publications

Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad

“Free Homes!” advertised the poster sent to H. F. McIntosh, editor of the Western Stockman and Cultivator in August of 1892. “Free Homes! For the Hundred Thousand on the line of the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley Railroad.” Antelope, Boyd, Holt, Rock, Brown, Cherry, Sheridan, and Dawes counties, Nebraska, were listed as the sites of free government land still available for selection. Schools, churches, courts, and “Society” were said to be already established. However, McIntosh (who was later to serve as editor of the Nebraska Farmer after its consolidation with the Western Stockman and Cultivator in 1898) was skeptical of the inducements offered to prospective settlers by the railroad and explained his point of view in the Stockman and Cultivator on August 15.



McIntosh believed the misleading poster would be widely distributed east of the Missouri River. “The whole scheme is well designed to lead honest home seekers astray, to locate them in a wilderness or to get ‘one fare for the round trip’ out of their scant savings and send them home disgusted with Nebraska.



“The facts in regard to the inducements held out in this poster are as follows:




    1. There is not a quarter section of free government land in Nebraska that will furnish a living for anything more domestic than the coyote.

    1. The counties in which this free land is advertised are made up of two kinds of soil, small fertile spots along a stream or lake and sand hills where nothing but a sparse covering of blue stem grass grows.

    1. That section of Nebraska, on its fertile soil, grows a fair crop about once in every six years and the rest of the time the settlers run neck and neck with starvation.

    1. The schools are supported mostly by taxing the mileage of the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley railroad and on school lands rented for grazing. The churches are in the straggling towns founded by the Fremont, Elkhorn & Missouri Valley road’s townsite system and are mostly mission churches. Both schools and churches would be practically unoccupied if the resident settlers could sell out.



“As for ‘courts and society;’ well, the courts flourish, and society is of the best to be found in a miserably poor and sparsely settled frontier section.”



McIntosh concluded: “Out here in Nebraska it is considered ‘bad business policy’ to tell the truth about some things. But in this case it is certainly much worse to fail to tell the truth and permit hundreds of people to be taken into a section of our state which is not farming land but merely a range country.”



 





The Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley Railroad, taken about 1905 near the Fort Robinson Depot. NSHS RG1517:38-1

Become a Member!

Our members make history happen.

Join Now

Other Publications

The Bachelors’ Protective Union of Kearney

When the Bachelors' Protective Union gave a gala reception for two of its newly married, former members and their brides in March of 1890, the social club for young, ...

U.S. Weather Bureau in 1890s Nebraska

The U.S. Weather Bureau was established by an act of Congress on October 1, 1890. It took over the weather service that had been established in the office of the Chief ...

Canning the Way to Victory

During American participation in World War I the U.S. Food Administration, under the direction of Herbert Hoover, launched a massive campaign to persuade Americans to ...

The Shoemaker’s Ashes

"Edward Kuehl, one of the most peculiar characters that ever lived in Omaha, or anywhere else, was found dead in his bed last night in the back room of his place of ...

Crazy Horse Surrender Ledger Foreward

Red Dog, an Oglala Lakota who lived at the Red Cloud Agency, Nebraska, 1876-77 (Nebraska State Historical Society RG2955.ph).   In the summer of 1876, following the ...

Darryl F. Zanuck

Darryl F. Zanuck Darryl F. Zanuck (1902-1979), a native Nebraskan, produced some of Hollywood's most important and controversial films. He helped found 20th Century Fox ...

The Burlington’s Profitable Pork Special

Nebraska railroads were much concerned with developing an adequate economy in the areas they served. The Burlington, for example, had a long history of caring for the ...

Bungalow Filling Stations

After the giant Standard Oil Company was broken into thirty-four separate companies in 1911, the newly independent Standard Oil of Nebraska dominated the state's market ...

The Bull Fight

This is the perfect time of year for a visit to the old fishin' hole. But a group of fisherfolk from Plainview discovered that this bucolic pastime sometimes has ...

Buffalo Soldiers West

African-American soldiers on the western frontier are the focus of an exhibit at the Nebraska History Museum in Lincoln. Buffalo Soldiers West, on loan from the Colorado ...

Protection for Buffalo

The extermination of the buffalo on the Plains occurred largely between 1870 and 1885. The Nebraska State Journal of Lincoln on February 1, 1874, editorialized in vain ...

Buffalo Hunting

In late October 1877 young Rolf Johnson and three friends left their homes in Phelps County, Nebraska, for a buffalo hunt in northeastern Colorado. The hunt was not very ...
About History Nebraska
History Nebraska was founded in 1878 as the Nebraska State Historical Society by citizens who recognized Nebraska was going through great changes and they sought to record the stories of both indigenous and immigrant peoples. It was designated a state institution and began receiving funds from the legislature in 1883. Legislation in 1994 changed History Nebraska from a state institution to a state agency. The division is headed by Interim Director and CEO Jill Dolberg. They are assisted by an administrative staff responsible for financial and personnel functions, museum store services, security, and facilities maintenance for History Nebraska.
Explore Nebraska
Discover the real places and people of our past at these History Nebraska sites.

Upcoming Events

View our new and upcoming events to see how you can get involved.

Become a Member

The work we do to discover, preserve, and share Nebraska's history wouldn't be possible without the support of History Nebraska members.

Latest Hall of Fame Inductee

The Nebraska Hall of Fame was established in 1961 to officially recognize prominent Nebraskans.

Listen to our Podcast

Listen to the articles and authors published in the Nebraska History Magazine with our new Nebraska History Podcast.

Nebraska Collections

History Nebraska's mission is to collect, preserve, and open our shared history to all Nebraskans.

Our YouTube Video Collection

Get a closer look at Nebraska's history through your own eyes, with our extensive video collections.

Additional Research Resources

History Nebraska Research and Reference Services help connect you to the material we collect and preserve.

Support History Nebraska
Make a cash donation to help us acquire, preserve, and interpret Nebraska’s history. Gifts to History Nebraska help leave a legacy and may help your taxes, too! Support the work of History Nebraska by donating to the History Nebraska Foundation today.

Volunteers are the heroes of History Nebraska. So much history, so little time! Your work helps us share access to Nebraska’s stories at our museums and sites, the reference room, and online.