ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the ways in which the white population entered the Nebraska, acquired land, established settlements, and erected transportation and economic systems that supported the growth of commercial agriculture. It discusses the development during the latter decades of the nineteenth century of an agricultural system adapted to the subhumid reality of the state. In the early years of the fur trade, Nebraska Indians provided a substantial amount of commerce. Trading posts were established along the Missouri River, particularly near the mouth of the Platte and in the Scotts Bluff area, to exchange trade goods for buffalo robes, beaver pelts, and other furs. Following completion of the Union Pacific, a number of railroads were constructed in Nebraska. Railroad lines tied Nebraska’s economy and settlements to the national economy, brought in the luxuries and necessities provided by the rest of the country, and hauled away the products of Nebraska’s fields and farmsteads.
