Ñí Brásge is what the Otoe – speaking Sioux Indians said when they spoke of the “shallow water”, namely the Platte River. That approximately 500-kilometer-long western tributary of the Missouri River. Much of the rivers of the “Great Plains” of Nebraska and the eastern Rocky Mountains of Colorado and Wyoming drain via the Platte River. This river was particularly important to the western extent of the United States, as several westbound routes taken by the settlers, such as the Oregon Trail and the Mormon Trail, passed along it. French trappers and fur hunters (trappers) also called the Platte River “Nebraska River” in the 18th century. The country was formerly known as the “Great American Desert”. In colonial times, the term “desert” was used to describe treeless and uninhabited landscapes. It didn’t matter whether it was a dry area or not. It was simply assumed that where no trees grew, no land cultivation was possible. The region was mainly grassland and steppe. According to today’s understanding, the area is no longer referred to as a “desert”. Rather, thanks to artificial irrigation systems, Nebraska is now one of the leading states in the USA in which agriculture and animal husbandry are practiced. Nebraska was part of the so-called “Louisiana Purchase” of 1803, in which the Americans bought territory from the French, stretching from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. With the “Kansas-Nebraska Act” of May 30, 1854, the “Kansas Territory” and the “Nebraska Territory” were established, and in the early 1860s the first large wave of “homesteaders” poured into the country. Under the Homestead Act, anyone who had never taken up arms against the US government (including freed slaves) could apply for 600 acres of land outside of the original 13 colonies. The prerequisite was that the land was cultivated and improved. On March 1, 1867, shortly after the end of the American Civil War, Nebraska became the 37th American state. Check topschoolsoflaw.com for brief history of the state of Nebraska.