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NEBRASKA 3 : Rural West - Grand Island, North Platte

Scouting what became the Oregon Trail in the 1820s, Maj. Stephen F. Long was the first to describe this section of the country as the "Great American Desert." Most of the 3rd's land is arid, and more than half the district's population lives along the meager Platte River.

Grand Island, Scottsbluff and North Platte each serve as regional centers, providing for the retail and health care needs of the surrounding counties. Industry and manufacturing also locate around these populated areas, as well as in Columbus, Hastings and Kearney. The rest of the district's 66 counties are left to cattle ranchers and sugar beet and wheat farmers.

The 3rd is fiercely independent politically - it gave more votes to Ross Perot than Clinton in 1992 - but the majority is strongly Republican. Reflecting the area's isolation, most voters are against government intervention. The 1st and 2nd districts dominate state politics, leaving the 3rd resentful that despite its massive land size, its interests, such as farm subsidies and property taxes, are not top priorities.

Major Industry
Agriculture, tourism, food processing

Population
525,521 (1990)

Cities
Grand Island, 41,177; Kearney, 27,314; Hastings, 22,837 (1996)

People
56% rural; 18% age 65+ (ranks first of three in state; top third nationally); 62% married couples, 29% married couples with children; 14% college educated (ranks third of three in state; bottom third nationally); 44% white collar (ranks third of three in state; bottom third nationally), 26% blue collar (ranks second of three in state; middle third nationally) (1990)

Race
98% white, 0% black, 0% Asian; 3% Hispanic origin (1990)

Median Household Income
$22,344 (ranks third of three in state; bottom third nationally) (1990)

Unusual Features
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Willa Cather grew up in Red Cloud and based many of her novels in the central-southern region of the state; Alliance is the home to Carhenge, a full-sized replica of Britain's Stonehenge made of cars; Fort Robinson served as a German prisoner-of-war camp during World War II.

© 2002 The Washington Post Company