Changeful parture of people for other localities. rainfall has controlled somewhat the pursuits of people by leading settlers to use lands for grazing instead of farming. One of the most interesting features of western Nebraska life is the efforts of the settlers to overcome this control of their pursuits by the weather. The whole surface of the state is covered by a very rich soil, and all that is lacking is the certainty of water at the growing season. Irrigation is being studied and tried in more than two-thirds of the counties IRRI- of our state. In those localities where it TION is being tried on a large scale and where it forms a very important part of the life of the people, it may no doubt be shown in a few years that this has had a very important effect upon manners and customs. GA LEVEL The absence of hills and forests not only affects climate, but it has a direct result upon the people who live here. It is sometimes said PLAINS that the lack of variety in scenery has a depressing effect upon inhabitants. On the other hand, it is thought that the wide range of vision keeps little communities from being clannish and thinking of nobody but themselves. Sudden changes of weather directly affect the health of people. There is a wide range of temCHANG- perature in Nebraska, and those who reES OF main in the state many years are apt to become used to changes and great extremes. While the highest and lowest tempera WEA THER ture so far recorded here are 114° above and 42° below, the usual range each year is about 136°. Those interested in the effect of weather upon communities should gather all the possible data upon it, which at first will be largely opinions of physicians and the statistics of boards of health. In rivers, Nebraska has the greatest water suramong the states, but the rivers are so shallow that boats are never seen within our It is easy to see that this has face NO NAVI- limits. GABLE WATER directed commerce along other lines, making it less diversified. be made upon this alone. A fruitful study may Thus the conditions of surface and climate have had great results upon the history of the state, and this influence is exerted constantly and more effectively with the lapse of time. REVIEW. State the general location of Nebraska. What feature had the greatest effect upon the early history? Why? How have the features of your county affected its settlement and history? Can you find any influence that the climate of Nebraska has had upon anyone moving to the state? Can you see any differences between people in your county and people anywhere else in the United States? How has the yearly amount of rainfall affected your county? What do you think is the effect on people of having no hills or mountains? Of having no lakes or great bodies of water? If you have lived in a seaport state, tell the differences in the character of the people. OTOES, SOURIS, PAW. OMA- II.—THE INDIANS. When white men first crossed the Missouri, Nebraska was not thickly populated with Indians. The prairies formed an excellent hunting ground, and the few tribes in possession of the MIS- country went from place to place in pur'suit of large game like deer and buffalo. Captains Lewis and Clark found the Otoe, Missouri, and Pawnee Indians located on the Platte, the Omaha tribe to the northeast, and the Ponca tribe near the mouth of the Niobrara. These were estimated to be a thousand or fifteen hundred warriors at that time. Treaties were made with them immediately after France ceded the country, as had been done with others farther east. The two explorers just mentioned made peace with the tribes of Indians all along their way, in the expedition of 1804. Early treaties were almost entirely of peace and friendDuring the period up to 1830, COM- trade also was regulated by treaty. Fi TREA TIES OFship. PEACE, MERCE, SIONS CES. nally the Indians began to give up their lands. Cessions seem to begin about 1830, when a tract was reserved between the Great Nemaha and Little Nemaha rivers, called the "Half-breed tract". From this time, by many treaties, more and more of the country was given. up to the United States, until at last each tribe was confined to narrow limits called a reservation. Before the Indians were disturbed by the coming of white people into America, the various nations or groups of Indians lived in an entirely different part of the country from that in which they were found by the whites. From very long and careful study of Indian languages and folkstories, it has been learned that, except the Pawnees, the Indian tribes whose names are much associated with Nebraska history, were related. Such tribes are said to belong to one INDI- stock. The Omahas, Poncas, Osages, Kansas, and Kwapas were of Siouan stock. Formerly, the many tribes of the Sioux were called by that name, but the word is little used now. In speaking of a tribe, its tribe name is used instead. The Teton Sioux are called simply Tetons. The adjective Siouan is retained. SIOUAN ANS The Siouan Indians occupied in general the center of the continent, and were distinctly the Indians of the plains. Some tribes were nearly as far west as the Rocky Mountains, others ranged near Lake Michigan and FORMER HOME in the Ohio Valley, and one branch was even east of the Alleghanies. They lived by hunting, although they cultivated the ground in a rude way, wherever a tribe stayed long in a place. The buffalo was their chief game. Between 1700 and 1800, when the Siouan tribes were most powerful, the buffalo was found HOME as far east as Virginia. The country from the Potomac to the Savannah is supposed to FIRST MOVING WEST 66 have been the early home of the Siouan Indians. As the buffaloes were hunted, they ranged further and further west, and the Indians followed them. It has been learned that the group to which the Poncas, Omahas, Otoes, and Missouris belonged once lived near the Ohio River. As they gradually came westward they reached the mouth of the Ohio. From here some went down stream, and some went up stream, on the west bank of the Mississippi. The name Kwapa" means down-stream", and shows that the Kwapas were the part that went south. "Omaha" means "up-stream", and was applied to the whole part that went northward. The Omaha branch, including the Poncas and Iowas, went slowly northwest to what is now HA" southwestern Minnesota, but was driven westward across the Missouri River by the Yankton Indians. Here they descended the river, the Iowas reaching the region of the Nemaha River, the Omaha tribe occupying the country from the Platte to the Missouri, and the Poncas remaining near the mouth of the Niobrara. The Iowas, Otoes, Missouris, and Winnebagos were closely related Siouan tribes that wandered over the country from Lake Michigan to the Missouri River. The Otoe were seen on the west bank of the Missouri as early as 1673. The movements of tribes from one part of the United States to another took hundreds of years. The Pawnees belong to a different stock called. "OMA BR'NCH |