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French fur traders first visited Nebraska in the
late 1600s. Part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, eastern
Nebraska was explored by Lewis and Clark in 1804–1806. A few
years later, Robert Stuart pioneered the Oregon Trail across
Nebraska in 1812–1813, and the first permanent white settlement
was established at Bellevue in 1823.
Western Nebraska was acquired by treaty following the Mexican
War in 1848. The Union Pacific began its transcontinental
railroad at Omaha in 1865. In 1937, Nebraska became the only
state in the Union to have a unicameral (one-house) legislature.
Members are elected to it without party designation.
Nebraska is a leading grain-producer with bumper crops of
sorghum, corn, and wheat. More varieties of grass, valuable for
forage, grow in this state than in any other in the nation. The
state's sizable cattle and hog industries make Dakota City and
Lexington among the nation's largest meat-packing centers.
Manufacturing has become diversified: Firms making electronic
components, auto accessories, pharmaceuticals, and mobile homes
have joined such older industries as clothing, farm machinery,
chemicals, and transportation equipment. Oil was discovered in
1939 and natural gas in 1949.
Among the principal attractions are Agate Fossil Beds,
Homestead, and Scotts Bluff National Monuments; Chimney Rock
National Historic Site; a recreated pioneer village at Minden;
SAC Museum near Ashland; the Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer
Grand Island; Boys Town; the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery and
the Lied Center for the Performing Arts at the University of
Nebraska in Lincoln; the State Capitol in Lincoln; the Joslyn
Art Museum in Omaha; the Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha; Museum of
Nebraska Art in Kearney; Museum of Nebraska History in Lincoln;
and the University of Nebraska State Museum in Lincoln. |
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