A Brief History of Nebraska

by Ronald C. Naugle

This book is a short treatment of a long history. Nebraska has been inundated by ancient seas, carved by glaciers, and settled by ancient cultures who learned to survive in a land prone to extremes of climate. As a state, Nebraska was born out of the Civil War, shaped by railroads, and built by immigrants. Settlers were drawn by promises of free land and abundant rain. They endured droughts and economic depressions. They fought for political reforms, fought world wars, and sometimes fought each other. Along the way Nebraskans chose a unique form of government and re-invented their communities under new conditions. A Brief History of Nebraska is a story of continual change, the back story of the place and people we know today.

144 pages, Paperback

Published June 1, 2018

Reviews

[Courtney B · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good supplement to the unabridged version. In general, this book does a good job of pulling the most interesting parts of the longer version. The chronology is different in this book than the original, sometimes in a way that is nonsense. Paragraph transitions are weak at times. Would have liked a stronger chronology/topic sentences/argument.

[Bert van der Vaart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this book reminded me of the quote ascribed to Mark Twain: "I wrote you a 19 page letter because I did not have time to write you a three page letter." In A Brief History of Nebraska, Naugele has written a superb 3 page letter about a fascinating state about which few people outside of Nebraska know anything about. Having now spent a week on holiday here, I can say that there are few states that are as conscious of their unique and hard path--now more than 150 years since statehood.

Nor does Naugele gloss over the shameful treatment by the local Nebraskans and even worse the US Federal government of the Native Americans who were variously coerced into signing treaties which the US government seemed never interested in complying with. Despite a few exceptions where a federal judge actually found in favor of both defining a native American chief as a "person" with standing in a law suit to recover land "granted" to him and his people by a Treaty subsequently ignored, the clear lesson from the 19th century was that the US government was willfully arbitrary and capricious in its dealing with Native Americans.

Naugele also paints a fascinating picture of corruption in Omaha as big bosses, and notably the founder of the Union Pacific railroads were just as able for an extended period of ignoring Washington DC's instructions in terms of where and how, and who should own, the railroad built from Omaha to meet Leland Stanford's Western Pacific railroad tracks meeting up in Utah to form the first transcontinental railroad. No surprise that people are corrupt and that esp when Nebraska was a long way from its development the world had nasty, brutish and short attributes. But all capably summarized by Mr Naugle.

Among other noteworthy vignettes:

1) George Norris and his support of Nebraska's unicameral legislature (to avoid what Norris saw in Washington, where the committees "reconciling" Senate and House of Rep versions of a bill presented a huge opportunity for lobbyists and outright cheating (Schumer's infamous "missing page amendment" comes to mind);
2) the significant Scandinavian and German populations homesteading in Nebraska and the legal prohibitions post WWI and during WWII to forbid foreign language instruction to these communities;
3) even the appearance of the KKK in the 1920s and 1930s, and the lynching that took place.

All in all, a checkered history where abuse of power (whether by US government, local government, local "big bosses" and local mobs all played less than glorious roles, and where one hankers after transparency, equality before the law, and the community spirit otherwise a consistent theme among the pioneers of Nebraska, and one we saw in evidence in today's Nebraska.

Two final comments:

1) I hope other states have "Brief Histories" as well done as Naugel's--we would love to visit states that do;
2) As clear as Naugle is in decrying the mal-actions taken, he is also excellent in describing the local contexts which constituted the fertile grounds for such actions. Perhaps a good lesson before we take down all statues of men and women still standing.

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book and read it on a trip to Nebraska, a state I had never visited. Nebraska is also a state I really have no interest in visiting again. As far as history goes, there really is not that much history i in Nebraska. It appears to be mainly a pass-through state, from the time of the Oregon trail and to this day with the interstate crossing directly from one side to the other. The pivot sprinkler was invented by a Nebraskan, yet it appears to be being overused to grow corn in this state, and the aquifer that is under the entire state is being depleted severely, and if Nebraska does not change its irrigation use, it will eventually be depleted and Nebraska will return to the dustbowl and drought state that it originally was. Also apparently Nebraskans really don't like to pay taxes, and their roads and infrastructure show it. I do appreciate the author's concise approach to this book.

[Matt Zalman · Rating 2 out of 5]

While I love Nebraska, there were a lot of facts in this book, but not a lot of story. There is just so much more to this great state than this book dives into.

[Katrin V · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great overview with short chapters.

[J.M. Hushour · Rating 4 out of 5]

Project Read-a-History-of-Every-State-in-Order-of-Statehood #37