NEBRASKA

constituent state of the United States of America lying in the west north-central region of the country. Nebraska is bounded by South Dakota on the north, Wyoming on the west, and Colorado and Kansas on the south. On the east the Missouri River separates the state from Missouri, Iowa, and South Dakota. Nebraska extends about 420 miles (680 km) from east to west and 210 miles (340 km) from north to south. The capital is Lincoln. constituent state of the United States of America. The Missouri River forms the eastern boundary with Iowa and Missouri and about a fourth of the northern boundary with South Dakota. The southern boundary with Kansas was established when the two territories were created by the KansasNebraska Act in 1854, legislation that heightened the sectional hostilities which exploded into the Civil War. A majority of Nebraskans today live close to the Missouri and Platte Rivers, leaving much of the state's 77,355 square miles (200,350 square kilometres) lightly populated. Lincoln, in the southeastern part of the state, is the capital. One of the west central states of the United States, Nebraska during the first 60 years of the 19th century was primarily a water and land route to the rich trapping country to the north and west and the settlement and mining frontiers of the mountain and Pacific regions. With the development of railroads after the Civil War and the consequent immigrations, however, the excellent soils of Nebraska were plowed, and its grasslands gave rise to a range cattle industry. As a result, the state has been, almost since its admission to the Union on March 1, 1867, as the 37th state, a major producer of food commodities. Rivers have been important to Nebraska's geography and settlement. The Missouri was a major highway to the trans-Mississippi West in the early 19th century. Although less well known, the Platte River has also played a significant role in Nebraska's history. In fact, the name Nebraska is derived from an Indian word meaning flat water, a reference to the Platte, which served as a magnet for urban clusters across the state. The river is formed by the confluence of the North and South Platte rivers, both of which rise in Colorado on the southwest, although the North Platte swings northward through Wyoming, on the west, before entering Nebraska. Agriculture is basic to Nebraska's economy, but only one-tenth of its labour force is employed directly in farming or ranching. Economic conditions have had a direct bearing on the state's political life, including a brief period of protest through the agrarian-oriented People's (Populist) Party during the 1890s. Although Nebraska traditionally has been a Republican stronghold, the Democrats also have been an important political force. Additional reading Federal Writers' Project, Nebraska: A Guide to the Cornhusker State (1939, reprinted 1979), still provides a useful overview. Bradley H. Baltensperger, Nebraska (1985), offers an excellent treatment of the state's modern development. Information on the state's water resources may be found in University of NebraskaLincoln, Conservation and Survey Division, The Groundwater Atlas of Nebraska (1986); while the state's topography is portrayed in DeLorme Mapping Company, Nebraska Atlas & Gazetteer (1996). Elton Perkey, Perkey's Nebraska Place-Names (1982), combines local geography and history. The ethnic dimensions of the state's history are described by Frederick C. Luebke, Immigrants and Politics: The Germans of Nebraska, 18801900 (1969). Richard E. Lonsdale (ed.), Economic Atlas of Nebraska (1977), contains valuable information on Nebraska's economic life. Frederick C. Luebke, Nebraska: Time, Place, and Culture, in James H. Madison (ed.), Heart Land: Comparative Histories of the Midwestern States (1988), pp. 226247, is the best interpretation. Political processes are the concern of Robert W. Cherny, Populism, Progressivism, and the Transformation of Nebraska Politics, 18851915 (1981); and Stanley B. Parsons, The Populist Context: Rural Versus Urban Power on a Great Plains Frontier (1973). James Aucoin, Water in Nebraska: Use, Politics, Policies (1984), discusses the development of water resources. James C. Olson, History of Nebraska, 2nd ed. (1966, reissued 1974), is the best general historical work. Dorothy Weyer Creigh, Nebraska: A Bicentennial History (1977), provides a useful introduction. Nebraska and overland travel in the mid-19th century are chronicled in Merrill J. Mattes, The Great Platte River Road: The Covered Wagon Mainline via Fort Kearny to Fort Laramie (1969, reprinted 1988). Mari Sandoz, Cheyenne Autumn (1953, reissued 1975), treats the Indian-white confrontation on the High Plains. Nebraska History (quarterly) contains much valuable material. Harl Adams Dalstrom The Editors of the Encyclopdia Britannica