Nebraska Territory - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The Territory of Nebraska was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from May 30, 1854, until March 1, 1867, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

as the State of Nebraska. The Nebraska Territory was created by the Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854. The territorial capital was Omaha

Omaha, Nebraska

Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...

History

An enabling act

Enabling act

An enabling act is a piece of legislation by which a legislative body grants an entity which depends on it for authorization or legitimacy the power to take certain actions. For example, enabling acts often establish government agencies to carry out specific government policies in a modern nation...

was passed by Congress in 1864. Delegates for a constitutional convention were elected; this convention did not produce a constitution. Two years later, in 1866, a constitution was drafted and voted upon. It was approved by 100 votes. However, a clause in this constitution that limited suffrage to "free white males" delayed Nebraska's entry into the Union for almost a year. The 1866 enabling act

Enabling act

for the state was subject to a pocket veto

Pocket veto

A pocket veto is a legislative maneuver in United States federal lawmaking that allows the President to veto a bill indirectly.The U.S. Constitution limits the President's period for decision on whether to sign or veto any legislation to ten days while the United States Congress is in session...

by President Andrew Johnson

Andrew Johnson

Andrew Johnson was the 17th President of the United States . As Vice-President of the United States in 1865, he succeeded Abraham Lincoln following the latter's assassination. Johnson then presided over the initial and contentious Reconstruction era of the United States following the American...

. When Congress reconvened in 1867, it passed another bill to create the state of Nebraska, on the condition that Nebraska's constitution be amended to remove the suffrage clause. This bill was also vetoed by President Johnson. Congress then overrode his veto.

Fight for the State Capitol

After serving as the territorial capital for ten years, Omaha City wanted to be the capital of the new state. In 1854 land speculators formed the Omaha Claim Club

Omaha Claim Club

The Omaha Claim Club, also called the Omaha Township Claim Association and the Omaha Land Company, was organized in 1854 for the purpose of "encouraging the building of a city" and protecting members' claims in the area platted for Omaha City in the Nebraska Territory. At its peak the club included...

as part of a scheme to persuade Territorial legislators to keep the capital in Omaha. Their aggressive efforts to secure land to give away to legislators led to the platting of Scriptown

Scriptown

Scriptown was the name of the first subdivision in the history of Omaha, which at the time was located in Nebraska Territory. It was called "Scriptown" because scrip was used as payment, similar to how a company would pay employees when regular money was unavailable...

. Located in present-day North Omaha and NoDo

Nodo

Nodo may refer to:*NASA Orbital Debris Observatory, a telescope and astronomical survey operated by NASA from 1995 to 2002*NoDo, an area of downtown Omaha, Nebraska*No-Do, late 20th century Spanish newsreels*NoDo, the first update to Windows Phone 7...

, lots in the area were used to coerce legislators and push unwanted claimants from their land. The acts were later determined to be illegal by the United States Supreme Court in Baker v. Morton
Baker v. Morton
Baker v. Morton, , was the first "serious" court case to come out of Omaha, Nebraska Territory, prior to statehood. In the trial a claim jumper fought against local land barons to stake out a homestead in the area that was to become the city of Omaha...

.

In January, 1858 a group of representatives illegally moved the Nebraska Territorial Legislature

Nebraska Territorial Legislature

The Nebraska Territorial Legislature was held from January 16, 1855 until 1865 in Omaha City, Nebraska Territory.- Slavery :In 1854 the Kansas-Nebraska Act created the Nebraska Territory, overturning the Missouri Compromise by allowing legislatures of the Nebraska and Kansas territories to...

to Florence

Florence, Nebraska

Florence is a neighborhood in Omaha, Nebraska on the city's north end and originally one of the oldest cities in Nebraska. It was incorporated by the Nebraska Territorial Legislature on March 10, 1857. The site of Winter Quarters for Mormon migrants traveling west, it has the oldest cemetery for...

following a violent outburst at the capitol building. After repeatedly being dogged out of voting on the removal of the capital from Omaha, a skirmish pitted representatives from Nebraska City

Nebraska City, Nebraska

Nebraska City is a city in Otoe County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 7,228 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Otoe County...

, Florence, and other communities to convene outside of Omaha. Despite having a majority of members present for the vote to remove the capital and all agreeing, the "Florence Legislature" did not succeed in swaying the Nebraska Territory governor. The capital remained at Omaha until 1867 when Nebraska gained statehood

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

Early settlement

Several trading posts, forts and towns were established in the Nebraska Territory from the early 19th century through 1867, including Fontenelle's Post

Fontenelle's Post

Fontenelle's Post, first known as Pilcher's Post, and the site of the later city of Bellevue, was built in 1822 in the Nebraska Territory by Joshua Pilcher, then president of the Missouri Fur Company. Located on the Missouri River, it developed as one of the first European-American settlements in...

founded in the present-day site of Bellevue

Bellevue, Nebraska

Bellevue is a city in Sarpy County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 50,137 at the 2010 census. Eight miles south of Omaha, Bellevue is part of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. Originally settled in the 1830s, It was the first state capitol. Bellevue was incorporated in...

in 1806. It was first mentioned in fur trading records in 1823. Fort Lisa, founded by Manuel Lisa

Manuel Lisa

Manuel Lisa, also known as Manuel de Lisa , was a Spanish-American fur trader, explorer, and United States Indian agent. He was among the founders in St. Louis of the Missouri Fur Company, an early fur trading company...

near present-day Dodge Park

Dodge Park

N.P. Dodge Memorial Park, or simply Dodge Park, is a recreational area located at 11001 John J. Pershing Drive in North Omaha, Nebraska. Located on the Missouri River, the park is a haven for fishing, water skiing, and boating, as well as hiking throughout its riparian forests. Baseball fields,...

in North Omaha was founded in 1812, although Lisa had earlier founded posts further up the Missouri in Montana and North Dakota.

Fort Atkinson

Fort Atkinson (Nebraska)

Fort Atkinson was the first United States Army post to be established west of the Missouri River in the unorganized region of the Louisiana Purchase of the United States. Located just east of present-day Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, the fort was erected in 1819 and abandoned in 1827...

, was founded on the Council Bluff in 1819; in 1822 Cabanne's Trading Post

Cabanne's Trading Post

Cabanne's Trading Post was established in 1822 by the American Fur Company as Fort Robidoux near present-day Dodge Park in North Omaha, Nebraska. It was named for influential fur trapper Joseph Robidoux...

was founded nearby on the Missouri River

Missouri River

The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...

. Mormon

Mormon

The term Mormon most commonly denotes an adherent, practitioner, follower, or constituent of Mormonism, which is the largest branch of the Latter Day Saint movement in restorationist Christianity...

settlers founded Cutler's Park in 1846, and the town of Bellevue

Bellevue, Nebraska

was incorporated in 1853. Nearby Omaha City was founded in 1854, with Nebraska City and Kearney

Kearney, Nebraska

Kearney is a city in and the county seat of Buffalo County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 30,787 at the 2010 census. It is home to the University of Nebraska-Kearney....

incorporated in 1855. The influential towns of Brownville

Brownville, Nebraska

Brownville is a village in Nemaha County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 146 at the 2000 census.- History :Established in 1854 and incorporated in 1856, Brownville was the largest town in the Nebraska Territory, with a population of 1,309 by 1880. Bordering slave-holding Missouri, the...

and Fontanelle

Fontanelle, Nebraska

Fontanelle is an unincorporated community in Washington County, Nebraska, United States. The site of repeated incursions by the neighboring Pawnee tribe, Fontanelle was an early boom town in the Nebraska Territory, but waned in importance after failing to secure a railroad connection in the late...

were founded that year as well. The early village of Lancaster

Lincoln, Nebraska

The City of Lincoln is the capital and the second-most populous city of the US state of Nebraska. Lincoln is also the county seat of Lancaster County and the home of the University of Nebraska. Lincoln's 2010 Census population was 258,379....

, later called Lincoln, was founded in 1856, along with the towns of Saratoga

Saratoga, Nebraska Territory

Saratoga Springs, Nebraska Territory, or Saratoga, was a boom and bust town founded in 1856 that throve for several years. During its short period of influence the town grew quickly, outpacing other local settlements in the area including Omaha and Florence, and briefly considered as a candidate...

, South Nebraska City and Florence

Florence, Nebraska

Early press

Early print media in the Nebraska Territory served the dual purposes of sharing the news

News

News is the communication of selected information on current events which is presented by print, broadcast, Internet, or word of mouth to a third party or mass audience.- Etymology :...

and promoting the area for settlement. In 1860 the Territory had twelve weekly publications, one biweekly and one monthly, with a combined circulation of 9,750. After statehood

Nebraska

Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

in 1867 the newspaper industry expanded greatly.

Pioneer print media in the Nebraska Territory
Name	Print period	Location	Notes
Nebraska Palladium and Platte Valley Advocate	1854–55	Bellevue Bellevue, Nebraska Bellevue is a city in Sarpy County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 50,137 at the 2010 census. Eight miles south of Omaha, Bellevue is part of the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area. Originally settled in the 1830s, It was the first state capitol. Bellevue was incorporated in...	Edited by Thomas Morton
Arrow		Omaha Omaha Omaha may refer to:Omaha , a Native American tribe that currently resides in the northeastern part of the U.S. state of Nebraska-Places:United States Omaha, Nebraska* Omaha, Arkansas* Omaha, Georgia* Omaha, Illinois* Omaha, Texas...
Nebraska News		Nebraska City Nebraska City, Nebraska Nebraska City is a city in Otoe County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 7,228 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Otoe County...
Nebraskian	1854–64	Omaha
Nebraska Advertiser	1856	Brownville Brownville, Nebraska Brownville is a village in Nemaha County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 146 at the 2000 census.- History :Established in 1854 and incorporated in 1856, Brownville was the largest town in the Nebraska Territory, with a population of 1,309 by 1880. Bordering slave-holding Missouri, the...	Edited by Robert W. Furnas
Huntsman's Echo	1858	Near Shelton Shelton, Nebraska Shelton is a village in Buffalo County, Nebraska, United States. It is part of the Kearney, Nebraska Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,140 at the 2000 census. It is located west of Grand Island along both the Union Pacific Railroad and U.S...	Edited by Joseph E. Johnson, this paper was influential with Oregon Trail Oregon Trail The Oregon Trail is a historic east-west wagon route that connected the Missouri River to valleys in Oregon and locations in between.After 1840 steam-powered riverboats and steamboats traversing up and down the Ohio, Mississippi and Missouri rivers sped settlement and development in the flat... pioneers.
Nebraska Republican	1858	Omaha	The first paper in the Territory to have mechanical presses, this was later succeeded by the Omaha Republican, and in 1871 absorbed the Omaha Tribune.
Nebraska Farmer	1859	Brownville	Robert W. Furnas also published the first agricultural newspaper in the Territory.
Peru Orchardist		Peru Peru, Nebraska Peru is a city in Nemaha County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 569 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Peru is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all of it land....
Daily Telegraph	1860	Omaha	The first daily publication in the Territory failed, and in 1861 it was sold to the Nebraskian.
Nebraska Deutsche Zeitung	1861	Nebraska City	Published by Frank Renner, this German language German language German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union.... paper was circulated nationally and in Germany Germany Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate... . It is credited with bringing many German settlers to the Territory.
Daily Herald	1865	Omaha	Edited by George L. Miller George L. Miller Dr. George Lorin Miller was a pioneer physician, editor, politician, civic leader and land owner in Omaha, Nebraska. The founder of the Omaha Herald, which later became part of the Omaha World-Herald, Miller arrived in Omaha in 1854, the year the city was founded... , this paper was influential in bringing the Union Pacific to Omaha.

Early military posts

With a variety of early fur trading posts, Fort Atkinson

Fort Atkinson (Nebraska)

, founded in 1819, was the location of the first military post in what became the Nebraska Territory, as well as its first school. Other posts in the Nebraska Territory included Fort Kearny

Fort Kearny

Fort Kearny was a historic outpost of the United States Army founded in 1848 in the western U.S. during the middle and late 19th century. The outpost was located along the Oregon Trail near present-day Kearney, Nebraska, which took its name from the fort .-Origins and various missions of the...

near present-day Kearney; Fort McPherson

Fort McPherson, Nebraska

Fort McPherson was originally called Cantonment McKean, and was popularly known as Fort Cottonwood. The Fort was an Indian Wars-era U.S...

near present-day Maxwell

Maxwell, Nebraska

Maxwell is a village in Lincoln County, Nebraska, United States. It is part of the North Platte, Nebraska Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 315 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Maxwell is located at ....

; Fort Mitchell

Fort Mitchell, Nebraska

Fort Mitchell, Nebraska an Army fort in service from 1864-1867. Its location is marked by Nebraska Historical Society Marker 190 on highway NE 92 two miles west of present day, Scottsbluff, Nebraska, just south of the junction with highway NE L79G....

near present-day Scottsbluff

Scottsbluff, Nebraska

Scottsbluff is a city in Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 15,039 at the 2010 census. Scottsbluff is the largest city in the Nebraska Panhandle, and the 13th largest city in Nebraska....

; Fort Randall, in what is now South Dakota; and Fort Caspar

Fort Caspar

Fort Caspar was a military post of the United States Army in present-day Wyoming, named after 2nd Lieutenant Caspar Collins, a U.S. Army officer who was killed in the 1865 Battle of the Platte Bridge Station against the Lakota and Cheyenne...

, Fort Halleck

Fort Halleck (Wyoming)

Fort Halleck was a military outpost that existed in the 1860s along the Overland Trail and stage route in what is now the U.S state of Wyoming. The fort was established in 1862 to protect emigrant travelers and stages transporting mail between Kansas and Salt Lake City, Utah and named for Major...

, Fort Laramie, and Fort Sanders

Fort Sanders (Wyoming)

Fort Sanders was a wooden fort constructed in 1866 on the Laramie Plains in southern Wyoming, near the city of Laramie. Originally named Fort John Buford, it was renamed Fort Sanders after General William P. Sanders who died at the Siege of Knoxville during the American Civil War. This was the...

, in what is now Wyoming.

Boundaries

The Nebraska Territory's original boundaries (as specified by its Organic Act) included much of the original Louisiana Purchase

Louisiana Purchase

The Louisiana Purchase was the acquisition by the United States of America of of France's claim to the territory of Louisiana in 1803. The U.S...

; the territory's boundaries were:

Southern – 40° N
40th parallel north
The 40th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 40 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, the Mediterranean Sea, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean....

(the current Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

–Nebraska border);
Western – the Continental Divide
Continental Divide
The Continental Divide of the Americas, or merely the Continental Gulf of Division or Great Divide, is the name given to the principal, and largely mountainous, hydrological divide of the Americas that separates the watersheds that drain into the Pacific Ocean from those river systems that drain...

between the Pacific and the Atlantic/Arctic Oceans;
Northern – 49° N
49th parallel north
The 49th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 49 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Europe, Asia, the Pacific Ocean, North America, and the Atlantic Ocean....

(the U.S.–Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

border);
Eastern – the White Earth
White Earth River (North Dakota)
The White Earth River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately 50 mi long, in northwestern North Dakota in the United States. It rises in the plains of southeastern Divide County, approximately 10 mi east of Wildrose. It flows east and south, through Mountrail County and...

and Missouri
Missouri River
The Missouri River flows through the central United States, and is a tributary of the Mississippi River. It is the longest river in North America and drains the third largest area, though only the thirteenth largest by discharge. The Missouri's watershed encompasses most of the American Great...

rivers.

Subsequent territory creation

Upon creation, the territory encompassed most of the northern Great Plains

Great Plains

The Great Plains are a broad expanse of flat land, much of it covered in prairie, steppe and grassland, which lies west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains in the United States and Canada. This area covers parts of the U.S...

, much of the upper Missouri River basin and the eastern portions of the northern Rocky Mountains

Rocky Mountains

The Rocky Mountains are a major mountain range in western North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch more than from the northernmost part of British Columbia, in western Canada, to New Mexico, in the southwestern United States...

. The Nebraska Territory gradually reduced in size as new territories were created in the 1860s.

The Colorado Territory

Colorado Territory

The Territory of Colorado was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 28, 1861, until August 1, 1876, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Colorado....

was formed February 28, 1861 from portions of the territory south of 41° N and west of 102°03' W (25° W of Washington, DC) (an area that includes present-day Fort Collins

Fort Collins, Colorado

Fort Collins is a Home Rule Municipality situated on the Cache La Poudre River along the Colorado Front Range, and is the county seat and most populous city of Larimer County, Colorado, United States. Fort Collins is located north of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. With a 2010 census...

, Greeley

Greeley, Colorado

The City of Greeley is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Weld County, Colorado, United States. Greeley is located in the region known as Northern Colorado. Greeley is situated north-northeast of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. According to the...

and the portions of Boulder

Boulder, Colorado

Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...

north of Baseline Road

Baseline Road (Colorado)

Baseline Road is a major east-west street in Boulder, Colorado that extends east of the city through parts of four counties. The western terminus of Baseline Road is at Flagstaff Mountain in the City of Boulder Mountain Parks. The eastern terminus is at 16800 Watkins Road, about east of Lochbuie...

.

March 2, 1861 saw the creation of the Dakota Territory

Dakota Territory

The Territory of Dakota was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 2, 1861, until November 2, 1889, when the final extent of the reduced territory was split and admitted to the Union as the states of North and South Dakota.The Dakota Territory consisted of...

. It was made of all of the portions of Nebraska Territory north of 43° N (the present-day Nebraska–South Dakota

South Dakota

South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...

border), along with the portion of present-day Nebraska between 43° N and the Keya Paha

Keya Paha River

The Keya Paha River is a river flowing through the U.S. states of South Dakota and Nebraska.The name is derived from the Dakota language ke'-ya pa-ha, meaning "turtle hill"...

and Niobrara

Niobrara River

The Niobrara River is a tributary of the Missouri River, approximately long, running through the U.S. states of Wyoming and Nebraska. The river drains one of the most arid sections of the Great Plains, and has a low flow for a river of its length...

rivers (this land would be returned to Nebraska in 1882). The act creating the Dakota Territory also included provisions granting Nebraska small portions of Utah Territory

Utah Territory

The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah....

and Washington Territory

Washington Territory

The Territory of Washington was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from February 8, 1853, until November 11, 1889, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Washington....

— present-day southwestern Wyoming

Wyoming

Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...

bounded by 41° N, 110°03' W (33° W of Washington, DC), 43° N and the Continental Divide. These portions had not been part of the Louisiana Purchase; rather, they had been part of Oregon Country

Oregon Country

The Oregon Country was a predominantly American term referring to a disputed ownership region of the Pacific Northwest of North America. The region was occupied by British and French Canadian fur traders from before 1810, and American settlers from the mid-1830s, with its coastal areas north from...

and became part of the United States in 1846.

On March 3, 1863, the Idaho Territory

Idaho Territory

The Territory of Idaho was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from March 4, 1863, until July 3, 1890, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Idaho.-1860s:...

was formed of all the territory west of 104°03' W (27° W of Washington, DC).

External links

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