with the programming that we wanted to create, and that was to bridge communities, connect Nebraskans and enhanced state pride,” said Regan Anson, executive director of Nebraska 150.

Anson hopes every Nebraskan will try at least one of the wide range of programs and activities that are part of Nebraska 150. “I hope that they enjoy themselves and just kind of reflect on what a beautiful place this is, what great people they are and how proud we all are to be from Nebraska.”

“We just want to make sure that Nebraskans have a good understanding of how important our history is to us, not only to understand about who we were but as I like to say in all my history classes it shapes who we are,” said Sara Crook, a professor of political science and history at Peru State College and chair of the Nebraska Sesquicentennial Commission. “And who we are is going to shape where we go in the future.”

Information about Nebraska 150 can be found at: ne150.org


Ron Naugle is co-author of "History of Nebraska" (Photo by Mike Tobias, NET News)


University of Nebraska at Kearney professor Jeff Wells (UNK photo)


Nebraska 150 executive director Regan Anson (Photo by Mike Tobias, NET News)


ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

NebraskaStudies.org - Nebraska history web resource

Nebraska State Historical Society

Statehood in 1867, the Homestead Act and development of the transcontinental railroad helped attract these new populations to Nebraska. It’s an important part of our history that helped define who we are today. But interviews with historians gave us a wide range of defining moments. Some recent, some prior to statehood. People, places, events.

Crook, a professor of political science and history at Peru State, mentioned the story of Ponca Indian Chief Standing Bear, whose court case in Omaha led to a landmark ruling in favor of the rights of Native Americans. “The whole Standing Bear story, I think, is an amazing story of resilience in the Ponca Indians not wanting to give up their homeland, and the first time that an Indian had judicial rights, had his literally day in court. So I think that's a pivotal moment,” Crook said.

Jeff Wells teaches Nebraska history at the University of Nebraska at Kearney. For one defining event he pointed to the drought of the 1930s and how this helped lead George Norris to create Nebraska’s current system of state government.

“One of the ways that U.S. senator George Norris proposed for Nebraskans to save money was through the creation of the Unicameral, the thought being that fewer legislators would mean fewer expenses in Lincoln, and also moving to the nonpartisan system was part of Norris’ ideas of progressive reform,” said Wells, an assistant professor in the UNK History Department.

Ron Naugle is co-author of the most widely used textbook on Nebraska history. He talks about a bloody conflict that took place in 1720 when inexperienced Spanish general Pedro de Villasur led troops north to check on French influence in Spanish-claimed central plains, including Nebraska. Near what is now Columbus, Villasur and most of his group were attacked and killed by Indian warriors and possibly French traders.

“It convinced the Spanish that there were surely no future in this part of the plains and they decided to give it back to the French and that's what happened,” said Naugle, who is also a retired Nebraska Wesleyan University history professor. “That was a defining moment had led to the downfall of both the Spanish and the French, and in the end Napoleon decided that there was no future here for a new French empire in the western hemisphere and decided to give it to the United States. So that really starts the whole thing. That’s really the beginning of Nebraska history.”

“That was an event that was kind of inspired by this global conflict between the French and the Spanish, but it took place here in Nebraska, and this is just kind of where Nebraska’s link to global events starts,” Wells added.

There’s also influence of the natural pathway through the state that generally follows the Platte River. “It was flat. It was a solid road bed and they didn't run into trouble until they got past Nebraska,” Naugle said.

The Oregon and Mormon trails, the Transcontinental Railroad, Lincoln Highway and eventually Interstate 80 used this route.

“This process of migration from the rural areas to the towns, larger towns and cities in Nebraska starts in the late 19th century but certainly kind of the opening of I-80 maybe identified some more of those winners and losers in that competition as people are moving from the small towns to a little bit bigger cities,” Wells said. Throughout the state along this corridor you will see businesses pop up to support travelers and commerce on I-80, but you will also see crime increase related to the Interstate.”

Fortune-seeking land investors came west, especially to the Omaha area; but Naugle said they lost everything when the economy crashed in 1857. “But you know the interesting thing of that was another defining moment,” Naugle said. “A lot of people couldn't afford to go home and so they stayed and they started farming. It was the beginning of agriculture in Nebraska.”

This is just a sampling of defining events mentioned by these historians. We could also list the Kansas-Nebraska Act, Daniel Freeman as first homesteader, forced relocation of Indian tribes, the creation of public power, the Populist Party movement that started in the 1890s and many more.

What can we learn from all of this history as we look beyond the state’s birthday?

"One of the things that I continually thought about as we were working on the history is the fact that the secret of success has always been adaptability,” Naugle said. “People had to learn that they had to adapt to the conditions that they were in, and they had to be creative and willing to try new things. They could have learned that from the Native Americans, because that was part of the secret of the success of the tribes as well.”

“Innovative, adaptive, a really strong work ethic, a high sense of integrity and I think those are characteristics that come from our ancestors and those who settled here in Nebraska before us and still play out as we go into the future,” said Crook, who also chairs the Nebraska Sesquicentennial Commission.

“An awareness of the past may make today's contemporary issues seem less unique, maybe less of a crisis,” Wells said. “Studying these events in Nebraska’s history may remind or provide a reminder of how the state's history is intertwined with these national and international events. I think looking at all of these big events may help us be a little bit or moderate or reflective in our present decision making.”