Daniel Freeman made the first homestead in Nebraska on January 1, 1866. Cambridge was incorporated in 1885. District 21 was organized in 1874, Minnie Finch was the first teacher, and there were 7 pupils. George Karothers was the first postmaster in 1874. W. H. Faling, W.E.B. Babcock, James, John J.W. Pickle, and W.P. Bennett were the first counsel. Other noted events included the last of the buffalo and Indian troubles from 1870 to 1880, the U.P.R.R. reaching from coast to coast in 1869, the Pony Express in 1860 and 1861, Buffalo Bill Cody serving as chief of scouts and dying in Denver in 1917, and General Custer's last battle in Montana in 1876 during the Black Hills Gold Rush.