European Exploration

A Spanish expedition, sent to the northern plains in 1541–42 to seek gold, may have entered what is now Nebraska. The expedition found nothing it considered of value, and the Spanish virtually ignored the region for the next two centuries. The French, who were developing the fur trade of the Missouri River basin, were the first Europeans to explore the area, which they claimed as part of Louisiana. Etienne Veniard, Sieur de Bourgmont, reached the Platte River about 1714. His report contained the first recorded mention of the name Nebraska—the Indian name for the river.

The Spanish became alarmed at French activity in the area. To make their influence felt, they sent expeditions into the region. The massacre of a party headed by Pedro de Villasur by Pawnee Indians in 1720, however, all but halted these efforts. The French, meanwhile, were establishing themselves in the northern Plains. Pierre and Paul Mallet, French-Canadian trappers, opened a trade route through Nebraska to the southwest.

In 1762 the Franco-Spanish rivalry came to an end when France relinquished its claims to the land west of the Mississippi to Spain. The Spanish retained control until 1800, when they returned the area to France. In 1803, Nebraska was acquired by the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase.