Enter Nebraska

Explorers in Nebraska

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Although Native Americans have inhabited Nebraska for thousands of years the first Europeans to visit the area brought new innovations, ideas, and deals. But they also brought disease, a hunger for resources, and a disregard for the Native peoples that led to many of their deaths.

Francisco Vásquez de Coronado

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Francisco Vásquez de Coronado was more than likely the first European to set foot on Nebraska soil. During the 1500's Spain had launched an expedition to explore the Americas. Coronado was stationed in New Mexico and was brutal to the Pueblo Indians who lived there. Hoping to convince him and his soldiers to leave the Indians began to speak of a city of gold called Quivira. They said this city was far to the north beyond where any European had gone before. Coronado, believing these stories, left to explore with 40 of his soldiers and an Indian scout. They traveled for weeks and when they had long past where the so-called city of gold was located he was infuriated. He strangled the Indian scout and returned to New Mexico. During his employment in the Spanish military horses had been introduced to Native Americans. Greatly changing their way of life.

Étienne de veniard, sieur de Bourgmont

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After Spain's great success in settling Mexico, France decided they wanted a piece of the action. But their approach was much different. Instead of conquering they made alliances with the Native Americans and offered them goods in exchange for furs and other things only the Indians had the knowledge to attain. Thus, in 1714 a French explorer named Bourgmont led an expedition to the mouth of the Platte River. He named the river after the Oto word meaning "flat water". He helped negotiate several treaties with the Indians and set up several trading partners.

Pedro de Villasur

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By the 1720's the French relations with the Indians were going so smoothly that Spaniards were curious as to what exactly they were doing. The result of this interest was an expedition led by Pedro de Villasur. Villasur was sent to Nebraska to spy on the French and Indian trades. He gathered 40 soldiers and 60-70 Indian allies and went off on his expedition. In August of 1720 Villasur arrived at the Platte River. He tried to negotiate with Indians but the French had cut them off warning them about the Spaniards. They had told the Indians stories of how the Spaniards had conquered most of southern North America which made the Indians weary of any relations with them. In a valley near a Pawnee village Villasur and his companions made camp. That night a band of Indians and possibly French attacked the camp. Although most of the Indians had left before-hand the majority of the Spaniards were killed, including Villasur.

Meriwether Lewis and William Clark

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Perhaps the most famous of all the expeditions in the Americas was the Corps of Discovery led by Lewis and Clark in 1804. The main goal of this expedition was to find connecting rivers that would link the two oceans together, thus opening a trade route to Asia. Another side-goal was to establish relations with native tribes in the area. The journey was predicted to take a year but actually spanned the length of two and a half. The only person on the trip to die was Sergeant Floyd from what is now believed to be appendicitis. The only female on this journey was an Indian woman they hired to help them along the way named Sacagawea who proved useful an innumerable amount of times throughout the trip. The expedition made their way to Oregon where they stayed for awhile, eventually they made it home. On September 23 of 1806 the Corps of Discovery arrived at St. Louis. This was a surprise for the entire nation as they believed the party had been killed at some point or another during their dangerous journey.

Zebulon Pike

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Lewis and Clarks expedition inspired many explorers to follow in their footsteps. The first of them was Lieutenant Zebulon Pike under order from the territorial governor of Louisiana, James Wilkinson. The Spanish were already fairly ticked about Lewis and Clark's expedition as they still believed they owned parts of the Louisiana territory. Therefore they sent soldiers to a Pawnee village with orders to stop Pike's party and send them back. But luckily Pike had been delayed and the Spanish found no trace of him. When Pike did make it to this village the Indians there tried to get them to turn back but eventually let them pass. Pike then went to present day Colorado where he was arrested by the Spanish and taken to Sante Fe where he was eventually released. He was the first to take up the notion that Nebraska was a desert despite the fact he hardly even set foot into the area. His views affected movement into the area for decades.

Stephen H. Long

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Major Stephen H. Long of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers led many expeditions throughout the central United States. The most famous was his first in 1819 where he met up with General Henry Atkinson and the Yellowstone Expedition. His part included several scientists who studied the geography and natural resources of the area. Although Long was with some of the most brilliant minds of the time neither he nor his companions realized Nebraska's true potential as an agricultural state. He even went so far as the say that the land was "unfit for cultivation and of course uninhabitable by a people depending on agriculture". He suggested the label "Great American Desert" for the area and it stuck. For years this label pushed away many potential settlers from the area.

John C. Fremont "The Great Pathfinder"

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Back in the 1800's, maps of any use were hard to come by. Especially ones for the new land to the west. The result of this was the government hiring map and chart makers to survey the area. In particular the government sought the help of Lieutenant John C. Fremont to survey the area of the Oregon Trail. His 1842 expedition is thought to be his most important as it outlined the Platte River, South Pass route that would later be used to reach both Oregon and California. Fremont is renowned even today for his skill in mapmaking with the now seemingly primitive tools he had back in those day his maps were still extremely accurate, hence the name "The Great Pathfinder". Fremont was different from other explorers in that he saw Nebraska for what it really was. He noticed the rich soil and the wide expanses of land. He suggested to the government to urge travelers to start settling the area but they wouldn't heed his advice for another decade or two. While Fremont was not the first or the last to explore the Platte River route his maps helped thousands of settlers make the journey west to the Oregon and California territories.