How so many German immigrants arrived in Nebraska
6 min readMar 27, 2023
The 1870s and 1880s were boom periods for settling new pioneer families in Nebraska. Especially the Germans. Some of the first settlers to Nebraska arrived in covered wagons, having used the 2,170-mile route of the Oregon Trail. It could be said that more German came to America than the Irish, or Scotch-Irish!
The Incentive
In 1862, during the Civil War, the Homestead Act offered families 160-acre parcels of land in the west in exchange for building on and farming the land for five years. Cattle ranching was the main…
