Category Archives: Uncategorized

Crazy Horse Surrenders

On May 6, 1877, Crazy Horse and nearly 900 Sioux and Cheyenne followers came into Fort Robinson, Nebraska, near present-day Crawford.  On the edge of starvation, they gave up. Crazy Horse’s surrender meant that the northern plains Indian wars had come … Continue reading

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This Noble Moses P. Kinkaid

On April 28, 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt signed a bill sponsored by Moses P. Kinkaid of O’Neill, which allowed homesteaders to claim 640 acres of land in certain parts of western Nebraska where smaller farms were impractical. Most of the … Continue reading

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The Great Sheedy Murder Trial of 1891

It was Lincoln’s most sensational criminal trial of the nineteenth century. But as historian Timothy Mahoney argues, the Sheedy case was more than just a sordid tale of murder, adultery, and greed. In “The Great Sheedy Murder Trial and the … Continue reading

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Happy Birth-Arbor-Earth Day

April 22, 1832: J. Sterling Morton is born. April 22, 1885:  The Nebraska legislature sets observation of Arbor Day, a new state holiday, on Morton’s birthday. Having moved to Nebraska Territory in 1854, Morton was an early and ardent advocate of tree planting. He proposed the … Continue reading

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One of Those Days

You think you’ve had ”one of those days”? Consider this from the 1875 Omaha Bee, available on microfilm in the newly re-opened Reference Room at the NSHS headquarters, 1500 R Street:   “Officer Hanlon went out this morning to repossess some … Continue reading

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One of Lincoln’s Final Acts

President Abraham Lincoln was shot on the evening of April 14 one hundred and forty-five years ago. He died early in the morning on the following day. Among the items found on his desk after his untimely demise was the … Continue reading

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In the Dog House

One of the many perks of my job as photograph curator is getting to examine the details revealed by our Digital Imaging Lab during the scanning process.  Take the photograph of Pete’s Dog House.  It is a great photo by … Continue reading

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Cattle Drive!

If you missed “Beef State,” a co-production of NET Television and the Nebraska State Historical Society, you’re not too late. You can order it from our Landmark Stores or watch it online. But there’s more to the story than what … Continue reading

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A Bad April Fool’s Joke

The mighty Missouri River played a nasty April Fool’s Day trick in 1865, snagging the Steamboat Bertrand and sending it and at least 250 tons of cargo to a muddy grave. Laden with merchandise for the Montana gold fields, the Bertrand … Continue reading

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Bombs Away!

                              On March 24, 1942, construction began on the Cornhusker Ordnance Plant near Grand Island. Bombs and cannon shells were produced during World War II. The … Continue reading

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