January 8, 1881: John Greenleaf Neihardt is born outside Sharpsburg, Illinois.

1891: John Neihardt, along with his mother and two sisters, moves to Nebraska, settling in Wayne, Nebraska.

1893: John Neihardt, then 12 years old, writes his first poetry. “They were pretty bad, I can tell you, and my face still burns when I think of them,” he later said

1894-1897: John Neihardt attends Nebraska Normal School in Wayne.

1900: The Divine Enchantment: A Mystical Poem, John Neihardt’s first book, is published by James T. White & Co., of New York.

September 27, 1900: “Song of the Hoe,” the first poem for which John Neihardt received pay, is published by Youth’s Companion.

1900: John Neihardt moves, with his sisters and mother, to Bancroft, Nebraska.

August, 1901: “When the Snows Drift” is published in Overland Monthly, making it John Neihardt’s first short story to be published.

May, 1907: The Lonesome Trail, John Neihardt’s first book of short stories, is published by John Lane Co.

December, 1907: A Bundle of Myrrh, John Neihardt’s first book of lyric poems, is published by Outing Publishing Co.

November 29, 1908: John Neihardt and Mona Martinsen are married in Omaha at the home of a friend.

August 22, 1913: John Neihardt announces in a letter to a friend that he has discovered a topic for his poetry that is “entirely untouched.” Though he doesn’t say what it is, it is the story of Hugh Glass, and he has begun writing The Song of Hugh Glass.

June 26, 1915: John Neihardt finishes writing The Song of Hugh Glass.

June 13, 1917: John Neihardt receives an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters from the University of Nebraska.

September 26, 1918: John Neihardt finishes writing The Song of Three Friends.

October 29, 1920: John Neihardt and his family leave Bancroft for Branson, Missouri.

Easter Sunday, 1921: “Easter,” one of John Neihardt’s most beloved poems, is published on the front page of the Omaha Bee.

April 18, 1921: The Senate and House of Representatives of the Nebraska Legislature pass a joint and concurrent resolution naming John Neihardt poet laureate of Nebraska. The official ceremony comes on June 18.

Christmas, 1922: John Neihardt writes “What Is Christmas?” for his daughter Hilda’s school program.

August 23, 1924: John Neihardt finishes The Song of the Indian Wars.

October 19, 1928: John Neihardt receives an honorary degree of Doctor of Law from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.

July, 1930: John Neihardt, accompanied by his son, Sigurd, visits Pine Ridge Reservation and ends up meeting Nicholas Black Elk. They agree to a longer visit the next spring.

May 17-19, 1931: John Neihardt interviews Nicholas Black Elk about his Great Vision for three days.

February 19, 1932: Black Elk Speaks, the result of John Neihardt’s interviews with Nicholas Black Elk, is published.

July 13, 1935: John Neihardt sends his manuscript for The Song of the Messiah to Macmillans in New York.

April 16, 1941: John Neihardt finishes The Song of Jed Smith.

Summer, 1943: John Neihardt, needing a job during World War II, works as a counselor near Round Lake, Illinois, at Camp Duncan, a camp for boys operated by the Joseph S. Duncan YMCA in Chicago.

November, 1943: John Neihardt begins working for John Collier, director of the Office of Indian Affairs, which was located in Chicago during World War II.

Fall, 1948: John Neihardt becomes poet in residence and a lecturer in English at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri.

December 7, 1961: A bust of John Neihardt, sculpted by his wife, Mona, is unveiled in the State Capitol in Lincoln, Nebraska.

January 10, 1968: John Neihardt returns to Nebraska to live when he moves in with friends J.D. and Myrtle Young in Lincoln.

April 27, 1971: ABC broadcasts the Dick Cavett Show featuring Cavett interviewing John Neihardt. Neihardt tells Cavett “I wouldn’t want to go back. You can’t go back. No reason why you should want to. I’m sure that what’s coming is going to be mighty interesting.”

September 20, 1972: All Is But a Beginning, the first volume of John Neihardt’s memoirs, is published. 

November 3, 1973: John Neihardt dies at the Columbia, Missouri, home of his daughter Hilda.