French fur traders first visited
Nebraska in the late 1600s. Part of the Louisiana
Purchase in 1803, eastern Nebraska was explored by
Lewis and Clark in 1804–1806. A few years later,
Robert Stuart pioneered the Oregon Trail across
Nebraska in 1812–1813, and the first permanent white
settlement was established at Bellevue in 1823.
Western Nebraska was acquired by treaty following
the Mexican War in 1848. The Union Pacific began its
transcontinental railroad at Omaha in 1865. In 1937,
Nebraska became the only state in the Union to have
a unicameral (one-house) legislature. Members are
elected to it without party designation.
Nebraska is a leading grain-producer with bumper
crops of sorghum, corn, and wheat. More varieties of
grass, valuable for forage, grow in this state than
in any other in the nation. The state's sizable
cattle and hog industries make Dakota City and
Lexington among the nation's largest meat-packing
centers.
Manufacturing has become diversified: Firms making
electronic components, auto accessories,
pharmaceuticals, and mobile homes have joined such
older industries as clothing, farm machinery,
chemicals, and transportation equipment. Oil was
discovered in 1939 and natural gas in 1949.
Among the principal attractions are Agate Fossil
Beds, Homestead, and Scotts Bluff National
Monuments; Chimney Rock National Historic Site; a
recreated pioneer village at Minden; SAC Museum near
Ashland; the Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer
Grand Island; Boys Town; the Sheldon Memorial Art
Gallery and the Lied Center for the Performing Arts
at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln; the State
Capitol in Lincoln; the Joslyn Art Museum in Omaha;
the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha; Museum of Nebraska
Art in Kearney; Museum of Nebraska History in
Lincoln; and the University of Nebraska State Museum
in Lincoln. |
