Kansas came into the Union (1861) as the seceding States went out. Though peaceful progress was arrested by the war, which kept most of her able-bodied men in the field, she, the youngest State, did her part bravely and well in that memorable conflict of arms, by the side of the older ones. She kept the name of the nation which had dwelt along her great river before the coming of the white men. With the cessation of civil strife began an era of prosperity, hardly paralleled in the history of the nation, and owing, chiefly, to the fertility of her soil, which has raised her to the front rank of agricultural States.
Nevada[1] may be said to have sprung from the side of California, though originally forming part of Utah. For a time it was known only as Washoe, from the Indians living about the east foot of the great Sierra.
A little surface gold was found here as early as 1850 by emigrants who carried the news to California. Their report brought a number of eager gold-seekers into the gulches around what has since grown up to be Virginia City, and it was while searching for gold that rich silver ores were discovered early in 1859, on Mount Davidson. Here on the eastern slope of this mountain, near the newly discovered silver lode, the town of Virginia began with a few log huts. In sixteen years it had a population of twenty-five thousand. In 1864 Nevada was admitted to the Union.
Nebraska[2] in soil and climate is quite like Kansas, though somewhat less fertile. Though opened to settlement at the same time Kansas was, emigration was mostly directed to the latter State by the slavery excitement. In 1861 the area of Nebraska was much reduced by the forming of Dakota, though it is still larger than all New England. Omaha,[3] Plattsmouth, and Nebraska City grew up as outfitting points for the commerce of the plains. All were villages in 1857. As the railway system of Iowa unerringly directed itself toward the Platte, Omaha, the capital, grew in importance; but when the terminus of the Pacific Railway was fixed there, its future was assured. From this time onward the progress of Nebraska was marked. In 1867 it came into the sisterhood of States.
Colorado was named for the great river which rises among its mountains. It was formed (1861) of portions taken from New Mexico, Utah and Kansas. Besides its mineral wealth, the raising of sheep and cattle has grown to be a great industry. In 1876 Colorado was admitted to the Union.
[1] Nevada, Spanish for "snowy," is aptly called "The Desert State." Except lead and silver it produces little or nothing. Carson, the capital, is named for Fremont's old guide. Though silver-mines were also opened in the Reese River District (Austin) the chief mineral deposits were found about Virginia City. A great rush set in there from California, where the excitement about Washoe quite rivalled, for a time, that of 1849. Here are the great Comstock, Gould and Curry and other rich silver lodes. This explains why population is chiefly concentrated in one spot in the west of the State. California is its natural outlet. In sixteen years the Comstock mines yielded over two hundred million dollars in silver bullion.
[2] Nebraska. When I visited Nebraska (April, 1858), a few settlements were begun on the Nemaha, Saline, Big Blue, and Elkhorn, but all would not have made one good-sized town. The great tide of western travel set through Independence, Kansas City, Leavenworth and St. Joseph. In 1872 the London Times openly discouraged emigration to Nebraska, urging the Red River country instead. Western Nebraska is unfertile.
[3] Omaha is six hundred miles from St. Louis by the Missouri River, five hundred from Chicago, and 1,898 from San Francisco. It has a charming site. In 1866 its population had risen to eight thousand.