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Parallel Tracks, Same Terminus The Role Of Nineteenth, Century Newspapers And Railroads In The Settlement Of Nebraska, Charlyne Berens, Nancy Mitchell

Great Plains Quarterly

Nebraskans of the early twenty-first century have had few encounters with railroads. Passenger trains are nearly extinct, and freights run over only a few main lines. But without the railroads that began to crisscross Nebraska in the 1860s, it may have taken years for significant settlement to reach throughout the territory that became a state in 1867. As history unfolded, Nebraska became a state more rapidly than expected. Against a backdrop of threats from competing railroads, extreme weather conditions, and remnants of Civil War politics, two key institutions led settlers into the new state: the railroads and the newspapers. The …