March 1, 1867
On this day the nation’s 37th state was finally admitted to the union. But it had taken two tries for Nebraska. It was stymied by a decade-long squabble over location of the capital, a racist provision in its Constitution and a Presidential veto.
Congress originally denied Nebraska’s first petition for statehood, unhappy with the proposed constitutional provision barring “non-whites” from voting. Both Houses approved admission once the objectionable clause was removed. President Andrew Johnson (left) threw a monkey wrench into the deal when he vetoed the bill, wanting the “non-white” voter ban reinstated. In an enlightened move for its day, the Senate overwhelmingly voted to override the veto.
Nearly 300 miles of Union Pacific track already crossed the territory from the burgeoning river town of Omaha. The railroad and the Homestead Act with the promise of free land boosted Nebraska’s population sufficiently to apply for statehood. Daniel Freeman, credited with filing the nation’s first homestead claim, had arrived in present-day Gage County, Nebraska, four years earlier on January 1, 1863.
Between 1857 and 1862 most of the indigenous tribes living within its borders had already ceded land to the government, leaving thousands acres open to settlement.
Oregon Trail route to the Pacific
The Union Pacific was not the first to find a route across the Nebraska prairie, just the latest. No state had more historic trails from border to border than Nebraska.
Trappers were the first Europeans to follow the Platte Valley on their way to the Rockies. Lewis and Clark traversed the Missouri River along the eastern edge in 1804 and an estimated 400,000 emigrants crossed on the Oregon and California trails along the southern banks of the Platte. Thousands more followed the Mormon on the north side of the river.
The Pony Express route cut a diagonal
In 1860 Buffalo Bill Cody and his fellow Pony Express riders forged their own route from the current Kansas/Missouri border to Colorado during the brief and dangerous two years of existence.
Wrangling over a capital city, however, had already raged for more than a decade. Once statehood was a certainty Republican politicians sought to keep the state capital in the territorial capital of Omaha. The Democrats were fighting to bring it across the Platte to Lancaster, present-day Lincoln.
Omaha in 1865 and Lancaster, present-day Lincoln, 1867
With two stores and just 30 residents, Lancaster (above right) was not a popular choice. Republicans suggested the settlement’s relative isolation would fail to attract anyone other than legislators, “lunatics” in the state asylum and convicts sent to the penitentiary.
In an ill-fated gambit, Republicans decided to suggest changing the name from Lancaster to Lincoln, hoping to distract the Democrats and encourage the legislature’s considerable pro-slavery element to vote against the bill. The martyred president’s popularity, however, swung the vote in the Democrat’s favor.
Nebraska blazed a new political path in 1937 with its one-of-a-kind Unicameral single-house legislature. It was overwhelmingly popular with the state’s cash-strapped Depression-era voters for its cost effectiveness. It has failed to catch on elsewhere. Studied and rejected by nearly every other legislative body in the country since its inception, none seem eager to put half its elected representatives out of work.
At the end of the day, Republicans who favored Omaha may have lost the battle and still won the war. Omaha remains the largest city in the state, almost double the population of Lincoln. With higher average per capita annual income approaching $10,000, it also has a higher cost of living.
Lincoln, on the other hand, continues to make the list as one of the country’s most economical small cities, nearly 10 per cent below the national average, low unemployment and a frequent rating as one of the country’s most livable communities.
The Nebraska State Capitol. 1445 K Street, Lincoln, another ground-breaking accomplishment, is considered one of the most significant public buildings in the country. Designed by architect Bertram G. Goodhue, it was begun in 1922 and not completed until ten years later at a cost of $9.8 million. The 15 floors above ground sour to 400 
feet and is topped with “The Sower,” by Lee Lawrie, Goodhue’s favorite sculptor. Lawrie also created the bronze “Atlas” at New York’s Rockafeller Center.
In addition, 22 historic murals are on display, along with other examples of Lawrie’s work and artist Hildreth Meiere’s award-winning mosaics. Building hours are 8 to 5 weekdays, Saturday’s 10 to 5 and 1 to 5 Sundays, closed Thanksgiving and the Friday after, Christmas, and New Year’s. Tours start on the hour except 12 noon. For more information go to capitol.nebraska.gov, e-mail hello@capitol.org or call (402) 471–0448.
© Text Only – 2017 – Headin’ West LLC – All photos – public domain or fair use.