Nebraska History
By Ann Tschetter

See county information — short histories, newspapers, books, and personal papers

Primary Sources

Harrison Johnson. Johnson’s History of Nebraska. Omaha, Nebraska: Herald Printing House, 1880.
Great source for early history of Nebraska. Has listing by counties and some specifics of early settlement. This is a strong primary source since it was being written shortly after the founding of several of the counties in this study.

Curley, Edwin A. Nebraska, its Advantages, Resources, and Drawbacks. London: Samson Low, Marston, Low and Searle, 1875.
Good source on what people first found when they settled the state. This was published for a British audience and is geared toward the positive, but does have unusual information.

History of the State of Nebraska; Counties, Cities, Towns and Villages. Evansville, Indiana: Unigraphic Inc., 1975, reprint of the 1882 edition.
Two volume set at the NSHS-great early history. Has founding of counties and the state’s history. It includes early settlement, early government, and how Nebraska became a state. Tremendous primary source.


Bibliography

Bartels, Michael M. Historic Railroads of Nebraska. Arcadia.
A thematically constructed history of the railroad on the plains.

Bekins, Jim. North Platte: City Between Two Rivers. Arcadia.
History of North Platte and very useful because of great pictures.

Bourke, Paul and Donald DeBats. Washington County: Politics and Community in Antebellum America. Johns Hopkins Press.
Interesting history of the change from voice to ballot voting in American history.

Buecker, Thomas R. Fort Robinson and the American West. University of Oklahoma Press.
Intriguing history of the daily life at Fort Robinson in the late nineteenth century.

Cather, Willa. O Pioneers!
Several editions are currently available. Novel detailing the experience of early homesteaders in Nebraska.

Clanton, Gene. Populism: The Humane Preference in America, 1890-1900. Twayne Publishers.
Solid history of populism on the Great Plains.

Clark, Robert D. Rain Follows the Plow: Homesteading in Hayes County, Nebraska. Foundation Books.
Solid history of a homesteading family in the mid nineteenth century.

Cordier, Mary Hurlbert. Schoolwomen of the Prairie and Plains: Personal Narratives from Iowa, Kansas, and Nebraska, 1860-1920s. University of New Mexico Press.
Great history of rural education.

Dorsey, Mollie. The Journal of Mollie Dorsey Sanford in Nebraska and Colorado Territories, 1857-1866. University of Nebraska.
Story of a young girl’s travel across the West with her parents.

Fink, Deborah. Agrarian Women: Wives and Mothers in Rural Nebraska, 1880-1940. University of North Carolina Press.
Details the lives of daily lives of women in Nebraska.

Hickey, Donald R. Nebraska Moments: Glimpses of Nebraska’s Past. University of Nebraska Press.
Cover a wide range of Nebraska history in a very usable format.

Hudson, John C. Plains Country Towns. University of Minnesota Press.
Interesting history of towns founded and dependent upon the railroads.

Janovy, John Jr. Keith County Journal. University of Nebraska Press.
Great study of the plant and animal life in Keith County, Nebraska.

Johnson, Rolf. Happy as a Big Sunflower: Adventures in the West, 1875-1880. Bison Books.
Diary of a young Swedish man on the Great Plains during the 1870s and 1880s.

Lee, Wayne C. Wild Towns of Nebraska.
History of Nebraska small towns including Ogallala, North Platte, Kearny, Omaha, and Broken Bow.

Limerick, Patricia Nelson. The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West. Norton & CO.
New Western history of the “Old West.”

Milner, Clyde A II. A New Significance: Re-envisioning the History of the American West. Oxford University Press.
Topographical history of American West.

Naugle, Ronald C. Ham, Eggs, and Corn Cake: A Nebraska Territory Diary.
Diary detailing Nebraska’ s territorial beginnings.

Olson, James C. History of Nebraska. 3rd ed. University of Nebraska Press.
Great overall history of the state of Nebraska.

Reid, John Phillip. Policing the Elephant: Crime, Punishment, and Social Behavior on the Overland Trail. San Marino, CA.: Huntington Library, 1997.
Very readable history of traveling on the Overland Trail.

Sandoz, Mari. Old Jules. University of Nebraska Press.
A classic tale of homesteading.

Spence, Polly. Moving Out: A Nebraska Woman’s Life. Bison Books.
Story of a woman’s life on the Great Plains during the early twentieth century.

White, Richard. “It’s Your Misfortune and None of My Own”: A New History of the American West. Norman: University of OK Press, 1993.
General history of West divided topographically.

Wishart, David J. An Unspeakable Sadness: The Dispossession of the Nebraska Indians. University of Nebraska Press.
Detailed history of Native Americans in Nebraska history.