Barnes to speak about first years of Nebraska

According to Barnes, Nebraska’s approach to establishing a territory was unusual.

“We actually had a territory where an Indian chief was proclaimed as its first governor, where banks printed and passed their own money, and where women nearly first won the right to vote,” he said. “We went through a time when governors were seemingly switched every few months, and where the battle for the capital was a constant.”

The steps taken during the 1850s set the path Nebraska followed for generations to come, according to Barnes. He will share rare images, maps, and stories of the unconventional first years of Nebraska, a territory that newspapers of the day called the Queen of the Prairies.

Barnes, a former newspaper reporter and editor, lives in Omaha. He is a two-time recipient of the Nebraska Book Award, a former board trustee with the Nebraska State Historical Society, past chair of the Nebraska Hall of Fame Commission, and a speaker with Humanities Nebraska.