Railroads encouraged settlers to move to Nebraska, and had a tremendous impact on settlement. As homesteaders were getting land, the government was also granting large tracts of land to railroads. The goal was to encourage the railroads to build their tracks where few people lived, and to link the eastern and western coasts. Approximately 16 percent of Nebraska's total land mass was given to various railroad companies. Thousands of pioneers traveled to and through Nebraska in covered wagons, but after the first railroad was completed across the state in 1867, thousands more took the train. The Oregon Trail was gradually abandoned.

Learn more at NebraskaStudies.org.