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The article investigates why Kearney, Nebraska is regarded as located 1,733 miles from Frisco, Texas and Boston, Massachusetts. Kearney measured 1,752 miles from San Francisco, California and 1,632 miles from New York City, New York, according to the 1915 Lincoln Highway guide, placing the midpoint of the highway sixty miles west of town. A possible explanation for the 1733 figure, along with information on the history of the 1733 Ranch in Kearney is presented.

The cover story discusses the history of the creation of maps for Nebraska from 1866 through 1871, with a particular focus on devising county boundaries in the state. The role that the Nebraska legislature played in the state's county formations, including in regard to the role that the 1854 U.S. Kansas-Nebraska Act played in delegating power to the Nebraska territorial legislature to create districts and counties, is discussed. An overview of legislative bills on county formation, including in regard to the bill H.R. 104's becoming law, is provided.

The article discusses cowboys and open-range ranching in Nebraska Territory during the mid-to-late 19th century. It discusses the driving of Texas cattle to Nebraska Territory, ranchers such as John Bratt, and investment in ranching by Nebraskans including William F. Cody, Frank North, and the Creighton family. It also examines the establishment of railheads in Nebraska, the sociological backgrounds of Nebraska cowboys, and the social conditions of cowboys. The article also describes roundups.

The article focuses on the history of the Miss Nebraska beauty pageant and the experiences of the 1972 winner Jeanine Giller. The authors provide an overview of the history of American beauty pageants, including the controversies and politics involved with the competitions. They discuss the feminist protests that took place at beauty pageants during the 1960s and 1970s, examine Giller's role in Nebraska pageant culture, and explore how Giller brought publicity to Nebraska during her time spent at the 1973 Miss America pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey.

The article discusses homesteading folk songs from the U.S. Great Plains, and particularly Nebraska, from 1854 to 1905, including anthems, laments, and political songs. It comments on optimistic themes as well as themes of hardship and uncertainty. The author reflects on the context of the U.S. Homestead Act of 1862 which opened western and midwestern lands in the U.S. to settlers, and he explores the political climate of the 1890s. Several specific songs, including the anthem "Song of the Kansas Emigrants" by John Greenleaf Whittier, are analyzed.

The article discusses a demonstration of electric lighting given at the 1898 Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition in Omaha, Nebraska. Particular focus is given to the process of planning and installing the display and to visitors' reactions. According to the author, the fair's unique use of electric lighting helped it to promote the Western U.S.'s claim to technological advancement. Details on the power plant used to fuel the display are also presented. Other topics include a display on the machinery used to produce electricity and the use of electricity at other fairs and expositions.

The article discusses the relationship between the rural communities surrounding Mead, Nebraska and the construction of an Atlas nuclear intercontinental missile (ICBM) base in the region from 1958 to 1962. An overview of the communities surrounding Mead's acceptance of the site for the Atlas missile base, including for reasons of economic gain and patriotism, are discussed. The relationship between the nuclear threat that the Soviet Union posed to the U.S. during the Cold War, the construction of the nuclear missile base near Mead and the importance of the U.S.'s nuclear force the Strategic Air Command (SAC) is also discussed.

The article discusses the efforts to preserve the historic warehouse district of Omaha, Nebraska known as Jobbers Canyon, which is listed on the U.S.'s National Register of Historic Places. An overview of Jobbers Canyon's historical significance, including the role it played in Omaha's wholesale industry and in the city's commercial development, is provided. The relationship between Omaha business enterprises and the city's urban decline since 1990 is discussed. An overview of the dispute between the packaged foods company ConAgra Foods and preservationists in the late 1980s, including the former's efforts to start a development project in Jobbers Canyon, is provided.

The article discusses the Ladies Library Association of Beatrice, Nebraska, focusing on the activities of librarian Clara Bewick Colby in the 1870s. It examines efforts by the society to recruit members and acquire books. The author comments on library finances and the library's subscription system. She notes the opening of the library in 1873 and its reading room in 1878. The article also explores the relationship between the library and the temperance movement, considering competition from the reading room of Beatrice's Red Ribbon Club, a temperance group.

The article discusses the U.S. Army's lack of horses in the Great Plains campaigns of the U.S. Civil War, focusing on the period 1864-1865. It examines the responses of the military leadership to the need for horses and comments on rations and conditions for cavalry horses. The author reflects on escorts for mail coaches and explores the impressment of horses by the military. He considers the First Nebraska Volunteer Cavalry regiment and discusses several leaders in the U.S. Army, including Major General John Pope, Major General Grenville M. Dodge, and Brigadier General Patrick Edward Connor.

The article discusses relations between whites and Oglala Lakota Indians in the potato industry of Box Butte County, Nebraska from 1917 to 1960. It particularly comments on the town of Alliance. The author examines racial tensions, prejudices, and stereotypes as well as instances of cooperation and understanding. He reflects on wages and living conditions among Lakota migrant laborers, noting that many lived in tents. Other topics include alcoholism among Lakota Indians and the effects of World War I, the Great Depression, and World War II on the potato industry.

The article discusses the training and careers of physicians Joe E. Holoubek and his wife Alice Baker. It examines their long distance courtship and analyzes their letters as historical sources on medical and clinical education in the 1930s. The author compares Holoubek's education at the University of Nebraska College of Medicine in Omaha, Nebraska with Baker's experience at the Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans, Louisiana. She also notes that both physicians suffered from illnesses during their medical internships at University Hospital in Omaha and at Charity Hospital in New Orleans.

The essay discusses the relationship between prominent African American abolitionist Frederick Douglass and his possible sister, former slave Ruth Cox Adams (aka Harriet Bailey). The author dismisses the possibility that Adams and Bailey were two different people. Emphasis is given to Adams' time in Nebraska, the biographical works of Douglass, including "Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass," and Douglass' views on African American emigration to Haiti.

The article presents a transcription of portions of a diary from 1865, chronicling the life of a U.S. Army Cavalryman stationed in Nebraska at the end of the Civil War. An introductory overview is given describing the life and career of Fist Nebraska Volunteer Private August Scherneckau, highlighting his post as a guard of the communication lines and travel lanes of the region. Accounts are given from the diary relating descriptions of the area, several missions he was assigned, and the conditions of his unit and life on the frontier.

The author retraces the legacy of Federal Writers' Project in Nebraska, an organization that fostered talents in the arts, particularly in literature. The organization has fostered the careers of writers like Saul Bellow, Studs Terkel, Richard Wright and choreographer Katherine Dunham. Using the group's 1939 publication, "Nebraska: Guide to the Cornhusker State," the author found difficulty in locating data about the group due to the state's appointment of incompetent people to handle its affairs. For example, the appointment of Rudolph Umland to editorial responsibilities proved detrimental for the group. Umland has had no editing experience.

The article briefly discusses a short period around the start of the 20th century during which celery growing was popular in the area of Kearney, Nebraska, in the Platte River Valley. One of the first celery farmers in the state, Joseph H. Black, is discussed, as is the growing popularity of the crop in the 1890s and 1900s, and its decline after national companies started growing other varieties elsewhere. Also included is a 1904 photograph of the Platte River Valley celery farm of William L. Keller.

A photograph of the O. W. Parr and X. D. Johnson Auto Livery in Merna, Nebraska in 1910 is presented.