Central City, Nebraska

Central City, Nebraska
City
Downtown Central City: G Street
Location of Central City, Nebraska
Coordinates: 41°6′50″N 98°0′9″W / 41.11389°N 98.00250°W / 41.11389; -98.00250Coordinates: 41°6′50″N 98°0′9″W / 41.11389°N 98.00250°W / 41.11389; -98.00250
Country	United States
State	Nebraska
County	Merrick
Established	1866
Current name	1875
Area
• Total	2.32 sq mi (6.01 km2)
• Land	2.32 sq mi (6.01 km2)
• Water	0 sq mi (0 km2)
Elevation	1,699 ft (518 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	2,934
• Estimate (2012)	2,915
• Density	1,264.7/sq mi (488.3/km2)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP code	68826
Area code(s)	308
FIPS code	31-08535
GNIS feature ID	0828051
Website	Central City

Central City is a city in Merrick County, Nebraska, United States. It is part of the Grand Island, Nebraska Micropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 2,934 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Merrick County.

The inhabitants just prior to the establishment of Lone Tree (Central City) were the Pawnee. In the late 1700s, the Chaui had a village on the current location of Central City. An account that an old Chaui man gave to Major Frank North in 1875 about a battle that took place between two divisions of the Pawnee (the Chaui, Pitahauerit, and Kitkehahki, jointly known as the Southern Pawnee, on one side; and the Skidi on the other) in the late 1700s illustrates the political complexities of the early inhabitants of what would come to be Central City.

There had been considerable rivalry between the Chaui and the Skidi, which eventually led to an unprovoked attack by the Skidi on a group of Chaui hunting buffalo. It was estimated that 200 Chaui were killed. All were men from the Chaui village, which was near Lone Tree and where Central City is now located. The surviving Chaui returned to their village (this was thought to have occurred during winter). The Chaui did not believe they were strong enough to attack the Skidi, so they held councils with two other Southern Pawnee bands and told them what happened. The Pitahauerit and Kitkehahki decided to help the Chaui against the Skidi.

The men of the three villages crossed the Platte River and made a night march to the Skidi village. Some of the men dressed as buffaloes in order to entice the Skidi out of their village to hunt buffalo. The rest of the men hid along the river and behind the ridge of sandhills next to the river. The Skidi charged between the men hiding along the river and behind the sandhill ridge thinking that they were chasing buffalo; the Southern Pawnees attacked them there.

All of the Skidi men who had not gone out to hunt the buffaloes came out of the village and joined buffalo hunters who had initially escaped, preparing to make a last stand. Grinnell's Chaui informant estimated that more than 400 Skidi men were killed. The Chaui and the Pitahauerat wanted to exterminate the Skidi, but the Kitkehaki disagreed, arguing that the Skidi were the same people as they and should not be eradicated. The three bands argued for some time, but the Kitkehaki won the argument. They told the Skidi that they wanted to talk and Skidi subsequently agreed to their terms. The Southern Pawnees took much of the Skidi property, including many horses. Many of the Skidi women were forced to marry into the other villages to establish family ties among villages of Pawnee.