Tiny Rochester was selected to be state capital in 1867 - on the condition that it change its name to LINCOLN in honor of the recently assassinated president. Such was the disappointment in the territorial seat of government, Omaha, that state officials had to smuggle documents, books and office furniture out of the city in the middle of the night to avoid armed gangs.

Lincoln, 58 miles southwest of Omaha, now serves as an oasis of culture for a large chunk of the plains. At night, when the students emerge, its compact downtown comes into its own. Of its alphabetical array of broad boulevards, O Street (the subject of Allen Ginsberg's poem Zero Street ) is the main drag; 13th and 14th streets are packed with bars and places to eat.

Dwarfing the rest of downtown , the central tower of the 1932 Nebraska state capitol , 1445 K St (Mon-Fri 9am-4pm, Sat 10am-4pm, Sun 1-4pm; tours every half-hour; free), protrudes 400ft into the sky. Topped by a 20ft statue of a sower on a pedestal of wheat and corn, its remarkably phallic appearance - an adventurous departure from the usual architecture of state capitols - has prompted the nickname "penis of the prairies." For once there's no golden dome, and the superb iridescent murals in the foyer are a welcome alternative to old portraits, flags and emblems. From the fourteenth-floor observation deck you can survey the flatness of the surrounding farmland.

Twelve thousand years of life on the plains are covered at the Museum of Nebraska History , 15th and P streets (Mon-Fri 9am-4.30pm, Sat 9am-5pm, Sun 1.30-5pm; free), where displays focus on anthropology rather than history. The Elephant Hall, a gallery of towering mammoth, mastodon and four-tusker skeletons, is the highlight of the University of Nebraska State Museum at 14th and U streets (Mon-Sat 9.30am-4.30pm, Sun & holidays 1.30-4.30pm; $2). A few blocks away, the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery , 12th and R streets (Tues, Wed & Fri 10am-5pm, Thurs & Sat 10am-5pm & 7-9pm, Sun 2-9pm; free), traces the development of American art, and has a twenty-piece sculpture garden. The 76,000-seater Memorial Stadium (tickets tel 402/472-3111 or 1-800/8BIGRED), at the northern end of campus on Vine Street, is where the brutal "Big Red" Cornhuskers invariably thrash the footballing opposition.