Farming in Lincoln County, Nebraska

Farming in Lincoln County had only limited success until the 1880s.  The 1870s witnessed severe drought, destructive grasshopper infestations, a financial depression, and violent storms that hampered agricultural productivity.  By 1880, fourteen years after the county was organized and the railroad had reached North Platte, only 119 farms operated in the county, and farmers tilled only 3 percent of the land.  Several factors contributed to the unproductive nature of farming.  This region of the Great Plains receives on average less than nineteen inches of rainfall a year, severely impeding agricultural productivity.  Moreover, the early 1870s were drier than usual.  In 1875 only 15.35 inches of rain fell on Lincoln County, while the following year the county received a scant 11.89 inches.  Grasshopper plagues struck much of Nebraska during the 1870s, further compounding the farmers' problems.  In 1874, for example, swarms descended upon Lincoln County, devouring crops, clothing, tools, and anything else they could.  In some places grasshoppers covered the ground three inches thick, and they occasionally even brought the trains to a halt.  Engines stalled on the tracks under the grease generated by the crushed bodies of thousands of grasshoppers.  An 1876 letter to the Western Nebraskian reported that "the corn crop is an entire failure at this place; grasshoppers have been here by the millions and everything is destroyed.  A great many homesteaders are preparing to leave the country; some have left already".  Fortunately, the plagues ceased after 1876. 

Those farmers who endured the tough times of the 1870s found the 1880s more rewarding.  Above-average rainfall and the construction of irrigation ditches and canals led to a dramatic increase in farm acreage.  By 1900 Lincoln County had more than two hundred miles of canals and ditches.  An added benefit for farmers was that a land office was located in North Platte in 1875, making it easier to file for a homestead or timber claim.  In 1890 the number of farms in the county had jumped to 1,283, an increase of 1,162 farms over a ten-year period.  Railroads also contributed to the increased productivity when they began to recruit settlers to purchase their immense landholdings in the county.  The Union Pacific owned approximately 42 percent of Lincoln County, and it attempted to induce settlers to buy its land.  To attract settlers, the railroad provided cheap land and exploring tickets (discounted tickets to locate land), shipped settlers' goods west at discounted rates, and provided inexpensive immigrant houses.