History, Department of
Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research
First Advisor
James C. Olson
Date of this Version
5-1963
Document Type
Dissertation
Citation
A thesis presented to the faculty of the Graduate College in the University of Nebraska in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Department of History
Under the supervision of Dr. James C. Olson
Lincoln, Nebraska, May 1963
Abstract
Preface (excerpted)
The primary purpose of this study is tto trace the development of irrigation in Nebraska from the organization of the state as a territory in 1854 through the rest of the nineteenth century. This period covers the first four stages through which irrigation progressed: individualistic, corporate, district, and state. A brief discussion of the North Platte Project is included, however, in order to carry the story into the fifth and final stage--the development of irrigation with Federal aid, as provided for in the Reclamation Act of 1902.
The emphasis of this work is on the irrigation movement and its backgrounds rather than on the various irrigation enterprises. A few projects, however, are discussed in some detail, illustrating the problems which the pioneer irrigators faced and how they sought to solve them.
Included in
Agronomy and Crop Sciences Commons, Fresh Water Studies Commons, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine Commons, United States History Commons, Water Resource Management Commons