Nebraska Moments, New Edition

428 Pages·2007·18.21 MB·English

by  Donald R. Hickey

Nebraska
Moments
new edition
Donald R. Hickey
Susan A. Wunder
John R. Wunder
University of Nebraska Press
Lincoln & London
©2007 by the Board of Regents
of the University of Nebraska
All rights reserved
Manufactured in the
United States of America
(cid:146)
Library of Congress Cataloging-
in-Publication Data
Hickey, Donald R., 1944–
Nebraska moments / Donald R. Hickey, Susan A.
Wunder, John R. Wunder.—New ed.
p. cm.
Includes index.
isbn-13: 978-0-8032-6039-9 (pbk. : alk. paper)
isbn-10: 0-8032-6039-3 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Nebraska—History. 2. Nebraska—History—
anecdotes. I. Wunder, Susan A. II. Wunder, John R.
III. Title.
f666.h595 2007
978.2—dc22
2007019489
Set in Sabon.
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
List of Maps x
Timeline of Nebraska Moments xi
Preface xv
1. The Villasur Expedition 1
2. Old Bellevue 9
3. The Oregon Trail 15
4. The Kansas-Nebraska Act 23
5. The Pony Express 30
6. Daniel Freeman and Homesteading 37
7. Nebraska Statehood and Its First Governor 47
8. The Fight for the Capital 55
9. Red Cloud and the Fort Laramie Treaty of 1868 63
10. The Union Pacific Railroad 73
11. The Murder of Crazy Horse at Fort Robinson 81
12. The Trial of Standing Bear 92
13. “Buffalo Bill” Cody and the Wild West Show 102
14. The Great Nebraska Migration 110
15. J. Sterling Morton and Arbor Day 121
16. The Blizzard of ’88 129
17. William Jennings Bryan and Agrarian Protest 135
18. The Rise of Omaha 145
19. Charles E. Bessey and the Nebraska National Forest 154
20. Gen. John J. Pershing and World War I 160
21. Fr. Edward Flanagan, the Abbott Sisters, and
Nebraska’s Children 171
22. The Influenza Epidemic of 1918 and Nebraska’s Doctors 182
23.Meyer v. Nebraska (1923) 192
24. Willa Cather and Her Pulitzer Prize 204
25. The Nebraska State Capitol, Great Plains Icon 213
26. Nebraska’s Would-be Vice Presidents 221
27. The Pound Family 234
28. Nebraska’s Literary Renaissance 248
29. George W. Norris and the Unicameral 261
30. The Nebraska Home Front and World War II 271
31. Nebraska’s Visual Feast 280
32. Nebraska’s Scientists 290
33. Offutt Air Force Base 301
34. The Ogallala Aquifer 308
35. Omaha’s Gerald Ford and Malcolm X 317
36. Becoming Madam Governor 331
37. The University of Nebraska Football Champions 342
38. The Murder of Brandon Teena 358
39. The Kearney Arch 370
Index 381
vi Contents
Illustrations
1. Battle between Villasur Expedition and Pawnees
and Otoes, 1720 7
2. Peter Sarpy 12
3. Bellevue, Nebraska, 1858 13
4. Emigrant train crossing the Platte River 18
5. Fort Kearny, 1858 20
6. First page of the Kansas-Nebraska Act, 1854 25
7. Pony Express rider 35
8. Daniel Freeman 39
9. Custer County settlers, 1886 44
10. Alvin Saunders 48
11. David Butler 53
12. Thomas B. Cuming 56
13. Omaha, Nebraska, 1863 60
14. Red Cloud 64
15. Fort Laramie, 1884 68
16. Union Pacific construction crew 76
17. Along the early up line 78
18. Mari Sandoz at Crazy Horse display, 1954 82
19. Fort Robinson after 1887 86
20. Crawford, Nebraska, circa 1887 90
21. Standing Bear 95
22. Gen. George Crook 97
23. William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody 103
24. Annie Oakley poster 107
25. Sutton, Nebraska, circa 1874 111
26. Belgian immigrants, mid-1880s 119
27. J. Sterling Morton 122
28. Arbor Day commemorative postage stamps, 1932 127
29. Minnie May Freeman and students, 1888 130
30. Blizzard Club reunion meeting in 1967 134
31. William Jennings Bryan 137
32. William Jennings Bryan and Woodrow Wilson 142
33. International Exposition, 1898 146
34. Omaha, Nebraska, 1878 149
35. Charles E. Bessey 155
36. Nebraska National Forest, 1940 158
37. Lt. John J. Pershing and cadets 162
38. Western Potash Company plant in Antioch, Nebraska,
circa 1918 166
39. Grace and Edith Abbott with Jane Addams 173
40. Fr. Edward Flanagan 177
41. Dr. John W. Thompson 185
42. Dr. Susan La Flesche Picotte 188
43. Lutheran church near Hampton, Nebraska 193
44. Ku Klux Klan in Neligh, Nebraska, circa 1928 199
45. Willa Cather 205
46. Willa Cather and fellow students, 1895 209
47. State capitol winning design by Bertram Goodhue 214
48.The Sower being raised atop the capitol, 1930 216
49. Charles W. Bryan with the Roosevelts 224
50. Charles G. Dawes 227
51. Pound family home in 1957 235
52. Louise Pound 238
viii Illustrations
53. Roscoe Pound 242
54. Lincoln High School, 1909 246
55. Bess Streeter Aldrich 250
56. Mari Sandoz and John G. Neihardt 256
57. First meeting of the Unicameral, 1937 264
58. George W. Norris 267
59. Troops at the North Platte Canteen 273
60. German pows at Fort Robinson, 1944 277
61. Wright Morris 282
62. Aaron Douglas painting, Window Cleaning 287
63. Harold Edgerton apple photograph 292
64. George Beadle 294
65. Loren Eiseley 298
66. Fort Crook, 1905 303
67. Lt. Jarvis J. Offutt 304
68. Offutt Air Force Base, 1963 306
69. Center-pivot irrigation system 313
70. Malcolm X 326
71. Gerald R. Ford and U.S. senator Carl Curtis 328
72. Kay Orr 335
73. Helen Boosalis 337
74. Bob Devaney with coaches 346
75. Tom Osborne with players 352
76. JoAnn Brandon 361
77. John Lotter 365
78. Frank Morrison at the Kearney Arch 371
79. Great Platte River Road Archway 374
Illustrations ix