Kevin Abourezk: Civil War and tribal conflicts in Nebraska

Friday, April 22, 2011  

"Like Sherman marching to the sea, settlers and miners flowing into Nebraska Territory angered the region's original inhabitants.

Add to that the removal of most federal troops in the territory to fight in the Civil War, and many living in Nebraska Territory found themselves at the forefront of a brewing war with tribes by the Civil War's start in April 1861.

"This was an outgrowth of building antagonism by gold rushes and people traveling on trails," said James Potter, senior research historian for the Nebraska State Historical Society, who recently completed a book on Nebraska's role in the Civil War.

When the war began, the government withdrew federal troops from Fort Kearny, Fort Laramie and Fort Randall, all of which were within Nebraska Territory at the time, and sent them to fight in the East and South. Those forts were key outposts placed along overland trails to protect pioneers from raiding Natives.

Over the course of the war, Nebraska provided nearly 3,300 volunteers to the war effort, including two companies of Pawnee and Omaha Natives."

Get the Story:
Kevin Abourezk: Civil War a time for tribal conflict in Nebraska (The Lincoln Journal Star 4/12)