Everything about Nebraska Territory totally explained
The
Territory of Nebraska was a historic
organized territory of the
United States from
May 30,
1854 until
March 1,
1867 when
Nebraska became the 37th
U.S. state. It was established by the
Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854. The territorial capital was
Omaha.
History
An
enabling act was passed by Congress in 1864. Delegates for a constitutional convention were elected; this convention didn't produce a constitution. Two years later, in
1866, a constitution was drafted and voted upon. It was approved by 100 votes. However, a clause in this constitution that limited suffrage to "free white males" delayed Nebraska's entry into the Union for almost a year. The 1866
enabling act for the state was subject to a
pocket veto by President
Andrew Johnson. When Congress reconvened in 1867, it passed another bill to created Nebraska as a state, on the condition that Nebraska's constitution be amended to remove the suffrage clause. This bill was also vetoed by President Johnson. Congress then overrode his veto.
Fight for the State Capitol
Omaha City desperately wanted to be the capital of the new state. Starting in 1854 local businessmen formed the
Omaha Claim Club as part of a scheme to persuade Territorial legislators to keep the capital in Omaha. Their aggressive efforts to secure land to give away to legislators, called
Scriptown, was later determined to be illegal in
Baker v. Morton.
In January, 1858 a group of representatives illegally moved the
Nebraska Territorial Legislature to
Florence following a violent outburst at the capitol building. After repeatedly being dogged out of voting on the removal of the capital from Omaha, a skirmish pitted representatives from
Nebraska City, Florence, and other communities to convene outside of Omaha. Despite having a majority of members present for the vote to remove the capital and all agreeing, the "Florence Legislature" didn't succeed in swaying the Nebraska Territory governor. The capital remained at Omaha until 1867 when Nebraska gained
statehood.
Early settlement
Several towns, forts and trading posts were established in the Nebraska Territory from the early 1800s through 1867, including
Fontenelle's Post founded in the present-day site of
Bellevue in 1806. It was first mentioned in
fur trading records in 1823.
Fort Lisa, founded by
Manuel Lisa near present-day
Dodge Park in
North Omaha was founded in 1806.
Fort Atkinson, was founded on the
Council Bluff in 1819; in 1822
Cabanne's Trading Post was founded nearby on the
Missouri River.
Mormon settlers founded
Cutler's Park in 1846, and the town of
Bellevue was incorporated in 1853. Nearby
Omaha City was founded in 1854, with
Nebraska City and
Kearney incorporated in 1855. The influential towns of
Brownville and
Fontanelle were founded that year as well. The early village of
Lancaster, later called Lincoln, was founded in 1856, along with the towns of
Saratoga, South Nebraska City and
Florence.
Early press
Early print media in the Nebraska Territory served the dual purposes of sharing the
news and promoting the area for
settlement. In 1860 the Territory had twelve weekly publications, one biweekly and one monthly, with a combined circulation of 9,750. After
statehood in 1867 the newspaper industry expanded greatly
Early military posts
With a variety of early fur trading posts,
Fort Atkinson, founded in 1819, was the location of the first military post in what became the Nebraska Territory, as well as its first school. Other posts in the Nebraska Territory included
Fort Kearny near present-day Kearney; Fort McPherson near present-day Maxwell, Nebr.; Fort Mitchell near present-day Mitchell, Nebr.; Fort Randall, in what is now South Dakota; and Fort Caspar, Fort Halleck, Fort Laramie, and Fort Sanders, in what is now Wyoming.
Boundaries
The Nebraska Territory's original boundaries (as specified by its
Organic Act) included much of the original
Louisiana Purchase; the territory's boundaries were:
Subsequent territory creation
Upon creation, the territory encompassed most of the northern
Great Plains, much of the upper Missouri River basin and the eastern portions of the northern
Rocky Mountains. The Nebraska Territory gradually reduced in size as new territories were created in the
1860s.
The
Colorado Territory was formed
February 28,
1861 from portions of the territory south of 41° N and west of 102°03' W (25° W of
Washington, DC) (an area that includes present-day
Fort Collins,
Greeley and the portions of
Boulder north of
Baseline Road.
March 2,
1861 saw the creation of the
Dakota Territory. It was made of all of the portions of Nebraska Territory north of 43° N (the present-day Nebraska-
South Dakota border), along with the portion of present-day Nebraska between 43° N and the
Keya Paha and
Niobrara rivers (this land would be returned to Nebraska in
1882). The act creating the Dakota Territory also included provisions granting Nebraska small portions of
Utah Territory and
Washington Territory — present-day southwestern
Wyoming bounded by 41° N, 110°03' W (33° W of Washington, DC), 43° N and the Continental Divide. These portions hadn't been part of the Louisiana Purchase; rather, they'd been part of
Oregon Country and became part of the United States in
1846.
On
March 3,
1863, the
Idaho Territory was formed of all the territory west of 104°03' W (27° W of Washington, DC).
Further Information
Get more info on 'Nebraska Territory'.
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