The first humans in Nebraska were the many nomadic Indigenous tribes of the Great Plains, such as the Lakota, Omaha, Oto, Pawnee, Ponca, and Winnebago, who followed the seasons and the great waterways and free land of Nebraska, but had no concept of land ownership in Nebraska or elsewhere. Nebraska’s many rivers proved ideal for fishing, and the rolling plains were used for hunting buffalo, elk, and deer.

Among the most famous Native Nebraskans is Chief Standing Bear of the Ponca tribe, who, in 1879, became the first Native American acknowledged as having the basic human rights laid out under the U.S. Constitution, and after being forcefully removed from their reservation land in Knox County, Nebraska, and resettled in Oklahoma, successfully led his people back to their ancient tribal grounds.

Europeans first began exploring the free land in Nebraska in 1682, when René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle, traveled along the Missouri River, from its drainage into the Mississippi River at present day St. Louis, Missouri, to its confluence with the Platte River, at present day Plattsmouth, Nebraska. Cavelier named the river Nebraskier, an indigenous word meaning “flat water.” Indeed, the river runs shallow and wide, with plenty of sand barges. “Platte,” the river’s name today, also means “flat,” in French, and indeed it is a wide, shallow river that travels the length of Nebraska and became a major highway for explorers and settlers who would follow.

Lewis and Clark passed through the lands of Nebraska on their famous expedition, following the Missouri River along the Eastern and Northeastern contours of the state. History lovers can visit many of the Nebraska campsites where the expedition stayed in the summers of 1804 and 1806.

Fur traders and homesteaders began living in the lands of Nebraska, with millions more simply passing through along the California, Mormon, and Oregon trails, all of which followed the same path westward along the Platte River before diverging at the Rocky Mountains. Those pioneers who stayed in Nebraska lived in sod houses, which, as the name implies, were crafted out of thick layers of dirt to keep out the ravaging weather.