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When the Central District first delivered water through the Tri-County Project, most farmers had no experience with irrigation. Irrigation methods, such as simply flooding a field with water or the use of canvas dams and lath boxes in small ditches next to the fields, were crude and inefficient. But irrigation — no matter how labor intensive or imperfect — often made the difference between harvesting a good crop or a poor crop (or none at all).
Making use of a temporary ... Read more
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As Nebraska entered the 20th century, its ranchers had learned from ranching experiments of the 1870s and 1880s and the Depression of 1898. Ranchers did well with their improved herds and high demand. Meatpacking was by far the state’s leading business. Cattle ruled Nebraska’s economy.
But there were also big problems.
The jobs provided by the expanding stockyards and packing plants attracted a wave of new immigrants to South Omaha. And particularly during ... Read more
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Over three million prisoners of war were captured by Allied forces during World War II. Of these, 370,000 Germans and 50,000 Italians were transferred from the battlefront to the United States at the request of our European allies, who were holding all the prisoners they could. Prisoner-of-war troops were typically referred to as P.W. or POWs.
Prisoners were brought to the U.S. to be safely confined and to supplement a ... Read more
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In some ways, Nebraska is no longer an agricultural state. There are now fewer farmers in the state. They produce less of the state’s goods and services. You can see that fact in the numbers.
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It is easy for most of us to become a citizen of the United States. For most U.S. citizens, ... Read more
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Within days of the declaration of war, troops began to move across the country, on their way to the front lines. In many ... Read more
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The Enola Gay certainly became World War II’s most famous airplane when it dropped the world’s first atomic bomb on Hiroshima August 6, 1945. It was built in Omaha. The B-29 Superfortress bomber was the single most complicated and expensive airplane produced by the United States during World War II.
The Enola Gay was specially modified for its mission and was handpicked from the assembly line in Omaha by the ... Read more
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The first Europeans to see the West were soldiers, explorers, mountain men, trappers, and traders. At first they followed the rivers and streams into the West, but eventually most realized that rivers couldn’t take you everywhere you wanted to go. And so overland routes were blazed.
Fur traders were among the first white men to follow Indian trails that eventually became a blueprint for parts of the Oregon Trail. They ... Read more
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Throughout the 1700s, the nations of Europe played out political dramas on the plains of Nebraska. Successive expeditions would venture forth and negotiate with the plains tribes, offering symbolic gifts — certificates heralding "peace and friendship," peace medals, canes and flags. Towards the end of the century, the gifts given by the Spanish to tribes west of the Mississippi River cost that one colonial power over $100,000 a year. The goal of the whites was to establish alliances and dominate ... Read more
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Throughout the history of the central Great Plains region, there have been cycles and factors that affect the lives of those who live here. These factors have always produced results that we can see later.
Some factors are natural — like the cycle of wet years and dry years. This "drought cycle" ... Read more
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Former Nebraska Gov. Val Peterson was head of the Federal Civil Defense Administration when he warned citizens against the dangers of massive fallout from the hydrogen bomb.
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Notable Nebraskan, Julius Sterling Morton was born April 22, 1832 in Adams, New York. Morton, along with Robert Furnas, was the co-founder of Arbor Day.
At a young age, Morton knew he loved newspapers and nature. He pursued these passions throughout his life and today is known for both.
After finishing school at the University of Michigan, Morton married ... Read more
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In the late 1980s, the Cold War came to a dramatic end. The economies of nations behind the Iron Curtain were in trouble. People in East Germany, for instance, could see the prosperity and wealth of their West German neighbors. In Russia, there were long lines of people waiting to buy food. ... Read more
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John Falter was a Nebraska artist who applied his talents to the war effort, producing numerous recruiting and incentive posters while on active duty with the U.S. Naval Reserve.
Born in Plattsmouth and raised in Falls City, Falter gained fame for his cover illustrations for the Saturday Evening Post. Throughout the war, he continued to work as a free-lance commercial artist, though most of his commercial works also addressed patriotic themes.
Between 1942 and 1946, Falter produced a body of work impressive ... Read more
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In the later years of the nineteenth century, the number of homesteaders who mostly were farmers (also called "grangers") grew. This put pressure on the ranchers who were using large areas of public lands to graze their cattle. Not only were homesteaders taking the land, but they were taking the land with access to water, which the ranchers’ cattle needed.
This conflict between homesteaders and cattlemen was rooted deeply in two very different traditions of land use. The ranchers were mostly ... Read more
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During World War II, there were shortages of many items across the U.S. because certain supplies were needed for the war. Civilians (people who were not in the military) had to do without some products.
Nebraska’s greatest contribution to winning the war was in food production. Even Nebraska families who did not live in rural areas got involved with the nationwide "Victory Garden" program. Nebraskans were encouraged to plant gardens to help ease the food shortage. Almost half of all vegetables ... Read more
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Edward Flanagan was born in County Roscommon, Ireland on July 13, 1886. As a young man Flanagan wanted to be a priest. Father Flanagan moved to America in the 1910s. His first parish was in O’Neill, Nebraska. His second one was in Omaha, Nebraska.
Father Flanagan developed an understanding for the boys and young men who were orphaned by society. He realized that children who ... Read more
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Notable Nebraskan, Susan La Flesche Picotte was born on the Omaha reservation in northeastern Nebraska on June 17, 1865. She became the first Native American to earn a medical degree.
Susan’s father, Joseph La Flesche, also known as Iron Eye, was the last recognized chief of the Omaha. He had a big impact on Susan’s life. He encouraged his people, especially his children, ... Read more
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Prohibition of alcoholic beverages, like women’s suffrage, was a very emotional issue for most Nebraskans. Some saw an evil combination of saloons and alcohol and blamed liquor for a host of society’s ills. Drunken husbands spent their money on alcohol, money that would never benefit the family or community.
On the other hand, there were a number of large brewery and liquor businesses in Nebraska. And several ethnic groups that accepted alcohol ... Read more
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On September 18, 1945, the last of 531 Omaha-produced B-29s rolled out of the final assembly hall of the Martin Plant. On April 1, 1946, the Martin Company’s last 100 workers left the plant. The bomber plant was used for storage of machine tools from 1946 to 1948. Fort Crook, which was where the ... Read more
