Nebraska catches a lot of crap..but it's a great state Or, "chunkking found another piece of paper laying around the Ranch."

Nebraska, a beautiful part of the Great Plains, depends on agriculture. Farms and ranches cover more of Nebraska than any other state, more than 95 percent of the land. Hay is grown by and dried by the millions on millions of acres in Nebraska. It is used to feed cattle in Nebraska and elsewhere. Beef is the top farm product. The top crop is corn, giving Nebraska the nickname "The Cornhusker State". Hogs, eggs and soybeans are also top farm products.

Business based on agriculture, such as meat-packing, cereal making, and manufacturing of farm machinery, are important. Nebraska is also a leading state for insurance and banking. (ever heard of Mutual of Omaha?)

In 1854, Congress offered settlers land that it had earlier promised to Native Americans. Pioneers poured into the area. It became a state in 1867.

Today Nebraska is 36th in population, with about 1,600,000 people.

Arbor Day was started in Nebraska City to encourage tree planting.

Buffalo Bill (William Cody) started his famous Wild West Show near his ranch in North Platte. He got his nickname "Buffalo Bill" because he was so skilled at hunting Buffalo. He also fought American Indians, rode for the Pony Express, drove horses for wagon trains, and later helped found Cody, Wyoming.

The Cottonwood is the state tree.

The area, mistakenly called the "Great American Desert" by European Explorers, is one of the top farming areas in the world.

Elephant Hall, in a museum in Lincoln, has the biggest collection of elephant skeletons in the world. The biggest mammoth fossils ever discovered were found in Nebraska.

College Football is a big interest. Nebraskans joke that on home game days, the stadium in Lincoln, packed with 77,000 fans, becomes the third-biggest city in the state.

Tom Osborne (1927- )is probably the most famous man in Nebraska. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000. He won his fame as the University of Nebraska head football coach from 1973 to 1997. His coaching record at Nebraska is the fifth-best in national football history. His team wond three national championships. Before that, he was a high school and college football star in his hometown of Hastings. He played two seasons of pro football. He also has a doctorate in educational psychology.

The Great Platte River Road Archway Monument grabs travelers' attention near Kearney. Inside are exhibits about this area as the gateway to the West.

Hay bales were used to build the only church in the U.S. made of this unusual building material.

Many Indian tribes native to the area were forced out by the U.S. government. At the same time, others were pushed into Nebraska.

The westward journey of Meriweather Lewis and William Clark in 1804 took these explorers up the Missouri River. The Missouri River makes up the eastern border of Nebraska.

Kool-Aid was invented by Edwin Perkins in 1927 in Hastings. He changed his soft drink syrup, Fruit Smack, into a powder to make it easier to ship.

Lincoln is the state capital and second-largest city, with about 225,000 people.

The Western Meadowlark is the state bird.

The Niobrara is one of the top canoeing rivers in the country. It has more than 90 waterfalls.

Omaha is the biggest city, with about 340,000 people. It is one of the top railroad, meat-packing and telemarketing center (okay, it ain't perfect) of the country.

The Oregon, Mormon and California trails followed the Platte River on their way west.

The Great Plains is a large, mostly flat area of grassland prairie in the center of the continent. Nebraska is a Great Plains State.

The Platte River was called the "Nebraska," meaning "flat water," by Native Americans. It's depth rises and falls depending on the amount of recent rain or snow. It is usually too shallow for boats. "A mile wide, and half-a-foot deep."

The High Plains Aquifer is a big underground layer of rocks and other materials that are filled with water. Most of this aquifer is beneath Nebraska, giving it more underground water than any other state.

Many ranches are giant-sized, covering more than 100,000 acres.

The Sandhills are the biggest grass-covered sand dunes in the Western Hemisphere. The cover about one-fourth of the state. Only the Sahara and the Arabian deserts have bigger areas of sand.

Tornadoes, hailstorms and blizzards often threaten Nebraska. (fortunately, it's so damn flat you can usually see them coming from a long way off).

The Unicameral is the name of the only state legislature with only one branch. All other states have two branches, usually a senate and a house of representatives. The Unicameral is also different in that when candidates run for office, they do not run on a certain party's ticket.

Valentine, a small town of about 3,000 people, gets many requests for cards postmarked from the town on February 14th.

Second Wind Ranch, near Comstock, has more water-pumping windmills (about 125) gathered together than any other place on Earth.

Sioux, Pawnee, Cheyenne, Missouri, Omaha and Ponca Indians were some of the first people to live in the area.

Twice-yearly migrations of millions of cranes, ducks and geese turn the Platte River area into an amazing sight.

The Henry Doorly Zoo in Omaha has the world's biggest indoor rain forest exhibit.

Some other famous people from Nebraska:
Chief Redcloud (1822-1909) was the chief of the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) tribe that followed the buffalo across the Great Plains. He was the only Native American to win a big war agianst the U.S. He won important treaties protecting his people's land. he later became an important diplomat from the Lakota to the U.S. government. Unfortunately, the U.S. later broke many of their treaties. This proud warrior died on a reservation.

Will Cather (1873-1947) wrote 12 books about pioneer life in Nebraska and the Southwest. Many of her books including "My Antonia" have been made into movies. Her book "One of Ours" won the Pulitzer Prize. She lived in Red Cloud (named for Chief Red Cloud) as a child. Later, she became a managing editor of a national magazine, an unusual honor for a woman in 1910.

Johnny Carson (1925- ) though born in Iowa, grew up in Norfolk. His first job in show business was when he was 14, doing magic tricks in Nebraska as "The Great Carsoni". Before hosting the "Tonight" show, he wrote comedy programs for radio and TV, then had his own comedy shows and hosted a game show. Carson is one of the world's most famous comedians and hoste the "Tonight" show for about 30 years.

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