Located in both the Great Plains and the Midwestern United States, between South Dakota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Colorado, and Wyoming, Nebraska is characterized by treeless prairie (ideal for cattle-grazing), and is a major producer of beef, as well as pork, corn, and soybeans. The climate has wide variations between winter and summer temperatures, and violent thunderstorms and tornadoes are common. Its capital is Lincoln, and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River.
Indigenous peoples, including the Omaha, Missouria, Ponca, Pawnee, Otoe, and various branches of the Lakota (Sioux), lived in the region of present-day Nebraska for thousands of years before European exploration. In the 1690s, Spain established trade connections with the Apaches, and in 1703 France had developed a regular trade along the Missouri River. The armed expedition dispatched by Spain in 1720 was destroyed by a large force of Pawnees and Otoes, both allied to the French.
In 1762, during the Seven Years' War, France ceded the Louisiana territory to Spain. Because the British were trading with the native peoples, Spain dispatched two trading expeditions up the Missouri in 1794 and 1795, which established the first European settlement in Nebraska near the mouth of the Platte River. In 1819, the United States established Fort Atkinson as the first US Army post west of the Missouri River. The California Gold Rush brought the first large numbers of non-indigenous settlers to the area.
In 1854, the US Congress created the Kansas and the Nebraska territories. The Nebraska Territory included parts of the current states of Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, and Montana. In the 1860s, after the US government forced the Native American tribes to cede their lands, it opened large tracts of land to agricultural development. The largest ancestry group claimed by Nebraskans is German American. The state also has the largest per capita population of Czech Americans.
Nebraska became the 37th state in 1867, and the capital was moved from Omaha to the center at Lancaster, later renamed Lincoln. The vast prairie land and the invention of several farming technologies enabled settlers to make use of Nebraska as prime farming land. By the 1880s, its population had soared to more than 450,000 people.In the late 19th century, many African Americans migrated from the South to Nebraska as part of the Great Migration. Omaha has a long history of civil rights activism.
About the stamps
Two of the stamps, depicting Lady Beetle and Yellow Garden Spider, are part of the series Insects and Spiders, about which I wrote here. The third stamp, dedicated to Carmen Miranda (1909-1955), is part of the series Latin Music Legends, about which I wrote here.
The last three stamps are part of the series Border birds and animals, designed by Stanley Galli and issued on June 10, 1978, to commemorate the Canadian International Philatelic Exhibition held in Toronto that year. All eight stamps have the same face values (13¢), and the minisheets have a bilingual message signed by the US Postmaster General; "This tribute features wildlife that share the Canadian - United States border."
• Common Cardinal
• Mallard
• Canada Goose
• Blue Jay
• Elk
• Least Chipmunk - It's on the postcard 2044
• Red Fox - It's on the postcard 2044
• Common Racoon - It's on the postcard 2044
References
Nebraska - Wikipedia
Sender: Denise
Sent from Greenvale (New York / United States), on 23.02.2015
Artwork by David Lumbke
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