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A river runs through it

In Nebraska, a state whose history intertwines with the Platte River, a 3-year-old drought has affected almost every resident.

The Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of our young nation. Here is the 14th in a series of articles reporting, state by state, what the Louisiana Purchase represents today.

OMAHA - A mountain lion was captured last October near one of the busiest intersections of Omaha, a community with more than 357,000 people and, as such, Nebraska's largest city.

The mountain lion - he was ultimately put in the city's zoo - caused quite a stir because there are no mountains in Nebraska.

Chances are, there has not been such a critter seen in these parts since shortly after Meriwether Lewis and William Clark ventured along the Missouri River in 1804 with the Corps of Discovery, spending more than 140 winter days as they sought a Northwest Passage through part of the Louisiana Purchase.

Speculation on how the mountain lion came to this metropolis was rampant. Perhaps the most logical explanation is that the young male (it weighed 108 pounds and was an estimated 18 months old) was chased out of the Rocky Mountains by its elders.

The zoo's director said it was possible the mountain lion followed the Platte River from the mountains more than 500 miles to just south of Omaha. How and why the cat got here led to the recounting of many stories, some true and some not, about the Platte. The truth is good enough, because Nebraska's past and present are tied to that river:

The name of the state is actually derived from the Otoe Indian word Nebrathka, which means flat water. The white pioneers borrowed the word to name the territory because they often said the Platte was "a mile wide and an inch deep."

The river comes into the western part of the state from Wyoming (when it is called the North Platte) and Colorado (the South Platte). Both streams originate in the Rocky Mountains and join near the town of North Platte, Neb., long a major hub on the Union Pacific Railroad.

For years before the railroad, though, the Platte served as a guide for the covered-wagon travelers who ventured westward along the Oregon, California and Mormon Trails. The riverbanks also directed the Pony Express riders. Wagon trains and single riders all followed the Platte because it meant water was close by.

The pioneers wrote in their diaries of how easy it was to cross where the river ran especially shallow. But sometimes, the river was an enemy: Cholera, which could be spread by waterborne contamination, was responsible for deaths of many early travelers. A number of pioneers are buried in the soil of Nebraska.

Today, the Platte is still a factor in transportation, for Interstate 80 crosses the state roughly following the river's course, and the Union Pacific Railroad, with its headquarters in Omaha, sends trains through Nebraska near this meandering stream.

Not all of the pioneers or train passengers kept on going through the Nebraska Territory; enough of them settled here to create farms so that agriculture is still the No. 1 segment of the economy. It is even called the Cornhusker State.

Farmers and ranchers produce corn, wheat, milo and soy beans. Likewise, they raise cattle, hogs, horses and some sheep.

As such, Omaha is home to the ConAgra Foods corporation, a major food producer with products such as Healthy Choice and Orville Redenbacher's popcorn, and the Omaha Steaks company.

But there has been diversification, too. For instance, Omaha is the home of STRATCOM, formerly the Strategic Air Command. This is headquarters for operations of the Air Force's nuclear force.

On a more down-to-earth note, the city is also a major center for telemarketing.

One of the biggest issues facing Nebraska today, and it has an effect on nearly every one of Nebraska's 1.71-million residents, is the drought, now more than 3 years old.

Many have been driven off the land after generations of working it because they couldn't produce crops. Others had arranged for regular irrigation, and again, this is where the Platte River becomes part of the picture:

Water diverted from it, such as in the Central Nebraska Power and Irrigation District, provides needed moisture in order to continue farm production in dry years.

But between the drought and falling agricultural prices, small towns and villages - some with as few as 50 residents - are hurting. Their back-of-the-store post offices have closed because the retail side of the business has failed.

In many of these small rural towns, the demographics are skewed: Younger people have moved away to find work in cities. That explains why Lincoln and Omaha continue to grow.

Left behind are those too old to hold steady jobs or those willing to maintain the family farm, even if they can't work the fields or have sold the livestock.

No one knows how this shift in jobs and population will play out. Some former farm towns have kept going by offering antiques to collectors.

Not that everyone is moping. Except for a recent decline in their storied success, one of the prime publicity generators for the state has been the University of Nebraska's football teams.

There are other college teams in Nebraska: Minot State's Randy Hedberg even started a few games for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1977.

But when the Cornhuskers play a home game in Lincoln, a typical comment by visiting sportscasters is that the influx of 78,000-plus red-clad fans makes the stadium the state's third-largest city.

The team is so popular that it was hardly a contest when the school's most-successful coach and winner of three national championships, Tom Osborne, ran for Congress four years after retiring.

Osborne, who holds a doctorate in educational psychology, was elected as a Republican, and the state's voters usually vote Republican in presidential elections. But the Nebraska Legislature is unique among the states because it is unicameral, meaning there is a single house: the state senate. Also, election of the 49 senators is nonpartisan.

All of this is the product of a hardworking Nebraskan who called himself a "New Deal Republican," U.S. Sen. George W. Norris.

Although Nebraska had a two-house legislature after its admission to the union on March 1, 1867, Norris crisscrossed the state in the 1930s to convince folks that two houses - and partisan politics - were a waste of time and money.

He convinced Nebraskans to make the radical changes and, in 1937, the unicameral legislature opened its first session.

Nebraska claims another political first: the first state to have two women run against each other for governor. It happened in 1986, and Kay Orr, a Republican, defeated Helen Boosalis, a Democrat.

None of that special history does much to make folks feel good when they are facing the continuing drought. And last summer, even the Platte River went dry in several locations, further damaging agriculture and the environment.

But Nebraskans generally are optimists. They look forward to better times, and more water in the Platte.

James Denney has retired after 37 years as a writer-photographer for the Omaha World-Herald.

Nebraskaland Days in North Platte celebrate the farm and the ranch. Food events are popular - this June there are separate meals dedicated to pork, prime rib, bratwurst, chili and flapjacks - but there also will be rodeos, parades, rock and country concerts, and the Cowboy/Businessman Golf Tournament.

Dates this year are June 11 to 20 and 24 to 26. For more information, go to www.nebraskalanddays.com call 308 532-7939 or e-mail to nld@nebraskalanddays.com

The River City Roundup in Omaha celebrates its 22nd year in September. There will be professional rodeo competition, a 4-H livestock show and the concert headliner is Reba McEntire.

The Roundup takes place Sept. 22-26. For more information, go to www.rivercityroundup.org/welcome.asp or call 402 554-9610.

Lewis and Clark thought they had found a volcano in Nebraska. The site, called the Ionia Volcano, is 5 miles north of Newcastle. Geologists think the soil became heated when iron pyrite beds came in contact with water. But that doesn't make it a volcano, the scientists say.

Nebraska Sand Hills. According to professor Steven Dutch of the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay, about a quarter of Nebraska is covered by the sand hills. While there are dunes, much of the land is covered by vegetation and there are small ponds between the sandy area.

Platte River. Play wagon-train pioneer and follow it from east to west. Or view it south of Omaha, where the Platte meets Nebraska's eastern boundary, the Missouri River.

Girls and Boys Town. Spencer Tracy brought national fame to the original Boys Town when he portrayed Father Edward Flanagan in the 1938 film Boys Town. Father Flanagan had created the facility, just northwest of Omaha, in 1917 to care for abused boys. Since then, the mission has been expanded to 16 sites in 12 states and the District of Columbia. Visitors are welcome to tour the main facility, in the village of Boys Town; for details go to www.girlsandboystown.org/aboutus/locations/homecampus/index.asp

Lincoln during an autumn Saturday when there is a home football come.

The Missouri River during a flood.

STRATCOM (formerly the Strategic Air Command) during a terrorist alert.

Chances R, a family restaurant in York, features all things Nebraskan: steaks, chicken, pork. . . . It is at 124 W Fifth St.; (402) 362-7755.

Former President Gerald R. Ford was born in Nebraska though he was reared in Michigan. Willa Cather received the Pulitzer Prize in the 1920s for her novel One of Ours.

Late last year, Gov. Mike Johanns was successful in getting the U.S. Agriculture Department to declare that 92 of the state's 93 counties had suffered at least 30 percent production loss in at least one major agricultural commodity. These declarations are a requirement to obtain emergency low-interest federal loans. However, dry conditions persist, especially in the western part of the state and reservoirs are low.

With summer temperatures sometimes boiling above 100 and sinking below zero in winter, Nebraskans often say: "If you don't like today's weather, wait until tomorrow."

On the Web

Readers can find the articles in our series on the Louisiana Purchase, which ends this month, by going to the Web site www.sptimes.com/lapurchase There are links to the installments and interactive features.