Nebraska becomes the 37th state on March…

Nebraska becomes the 37th state on March 1, 1867, and the capital is moved from Omaha to the center at Lancaster, which will soon be renamed Lincoln after the recently assassinated U.S. President.

The United States government opens large tracts of land to agricultural development by Europeans and Americans in the 1860s, after having forced many of the native tribes to cede their lands and settle on reservations.

Under the Homestead Act, thousands of new settlers migrate into Nebraska Territory to claim free land granted by the federal government.

Because so few trees grow on the prairies, many of the first farming settlers build their homes of sod, as had the Native Americans such as the Omaha.

The first wave of settlement had given the territory a sufficient population to apply for statehood.