Anecdotes of Omaha

xVvc:^.

v,:)V\

ANECDOTES

OF

OMA HA.

/

BY

M, B. NEWTON.

OMAHA, NEB.
FESTNER PRINTING CO.

THE NEW YORK f
PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, LENOX AND

TlLDfiN FOUNDATIONS

R 1920 L

CoPVRiGHTED May 28th, 1S91,
By M. B. Newton.

.«. ■/.

Affectionately Df:djcatel)

TO

m i} k^ 7 t ir ^ ® I It $ d

OF

Castellar School,
Omaha, Neb.

Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive

in 2008 witii funding from

IVIicrosoft Corporation

littp://www.archive.org/details/anecdotesofomaliaOOnewt

I N DEX.

LESSON PAGE

America 9

1st. Coronado's \'isit to Nel)raska 10

2nd. The Purchase of Nebraska. ...... 13

3r(l. Tradition of the Omahas 16

4th. The Lone Tree Ferry. 18

r)th. The Survey, 21

(Hh. The Picnic, 24

7th. The Picnic — Continued, 26

8th. The Arrow, 28

9th. The First Houses, 31

10th. The Names of the Streets, 34

nth. The Ball, 40

12th. The First Minister, ....'.... 44
13th. Judge Woohvorth's Description of Nebraska

in 1857, 49

14th. Building of the Gozzens Hotel by George

Francis Train, 53

15th. Judge Woohvorth's Description of Omaha in

1857, 55

10th. Judge Woohvorth's Description of Omaha —

Continued, 59

nth. The Panic of 1857 02

18th. .lohii Brown's Visit to Nel)rask;i (>()

19th. Lynching- of Bouve, 70

20th. Gen. Sherman's Visit in 1865, 74

21st. John G. Saxe's Poem, 78

22nd. Organization of the Fire Department in I860, 79

23rd. Reopening of the Public Schools, .... 83

24th. Admission of Nebraska as a State, ... 86

25th. Star Spangled Banner, 88

26th. The Building of the T^nion Pacific Piailroad. 9(i

27th. The Building of the Union Pacific 1 {ail road —

Continued, 94

28th. Reception of the News, . 98

29th. The Bridge, 102

80th. The Corral, 105

31st. Omaha as a Port of Entry, 109

32nd. Omaha as a Port of Entry— Cow#/h ?/«(/. . Ill

33rd. The Library, 116

34th. Distinguished Visitors, 118

35th. Memorial Services 121

36th. Omaha To-Day, 124

37th. Lincoln's Address, 128

AMERICA.

National Hymn,

My country, "tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,

Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrim's pride.
From every mountain side

Let freedom ring.

My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,

Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills.
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture thrills.

Like that above.

Let music swell the breeze^
And ring from all the trees:

Sweet freedom's song;
Let mortal tongues awake;
Let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break,-

The sound prolong.

Our fathers' God, to thee,
Author of liberty,

To thee we sing:;
Long may our land be bright
With freedom's holy light;
Protect us by thy might

Great God, our King.

10 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

FIRST LESSON.

CORONADO'S VISIT TO NEBRASKA.

When Columbus sailed back to Spain, in
1492, and told of the wonderful country he had
discovered, men were at first f^urprised and then
anxious to see it for themselves. Spain, France
and England were rich and populous countries
and one after another fitted out expeditions to
explore the new world.

These expeditions were placed in charge of
brave soldiers who, upon landing, at once claimed
possession of the land in the name of the King.

The English voyagers laid claim to the
middle portion of the Atlantic coast while the
French sailors landed further north. These
colonies kept increasing in numbers and grad-
ually pushed their settlements west. The
French colonists uioved toward the southwest
^nd northwest while the Spaniards sailed to
"tooth sides of the new continent, some landing
on the eastern shore in what is now Florida,
while others reached the west shore of Mexico.

William H. Prescott, in his charming book
"The Conquest of Mexico," has told us what
tlie Spaniards did to those unhappy nations.

The Mexicans were a simple, peaceable and
superstitious nation who believed the Spanish
leader Cortez to be their ancient Emperor
returned from the dead to rule over them once
more.

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 11

When they found that the Spanish were
merely mortal, like themselves, they resisted the
invasion bravely for a long time.

Nearly fifty years after Columbus landed
an Indian told a Spanish commander, Coronado,
that far to the northeast was the wonderful
kingdom of the Quivera. In that land there was
a river seven miles wide, in which were fishes
as large as horses.

The people living in the cities on the banks
of this wonderful river were so rich that their
commonest dishes were made of silver while the
bowls and plates were of fine gold.

Coronado started in search of this country
with a band of three hundred soldiers, taking
the Indian as his guide.

For three months they marched over the
western plains till they reached the 49th parallel
of latitude. This, you know, is the southern
boundary of what is now Nebraska.

Just when they crossed this parallel and
how much further north they came no one
knows. Coronado could not find his wonderful
country and becoming suspicious accused his
Indian guide of having deceived him.

The Indian boldly acknowledged that he
had; the Spanish explorers were very cruel to
the people tliey met and this Indian had pur-
posely led them away to rid his friends of their
hated presence.

Coronado hung the poor fellow and gave up
his search in despair.

12 AJhECDOTES of OMAHA.

After resting twenty-five days the Spanish
soldiers marched back south to their friends in
Mexico. From the time they left till 1673, or
more than one hundred years, no white man
visited Nebraska.

While Coronado's soldiers were encamped
in our State, however, they saw herds of strange
wild beasts, which were utterly unlike anything
they had seen before. Can you tell, from the
following description, which one of these soldiers
wrote, what animal it was?

' ' They are as large as our oxen but their
horns are not so great. They have a great bunch
upon their fore shoulders and more hair upon
their fore part than upon the hinder part and
it is like wool. They have, as it were, a horse
mane upon their l)ack bone and much hair and
very long from their knees down. They have
great tufts of hair hanging down from their
foreheads and it seemeth that they have beards
because of the great store of hair hanging down
at their chins and throats. In some respects
tjiey resemble the lion and in some others the
camel. They push with their horns, they run,
they overtake and kill a horse when they are in
their rage and anger. Finally, it is a foul and
fierce beast of countenance and form of body.
The horses fled from them either because of
their deformed shape or else because they liad
never seen them. Their masters have no other
riches nor substance; of them they eat, they
drink, they apparel, they shoe themselves; and

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 13

of their hides they make many things as houses,
shoes, apparel and ropes. To be short they
make so many things of them as they have need
of or as many as suffice them in the use of this
life."

SECOND LESSON.

PURCHASE OF NEBRASKA.

While the Spanish were exploring Mexico,
and the English the Atlantic coast, the French
were pouring into what is now Canada. Little
by little they made their w^ay w^estward^ crossed
the Great Lakes and explored the northern
forests. Finally, a party of Frenchmen, hoping
to find the South Sea, floated down the Missis-
sippi in canoes.

The Mississippi is a broad, peaceful river, as
blue as the sky. In one of these canoes a brave
and pious young missionary priest, named
Fatlier Marquette, was seated, and of his voyage
he writes:

''As w^e were discoursing, sailing quietly
down a still, clear w^ater, w^e heard the noise of
a rapid, into wdiich w^e were about to plunge.
I have never seen anything more frightful; a
mass of large trees, with roots and branches
forming real floating islands, came rushing from
the mouth of the river Pekitanoui with such
impetuosity that we could not venture across
without serious risk. The agitation w^as so
great that the water was all muddy and could
not get clear."

14 ANECDOTES OF OMAH»A.

So you see that the Missouri, which Father
Marquette called Pekitanoui, was about the
same kind of a river two hundred years ago
that it is to-day. The Indians described the
river and the land to the west of it to Father
Marquette, and he made a map of it. This map
he brought back to Montreal, where, for a long
time it was lost, and only a few years ago was
found again in St. Mary's College, securely hid-
den in the drawer of an old desk.

On this map is drawn the territory which
now forms Nebraska, and it also has the names
of the Indian tribes living about here, as Panas,
Mahas, etc., which are now called Pawnees and
Omahas.

The good priest says he hopes Grod will grant
him health, in order to publish the gospel to
all the nations of this new world, who have so
long been plunged in heathen darkness. His
Avish was not granted, however, and he, too,
passed away, and again for many years this
region was the home only of the Indian, and
the wild beast.

Meanwhile, the English settlers, on the
Atlantic coast, were becoming very angry at
the way England, their mother country, was
treating them, and, finally, in 1775, the Revolu-
tionary War was begun. After a hard struggle
for about eight years, America liecame inde-
pendent. George Washington had led the
armies to victory, and his grateful, and admir-
ing countrymen elected him tlie first Pr>'>;i(lent.

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA, 15

We then became known as the United States,
which included all the land south of the St.
Lawrence, and east of the Mississippi. West of
the Mississippi, the land was claimed by France,
and all that immense tract of country was
called the Louisiana Territory after the French
king, Louis.

Washington was President for eight years,
and then John Adams was President four years.
In 18(il, Thomas Jefferson, who is called the
Apostle of Democracy, was elected the third
President. About this same time, the great
Napoleon was fighting the English people with
great fury, and wars cost immense sums of
money. To raise this to carry on his war,
Napoleon sold to Jefferson the Louisiana Terri-
tory, for $15,000,000. This purchase included
the land from the Mississippi River, on the east,
to the Rocky Mountains, on the west, and from
the Gnlf of Mexico, on the south, to the Forty-
ninth parallel, on the north.

Both Napoleon and Jefferson were greatly
pleased over this immense sale of real estate.
Napoleon said that now he had given England
a foe, who would some day conquer her, and
rule the seas.

Jefferson at once organized an expedition to
explore his wonderful purchase, and gave the
command to Captain Lewis and Captain Clark,
two brave, young officers, of the United States
Army.

16 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

THIRD LESSON.

TRADITION OF THE OMAHAS.

In 1803, these officers started west with a
party of thirty-five men, well armed, and sup-
plied with three boats. They struggled through
the deep forests, carrying their boats across the
grassy prairies, and sandy plains, to where the
Missouri empties into the Mississippi. There
they began a long voyage, rowing their boats
by day, and camping on the banks of the river
by night, till July 27, 1804, when they reached
the place where Omaha now stands. This voy-
age occupied a long time, and President Jeffer-
son meanwhile appointed General Wilkinson,
Governor of the Territory of Louisiana, and
Superintendent of Indian Affairs. General
Wilkinson sent a letter to Wash-com-ma-nii,
who is the first Omaha chief known. His
reply is still preserved. Lewis and Clark did
not stay long in this vicinity. They kept a
journal of their voyage, which is very interest-
ing to read. You can obtain a copy of it in the
Public Library.

The United States were growing very rap-
idly, and the trade in furs was, perhaps, their
most profitable industry. To ]uiy furs from the
Indian hunters, trading posts were established
by the American Fur Company, each post locat-
ing a little further west. Following the trading
posts came the settlers, driving slowly and
with great trouble and suffering, tlie Indian
Nations before them.

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. ]7

Nebraska is too beautiful a country to be left
unnoticed very long, and the traders, and
hunters, sent word back to their friends to
come and see for themselves.

The churches in the east sent missionaries to
carry on the work which Father Marquette
began.

The Indians told the missionaries many
interesting legends of their tribes, one of which
gives us the meaning of the word Omaha. The
tradition of the Omaha tribe is, that they were
once living in a destitute condition, at the
mouth of the Missouri, when, by accident, some
one of them found an ear of corn in a mole hill,
the kernels of which they divided among the
different families. From that time they have
cultivated corn. When they sold that land to
the United States, they moved westward. Part
of the tribe located on the west bank of the
Missouri, and called the settlement Ero-ma-ha,
meaning upon, or above all others, on a stream.
Nebraska is an Omaha word, meaning broad.
Here the Mahas remained for many years. A
group of mounds in that part of the town,
which is now bounded on the south by Farnam
street, west by Eleventh street, and north and
east by the river bottoms, showed to early trav-
elers where they l)uried their dead.

The whites pushed rapidly westward, and
finally a flourishing town was established on
the east bank of the Missouri, and called Kanes-
ville at first, but later, named Council Bluffs.

18 AXECDOTES OF OMAHA.

Here, for a time, the people paused; the west
side of the river was Indian territory, and they
could not c-ross to take possession of that land.
Many came over to trade with the Indians, and
to hunt, for the plains were then covered with
buffaloes, who used to come rushing over the
ground we now live on, down to the river to
drink. Finally, in 1854, fifty years after Lewis
and Clark sailed past here, the Indians ceded
these regions to the United States, and the
country from the fortieth parallel and the
Rocky Mountains to Canada, on the north, was
named Nebraska Territory.

FOURTH LESSON.

THE LONE TREE FERRY.

Long before the Indians ceded this land^
however, white people had begun to locate here,
drawn thither by various causes. In 1845
Illinois forced the Mormons to give up their
property in that State and leave. They crossed
the Mississippi into Iowa and lived for a time
in the town which we call Council Bluffs, but
which they called Kanesville, after Colonel
Kane, a prominent Mormon leader. During the
winter of 1845-46 fifteen thousand Mormons
crossed the Missouri and located at Florence, six
miles north of Omaha.

Here they built homes for themselves and
in the Spring planted grain in the fields and
vegetables in tlicir gardens.

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 19

But th€ Indians complained to their agent
that the Mormons were cutting too much timber
so they were ordered off the Indian lands.
Some of them returned to Kanesville and waited
there till their leaders, who were pushing fur-
ther west, sent for all to come to Salt Lake City.
It was a very hard time for these people and
their sufferings were great.

Their houses were poor and thin, many of
them being only dugouts; fuel and food were
scarce and that winter was a terribly severe
one. Hundreds of Mormons died in those
"Winter quarters" at Florence.

In 1849 the discovery of gold in California
set the people of this country in general and
the people of the west in paticular nearly crazy.

Crowds of people started for the Pacific
coast, some with teams, some on horseback and
some actually on foot, drawing hand carts.
Among those who started was William D.
Brown, a young and energetic citizen of Iowa.
When Mr. Brown reached Kanesville he per-
ceived that there was money to be made by the
man who could run a ferry to carry the trav-
elers anxious to cross the "Big Muddy." He
at once obtained a charter from the County
Commissioners in Iowa and started in business.

This first ferry boat was a flat bottomed
boat, rowed with oars, which starting, from
Kanesville every hour, came over to. a solitary
tree which stood near what is now the foot of
Douglas street. From this landing place it was

20 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

called the ''Lone Tree Ferry." Mr. Bro^Yn
found this business profitable and while super-
intending it frequently came over the river
with parties of men. It is a well known fact
that large cities are usually located on the west
bank of rivers and these men soon became con-
vinced that there would some day be a city
here. Meanwhile crowds of people from the
east were pouring into Kanesville; many crossed
the ferry and proceeded west by the old trail
on what we call Cuming street.

Others. crossed the Missouri south of here
following another trail, the two routes finally
uniting further west on the south ]\ank of the
Platte. The Union Pacific railroad runs most
of its way west by this old wagon route, strewn
with the bones of those unfortunate ones wlio
succumbed to the hardships of pioneer life
before reaching the land of gold.

After the "Lone Tree Ferry" had ])een
running about a year l:>usiness had increased so
mucli that greater accommodations were neces-
sary and accordingly the Council Bluffs and
Nebraska Ferry Company was organized.

You will notice Council Bluffs has outgrown
its early name of Kanesville. It wished to be
known hereafter as a city instead of a village.
The Council Bluffs and Nebraska Ferry Coin-
pany bought a small steamboat in Cincinnati
which, after a long trip down the Ohio to St.
Louis and from there up the Missouri to Council
Bluffs, finally began carrying the travelers back

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 21

and forth till the Union Pacific Bridge was
completed, in 1873.

FIFTH LESSON.

THE SURVEY.

When the people of Kanesville saw how
rapidly their town was growing they became
ambitious to be known as a city; so they sent
east for a young surveyor, by the name of A. D.
Jones, to come and help them plan their town
anew. Further down the river was a trading
post called Council Bluffs and many travelers
crossed the river there. It was proposed to
have the mail then sent to this little trading
post, sent instead to Kanesville, so the people
helped themselves to the name of Council
Bluffs, and the poor trading post and Kanesville
faded away into only a memory.

While Mr. Jones was living in Council Bluffs
he frequently came over the river to this place,
and he at length became convinced that this
country would soon be given up by the Indians;
with one or two other men, he resolved to try to
get a claim to some of this land. Suppose we
listen to what Mr. Jones himself says of the way
in which this resolve was carried out:

"It was in November, 1853, that I came to
the conclusion it was time to make a strike on
the Nebraska side of the river," says Mr. Jones,
in "Sorenson's History of Omaha, " and I accord-
ingly made a proposition to . Thomas and

22 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

William Allen to cross the river and take up
some claims. The Aliens were sub-contractors
in the construction of the grade for the Council
Bluffs and Nebraska Ferry Company.

They agreed with me, and procuring a scow
from W. D. Brown, we made the trip. The
boat leaked and while one rowed and one
steered, the other had all he could do to keep
the water bailed out." They finally came safely
across, landing about where Boyd's packing
house now stands; Mr. Jones proceeds:

' 'We camped out that night and early the
next morning we started to mark out our claims.
With a hatchet I blazed a corner tree near our
camp and stamped the initials of my name there-
in with a survey marking iron. I then blazed
lines north to the point now occupied by Herman
Kountze's residence, thence south to C. F.
Goodman's place which I wished to include in
my claim as it was a very prominent location.
I next marked a corner on the ridge east of Tenth
street, and thence proceeded eastward, blazing-
live trees until I reached a deep ravine heavily
timbered with tall trees. I gave the name of
Purgatory to the valley, by which name it was
long known. In the lower end of the ravine
I discovered a bed of excellent building stone
of lime formation. Upon regaining the plateau
I located my fouj-th corner, and marked a line
along the margin of the plateau to the i)lace
of beginning.

Tlie next step wasto lay my claim foundations,

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 23

which was regularly done, in compliance with
all the requisites for making a good and valid
claim according to the laws and customs among
squatters in other new sections of the public
domain. Meantime the Aliens each marked out
a claim, after which we returned to Council
Bluffs. I claim that this was probably the first
survey ever made in Douglas County."

This was doubtless a very pleasant days vv^ork
for Mr. Jones and his friends, but it did not
please the Indian owners of the land quite so
well. Again they complained to their agent
and the agent ordered Mr. Jones to vacate the
land he had named Park Wilde. In Washing-
ton, and in fact throughout the entire land,
grgat interest was felt in these western regions.
By the time the Indians were ready to trade,
Mr. Jones had an application in Washington for
a post office to be located here.

The trade was no sooner made than a letter,
dated May 6, 1854, was sent notifying Mr. Jones
that he was appointed postmaster. This was
the first letter ever directed to Omaha City.
The Post Office Department in Washington
instructed Mr. Jonestoemploy a mail carrier and
pay him out of the proceeds of the office, but
there were no people here and consequently no
proceeds to pay a mail carrier. The letters
arriving were few and Mr. Jones carried them
around with him in his hat. So you see he was
not only our first postmaster but our first mail
carrier as well.

24 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

SIXTH LESSON.

THE PICNIC.

As soon as the trade with the Omaha
Indians was entirely settled, which was in the
Spring of 1854, the Ferry Gompany pre-empted a
town site of 320 acres and employed Mr. Jones
to snrvey the town, which they proposed to call
Omaha City. Mr. Jones, with a gentleman by
the name of Downs, came over the river again
and proceeded to lay ont a town of 320 blocks
each being 264 feet square, which they expected
would extend from the South Omaha Creek to
the Korth Omaha Creek.

When the Indians lived on the banks of
these creeks the Omaha tribe lived by the south
one and called it the Omaha Creek. The Otoes
lived by the North Creek which they called Otoe
Creek. These creeks were very wide and deep
in some places. In dry times, however, there
were only a few feet of Avater in them. The
South Creek came down from the hills west of
us, across the south part of Hanscom Park, north
of the Union Pacific tracks, over tlie place now
occupied by John A. Wakefield's Luml)er Yard
and down Jones street to the river.

Another and smaller creek from the south,
flowed where Fourteenth street now is and
emptied into the South Creek. Another little
creek flowed across the corner of Farnam street
where the First National Bank now stands. It
was owing to this little creek that the builders of

ANECDOTES OF OM

that bank had ynch a harclji ^iie to secure*^ a^^
good foundation for it. Sx*^ o ^ ^

The North Creek flowM^^iorth ^iMiind ^
Creighton College across Cun^^O street and
turned east on Nicholas street OT^^^fi^S^ven-
teenth street, past Woodman's Oil MlSi;^^^'l)fto\
into the river above where the Union ra^
shops now stand. This creek also had many
little tributaries, one of wdiich came from where
the Estabrook Block now stands, across the
north part of Jefferson square to empty into
the North Creek at about Fifteenth street.

In most cities the streets are from 60 to 80
feet wide but Mr. Jones made our streets 100
feet wide, with the exception of Capitol avenue,
which was 120 feet. The lots were made 66
feet wide by 132 feet deep. Jefferson Square
and Capitol Square, where the High School
stands, were left for Parks.

Another Park on Tenth and Farnam was
also planned but it was finally decided to occupy
the space for business purposes.

The Fourth of July came before the survey
was completed and some of the people in Council
Bluffs decided to celebrate the day by a picnic
in Uncle Sam's new territory.

Mr. Hadley Johnson lived in the Bluffs at
that time and he and his family attended the
picnic. More than thirty years after he wrote
the following account of it for the State His-
torical Society. "It may not be uninteresting
to you to be informed that the first celebration

26 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

of our Nation's Birthday, of which I have any
knowledge as having occurred in Nebraska, took
place July 4th, 1854, (before any whites, were
permitted under the treaty to permanently
locate on these lands) on the hill at Omaha near
where the High school now stands and as near
as I can locate it, on a spot now occupied by
Davenport street. A small number of persons
on the day mentioned crossed the Missouri from
Council Bluffs, taking a few articles for a picnic.
I remember that on the spot named some reso-
lutions were adopted and a few brief speeches
made. The stand on which the speakers stood
was a common wagon owned by old friend
Harrison Johnson — now no more — who, with
some of his family, constituted a portion of the
party. "

SEVENTH LESSON.

THE PICNIC CONTINUED.

Mr. Johnson's little account interested one
reader, who liad also been at that picnic, so
much that he added a little more in a letter to
a Lincoln newspaper, signing himself John Gil-
lespie.

Mr. Gillespie says: Now I wish to add
to tliat brief lut of history of the early days
of Nebraska that the Hon. Hadley Johnson,
then reputed to be Nebraska's delegate to
Washington, Avas called upon for a speecli. He
responded, and got up into the only wagon on
the ground, that liad lianled over the baskets

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 27

of provisions, and two blacksmith's anvils to fire
a salute. After firing the salute, he commenced
a spread eagle speech*, but had not gotten very
far along, when the reports of the anvils
brought in sight a number of Indians. The
women became frightened, and baskets and
anvils were piled into the wagon, and the driver
started the team for the river, followed by the
entire audience. The result was, the speech
was never completed, unless the honorable gen-
tleman intended his speech of last evening (i. e.,
the account of the picnic before the Historical
Society), as the finish. His modesty, no doubt,
prevented him from giving the details. The
writer (Mr. Gillespie) was one of the crowd
present, and remembers offering the following-
toast: Nebraska — may the gentle zephyrs and
rolling prairies invite pioneers from beyond the
muddy Missouri to happy homes within her
borders, and may her lands ever be dedicated
to free soil, free labor, and free men. There
was one log cabin erected on the town site of
Omaha at that day. It was built up to the
square, and had no roof upon it. The prairie
grass upon the plateau, where now Douglas and
Farnam streets are, was very high, and it was
difficult for the ladies to reach Capitol Hill. I
remember meeting A. D. Jones, the postmaster,
who carried the mail in his hat. He said to me:
"Young man, take a claim up there on the hill,
and it will make you rich some day," but I
could not see it.

28 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

Lots were offered for >?25 each and the to^Yll
association offered to deed lots to parties build-
ing if they would commence at once.

• It was that fall Omaha l:>egan to grow, but
on the day of the picnic the United States Mar-
shal was on the watch to see that no settlers
located in Nebraska pending the ratification at
Washington of the treaty with the Indians."

EIGHTH LESSON.

THE AKROW.

Three weeks after the picnic on Capitol
Hill, two gentlemen of Council Bluffs decided
to start the first newspaper of Omaha. Mr.
Jolmson was the business manager and J. W.
Pattison was the editor.

There was nothing, not even paper to print
it on in Omaha, but it was devoted to the
interests of this place and named after it, s© we
call it our first paper.

The first issue is dated July i>sth, 1854, and
eleven more numbers were published between
that time and the Fall and then the poor little
newspaper disappeared entirely. 8omel)ody
was wise enough to save the paper and to-day
Mr. Byron Reed has a conH)lete file — iK^und — in
his library.

Mr. Pattison had great faith in the future
of ( )maha as we can see by this — liis first edito-
rial :

Well strangers, friends, patrons and good

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 29

people generally, wherever in the wide world
your lot may be cast and in whatever clime this
Arrow may reach you, here we are, upon
Nebraska soil, seated upon the stump of an
ancient oak which serves for the editorial chair,
and the top of our badly abused beaver for a
table, we purpose editing a leader for "The
Omaha Arrows"

An elevated table land surrounds us; the
majestic Missouri just off on our left goes
sweeping its muddy course adown towards the
Mexican gulf whilst the background is filled up
with Iowa's loveliest, richest scenery.

Away upon our right, spreading far aw^ay in
the distance, lies one of the loveliest sections of
Nebraska; yon rich, rolling, widespread and
beautiful prairie, dotted with timber, looks
lovely enough, as Heaven's free sunlight touches
ofi: in beauty the lights and shades, to be liter-
ally entitled the Eden land of the w^orld and
to inspire us with flights of fancy upon this
antiquated beaver, but it won't pay.

There sticks our ax in the trunk of an old
oak, whose branches have for years been fanned
by the breezes that constantly sweep from over
the oft times flower dotted prairies and from
wdiich w^e purpose making a log cabin for our
claim."

In another issue Mr. Pattison relates a
dream, which has since proved to be a curious
prophecy. He says: "The night stole on and
we, in the most comfortable manner in the

30 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

world, and editors have a faculty of making
themselves comfortable together, crept between
art and nature — (our blanket and buffalo) to
sleep and 'perchance to dream/ To dreamland
we went.

' 'The busy hum of business from factories
and the various branches of mechanism from
Omaha City reached our ears. The incessant
rattle of innumerable drays ovar the paved
streets, the steady tramp of ten thousands of
an animated, enterprising population, the
hoarse orders fast issued from the crowd of
steam boats upon the levee loading the rich
products of Nebraska and unloading the fruits,
species and products of other climes and soils
greeted our ears.

"Far away from toward the setting sun came
telegraphic despatches of improvements, pro-
gress, and moral advancement upon the Pacific
slope. Cars full freighted with teas, silks, etc.,
were arriving from tlience and passing across
the stationary channel of the Missouri, hurrying
on with lightning speed to the Atlantic sea-
board. The third express train on the Council
Bluffs and Galveston railroad came thundering
close by us with a shrill whistle which brought
us to our feet knife in hand. We rubbed our
eyes, looked into the darkness beyond to see
the ffying train.

"It had vanished and the shrill second neigh
of our lariated horses gave indication of the
danger near. '

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 31

"The hum of business in and around the
city had also vanished and the same rude camp
fires were before us. We slept again and day-
light stole upon us, refreshed and ready for
another day's labor. "

There were not enough people in Omaha to
make newspaper publishing a very profitable
business. Only twelve numbers of the Arrow
were published, from July to November 10th.
Then Mr. Pattison gave up his paper and his
real estate business and left town.

NINTH LESSON.

THE FIRST HOUSES.

When the survey was completed maps of it
were made and sent to St. Louis to be
litliographed. One of these maps is now owned
by Byron Reed of this city. In one corner is a
little note. "Lots will be given away to per-
sons who will improve them; private sale will
be made on the premises.

"A newspaper — The Omaha Arrow — is pub-
lished weekly at this place; a brick building
suitable for territorial legislation is in process
of construction, and a steam mill and brick
hotel will be completed in a few weeks. Septem-
ber 1, 1854."

The Ferry Company were very desirous to
have Omaha made the capitol of the Territory
and they made their plans to that end very

32 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

carefully. Their fir^t step was to induce men
to come liere and start a brick yard.

You know trees are not very plentiful in tins
country and all the luml^er had to be hauled
from the interior of Iowa, which made it very
expensive.

Early in July the first brick maker started
in business here, but some way he did not prusper
and left soon after. Laborers came over from
Council Bluffs to work days but went back to
their families over the river at night.

Probably the first family who really came
here to live wasMr. and Mrs. William Snowden.
Mr. Snowden was employed in the brick yard
and his wife boarded the other men employed
there.

The Ferry Company Imilt the first house in
Omaha for them; a rough log house, on Twelfth
and Jackson, which was called the St. Nicholas
Hotel.

The first sermon preaclied in Omaha was
addressed to a little audience of twenty-five or
thirty people, gathered in the parlor of the St.
Nicholas by invitation of Mr. and Mrs. Snow-
den, to listen to the Rev. Mr. Cooper, of Council
Bluffs. This gentleman was a Methodist
minister, who worked in the stone quarry on
week days.

You remember Mr. Jones mentioned finding
a valuable deposit of lime stone in the south
end of his claim and lliat is where the stone
quarry was.

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 33

All the little community were working hard
to get a suitable building to use as a State
House, and thus help to secure the capitol for us.
A gentleman named Bayliss, residing in Council
Bluffs, and his brother-in-law, Mr. Davis, came
over to assist and they started the first steam
saw mill down on Ninth street.

By this time you see Omaha was beginning
to grow. It had quite a population days, even
if they did have to go back to Council Bluffs to
find a bed to sleep in. Boarding houses were in
demand and M. C. Graylord built the second
house of Omaha, out on Burt street near twenty-
second, which was filled with guests even be-
fore it was finished. To accommodate these
two good customers the firm of Lewis & Clancy
opened a grocery store on Chicago street
down near Fourteenth street. It was only a
dug out, one side of which was used for a
grocery store and the other for a saloon.
Most of the gentlemen who slept in Omaha at
that time spent their evenings in this place,
which became known as the Big Six, and was a
most popular resort.

Mr. and Mrs. Snowden were not entirely
suited with the St. Nicholas and they built
another place for themselves down on Tenth
street, a little south of where Turner Hall stands
now, on a lot presented to them by the Ferry
Company. When this dwelling, which was also
a log house, was ready, all the people in town
went down and gave them a house warming.

34 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

They danced till morning, to the music of Mr.
Davis' fiddle, albeit there were very few ladies
to be partners. They had no doors or
windows but they hung aprons and quilts
over the open places and arranged boards at the
sides of the room for those who were weary of
dancing to rest upon.

Mr. Sorenson, in his history of Omaha, says
the fifth house in Omaha was built by Gr. P.
Peterson, on the west side of Tenth street south
of Farnam. The sixth house was built by S. E.
and William Rogers, on Douglas between Tenth
and Eleventh. Mr. Jones also built himself a
house on his claim, and a Mr. Reeves built a
house a little south of Mr. Jones'.

But the pride of the little settlement was
the brick State House, which stood on the east
side of Ninth street, between Farnam and
Douglas. It was a two story brick building
with a hall and stairway in the center. The
first territorial legislature ever convened in
Nebraska met in this house January 16, 1855.

Later on this building was used for a great
number of purposes. Meetings of all kinds,
religious, business and social, were held within
its walls till finally it was torn down.

TENTH LESSON.

THE NAMES OF THE STREETS.

The following interesting account of the
way in which the streets of Omaha were named

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 35

is copied from an article recently published in
the World-Herald.

"When Omaha's streets were named the
Town Site Company must have taken a list of
all the men of eminence in the Nation during
the 50's and previous to that time, and named
the streets after them. The original plat of the
city contained twenty-two streets, eighteen of
which bear the names of eighteen men of note
in their time, while the other four bear the
names of a city, a State, an ocean, and a title
significant of a building that once stood in its
path.

In passing it will not be out of place to
remark that Omaha's business streets are nearly
all named after politicians and statesmen, with
a positive tendency towards selecting those of
Democratic faith.

Take them in order, commencing at Pierce
street on the south and going north to Nicholas
street. Pierce street was named after an illus-
trious Democrat. Franklin Pierce was President
of the United States in 1854, when Nebraska
was admitted as a territory; he signed the
enabling act.

During the same year, the City of Omaha
was surveyed and platted and in honor of the
man who presided over the destinies of the
Nation at the time, the first street named in the
city was called Pierce street.

Pacific street, the one next to Pierce, was

36 AXECDOTES OF OMAHA.

one of the four streets not named after a pul)lic
man. The Pacific Ocean undoubtedly had
something to do with its title.

Biographers speak of AA^illiam L. Marcy as
a distinguished American statesman of the
Democratic party Avho was born in Massachusetts
in 181i>.

He was Secretary of War during President
Polk's administration. He retired to private
life for a time, but assumed public duties again
during President Pierces administration, serv-
ing as Secretary of State four years. He died
July 4th, 1857. After him Omaha's Marcy
street is named.

Mason street is next north of Marcy. Of
the man after whom it was named but little
could be learned. He was a politician and in
public life. He was Judge Mason of the Iowa
bench and an intimate friend of the pioneer
Lowe brothers. He was a Democrat, .undoul^t-
edly, as he held office under that kind of an
administration; he aftervrards became Commis-
sioner of the General Land Office.

The inhal)itants of that slow city of our
southern sister State, no d(Mil)t. tliink tlie name
applied to Leavenworth street was secured from
their sleepy burg.

They are mistaken. It was naiiicd after
the same man their town is named aftei'. we
must admit. Henry Leavenworth was liorn in
178^^. He entered the army during tlie war of

AXECDOTES OF OMAHA. 37

1812 and was promoted until lie bore the title
of General. During his later years he did duty
on the frontier and founded several western
posts, among them the beautiful Fort Leaven-
worth. He died in 1834 in Indian Territory.

Jones street is in dou])t. Some say A. D.
Jones "" "" ■" "" ^ " while he was platting
the town called one of the streets Jones street.
Others have a different recollection of the
naming of the street. The veteran George W.
Jones was then in the best years of his useful-
ness to the West. He w^as a public man in
[owa then and long before low^a was made a
territory. He, too, w^as very intimate with the
men who laid out the town and the fact is,
Jones street was named after him.

No one will question whom Jackson street
is named after. It is honored, like Pierce, with
the name of a President. Andrew Jackson was
born in 1767. According to one historian "he
learned to read, write and cast accounts — little
more; he was not a well informed man."

But Jackson possessed enough strong indi-
viduality to rise to the highest plane in the gift
of a free people. From 1796 until his death, in
1845, he was in public life both as a soldier and
a statesman.

Howard street was named in compliment to
Colonel Howard, the father-in-law of Henry
Farnam, after whom Farnam street was named.

Harney street derives its name from General

38 AN-ECDOTES OF OMAHA.

Harney, who was stationed in the West when
Omaha was born.

When Omaha's streets were named the
Rock Island railroad was built as far west as
Iowa City. One of the promoters of that enter-
prise was Henry Farnam, a wealthy banker of
Hartford, Connecticut. Dr. Enos Lowe was
intimate with Farnam and called our present
main street after him.

Douglas street derives its name from another
illustrious Democrat. He was born in Vermont,
in 1813, removing to Illinois in 1833. He was
called ' ' the little giant. " He was successively
a Judge, member of Congress and United States
Senator. Buchanan secured the Democratic
nomination for President from him in 1856. In
1860 he was again a candidate for nomination
and secured it, but was defeated at the polls by
Lincoln. He died in Chicago in 1861.

A leading man in Iowa was A. C. Dodge
when Omaha s streets were named and to honor
him Dodge street was so called.

Capitol avenue derived its name from the
Capitol building that was erected where the
High school now stands.

In early days a firm of bankers from
Davenport, Iowa, opened a banking house in
Florence and they named Davenport street in
honor of their home and also of a prominent
family of that name there. Cliicago street needs
no explanation.

Cass street Avas named after Ltnvis Cass, a

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 39

prominent Democratic statesman and Secretary
of State in President Buchanan's cabinet.

California street derives its name from the
fact that at its foot was the landing place for
all travelers bound for the gold fields of the
coast. The route was directly west on a road
that is now California street; hence the name.

Webster street is named after one of
America's most brilliant men. Daniel Webster,
the celebrated statesman, jurist and orator, was
born in New Hampshire, in 1772. In 1812 he
commenced public life as member of Congress.
With slight intermissions he Avas in public
position almost to the day of his death, which
occurred in 1852. He was in the United States
Senate, a member of Congress, a member of the
Cabinet and an unsuccessful aspirant for the
Presidency.

Burt, Cuming and Izard streets follow
Webster street north in the order named. They
are named after Nebraska's three territorial
Governors, who were all Democrats. These three
streets were named by Governor Cuming, as
well as Nicholas, the northern boundary of the
original town. Who Nicholas street was named
after no one seems to know.

It would be impossible to follow the streets
in the additions to the City. They are numer-
ous and all sorts of names have been applied to
them.

Sherman avenue Avas named after General

40 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

Sherman and Sannders street after Governor
Saunders.

Judge Lake and Messrs. Poppleton and
Woolworth have been remembered in the street
names. St. Mary's avenue derives its name
from the convent which stood on the hill until
recently.

ELEVENTH LESSON.

THE BALL.

The Governor of the territory is appointed
by the President. Franklin Pierce was the
President who appointed Francis N. Burt our
first Governor. Accompanied by his Secretary,
Thomas B. Cuming, Governor Burt reached
Nebraska early in October and stopped at the
old Mission House, in Bellevue, then a larger
and more promising town than Omaha. The
people of Omaha desired to meet the new
Gt)veriior and they prepared a grand reception
for him, but Governor Burt, who was far from
being well when he came west, found his new
position very trying. He was fairly besieged by
crowds of men urging him to decide upon i^ome
place for the capitol of Nebraska. Bellevue was
trying her best to secure the prize: so was
Florence, and so was Omaha, whose chances at
that tiuie did not look bright.

Governor Burt made a great effort to begin
liis work, but it was too late and he died in
little more than two weeks after his arrival.

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 41

This made Secretary Cuming Governor pro tem,
and he at once called an election in which were
elected the members of the first legislature and
a delegate — N. B. Giddings — to Congress.

Bellevue was the favorite place for capitol,
but the people of the town refused to donate
the land desired for the capitol building so
Governor Cuming selec^ted Omaha.

This made a great many hard feelings. In
fact a mob of men arrayed in red blankets like
Indians, gathered in and around the old State
House to break up this first meeting of the
legislature, but after a long and bitter war of
words, Omaha was finally made the capitol of
the territory by act of the legislature February
22, 1855.

We owe the first great help in Omaha's
progress to the wisdom and ability of Governor
Cuming.

Meanwhile the President appointed Mark
W, Izard the second Governor, and tlie people
of Omaha decided to welcome him with a grand
ball, to be given in a little one story frame
house, which stood on Harney street near
Eleventh. Dr. Miller has told us this story in
the Herald.

"Izard was a stately character, physically,
but mentally rather weak, and accordingly felt
a lively sense of the dignity with which the ap-
pointment clothed him. He had never known
of such an honor before and it bore upon him
heavily.

4

42 ANECI'OTES OF OMAHA.

' 'To the f e^Y persoiiB who then constituted
the principal population of the city, the gover-
nor was careful to intimate a desire to have
his gubernatorial advent suitably celebrated.
The facetious and wary Cuming suggested
the idea of giving Izard an executive ball.
The larger of the two rooms which tlien con-
stituted the building was the theater of a scene
perhaps the most ludicrous that ever was wit-
nessed in the history of public receptions.

''The rooms had a single coat of what Avas
then called plastering, composed of mud and
ice, and a very thin coating at that. The floor
was rough and unplaned, very trying to dancers
and not altogether safe for those who preferred
the upright position. It had ])een energetically
scrubbed for the occasion.

"The night being dreadfully cold and the
lieating apparatus failing to warm the room, the
water froze upon the floor and could not be
melted by any then know process. Rough
Cottonwood boards on either side of the room
were substituted for cliairs.

' 'The hour of seven having arrived the grand
company ])egan to assemble. Long before the
hour appointed his Arkansas Excellency
appeared in the dancing hall. He and Jim
Orton 'the band/ of Council Blufts, reached the
scene at about the same moment. The Governor
was very polite to Jim, who was just tight
enough to be correspondingly i)olite to the
Governor.

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 43

' 'Governor Izard was the guest of nine ladies,
who were all that could be mustered even for
a State occasion in Omaha. They were Mrs.
T. B. Cuming, Mrs. Fenner Furguson, Mrs. J.
Sterling Morton, Mrs. C. B. Smith, Mrs. Flem-
ing Davidson, Mrs. A. J. Hanscom, Mrs. A. D.
Jones, Mrs. S. E. Rogers and Mrs. Geo. L. Miller.
Two of the ladies could not dance and accord-
ingly their places were filled by the same num-
ber of gentlemen.

' 'The Governor had a son by the name of
James. He was his Excellency's private
secretary and wishing to present a high example
of style he came in at a late hour escorting Mrs.
Davidson. His bearing was fearfully stately
and dignified. He wore a white vest and white
kid gloves, as any gentleman would do, but
these were put in rather discordant contrast
with the surroundings.

"Messrs. Paddock, Poppleton, Cuming,
Smith, Morton, Ferguson, Goodwill, Clancy,
Folsom, beside a large assemblage of legislators,
attended. The latter crowded around, gazing
with astonishment upon the large number of
ladies in attendance.

"Jim Orton was the solitary fiddler, occupy-
ing one corner of the room. The dance was a
gay and festive occasion. Notwithstanding the
energetic use of green cottonwood the floor con-
tinued icy. During the dance several accidents
happened. One lady now well known in
Nebraska fell flat. Others did likewise.

44 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA,

"The supper came off about midnight and
consisted of coffee, with brown sugar and no
milk; sandwiches of peculiar size, dried apple
pie; the sandwiches we may observe, were very
thick and were made of a singular mixture of
bread of a radical complexion, and bacon.

"The Governor having long lived in a hot
climate, stood around shivering in the cold, but
buoyed up by the honors thus showered upon
him, l)ore himself with the most amiable
fortitude.

"There being no tables in those days, the
supper was passed around. At the proper time
the Governor, under a deep sense of his own con-
sequence, made a speech, returning his thanks
for the high honors done him.

TWELFTH LESSON.

thp: first ministp:r.

James G. Blaine has written a book called
"Twenty Years in Congress," and in that book
he makes this reference to Nebraska:

"To the westward and northwestward of
Missouri and Iowa lay a vast territory, which,
in 1854, was not only unsettled, l)ut had no
form of civil government, whatever.

"By the Missouri Compromise, every scjuare
mile of this domain had been honorably devoted
to freedom. At the period named, Indian tribes
'" ''■' " ■■' lighted tlieir campfires on tlie
very borders of Missouri and Iowa.

•ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 45

"But the tide of emigration, which had
filled Iowa and Wisconsin and had been drawn
for a time to the Pacific slope, now set in again
more strongly than ever to the Mississippi Val-
ley, demanding and needing new lands for
settlement and cultivation/'

It was this tide of emigration, pouring into
and through Omaha, which ]:)egan the steady
growth of that time.

You have seen what a little handful made
up our population in 1855, whicli opened with
the Governor's l^all in January.

By January, 1856, the population had more
than doubled and nearly forty houses had been
erected. Just a few were brick buildings,
many were frame and some were only dugouts.

These people wanted very much to have a
minister resident here. Ministers came over
occasionally from the Bluff s and often ministers
were in the emigrant trains which stopped to
rest over Sunday in Omaha. We have read of
ministers who preached standing on the stump
of a tree. More than one minister preaching so
to a crowd gathered in the open air to listen,
has seen a group of Indians on the outskirts of
his congregation, watching in silence the
strange proceedings of the Avhite ''medicine
man.''

People living in a new country such as this
was then, are apt to grow rougli and wild away
from their homes, and the arrival of Rev.
Reuben Gaylord, in December, 1855, was a

46 ANEf'DOTES OF OMAHA.

cause of great rejoicing to the little band of
church members awaiting him. He came from
his pastorate in Iowa and had a dreadful jour-
ney through the wilderness to reach Omaha.

Mr. Gaylord's wife and children are still
living in Omaha, and Mrs. Gaylord has written
the following account of their trip:

"Early in December, 1855, we set out on
our journey of 300 miles across the State of
Iowa. " " ■" Railroads were not very
plenty in those days. We traveled in a two-
seated carriage with a span of horses — five of
us in all. The youngest was the little boy,
who afterwards died in Omaha, then only
sixteen months old. We had been told the
roads were usually good in December and the
weather mild. That winter and the one fol-
lowing proved to be exceptions. After the
first day we encountered rain and mud, then
snow and intense cold.

"It was often difficult to find any place to
stay at night; sometimes seven or eight o'clock
before we could get entertainment for ourselves
and horses.

"In the timber on South river, one of the
carriage wheels suddenly dropped into a deep
rut and the axletree broke. There was no
house near, but Mr. Gaylord cut a hickory sap-
ling, bent it around and secured it witli a rope,
so that we forded the river and came on to
Indianola. Tlien^ we remained until the car-

ANECDOTES OF OIAHA. 47

riage Avas mended, and then pursued our jour-
ney. " ^- '^ " " "

' 'In western Iowa were unbridged streams
with high, steep, icy banks. These were frozen
at the sides but w^ater running in the channel.
Twenty miles before reaching the Nodaway
river, Mr. Gaylord Avas warned that it was use-
less to proceed as there was no possibility of
crossing it, but we kept on.

"We found a man and two boys living in a
shanty near the river bank. Their services
were secured and a place up the stream was
found where the family could cross on the ice.

' 'Rails and branches of trees were laid down
the side of the icy descent to prevent the car-
riage from sliding round and being wrecked on
a stage coach which had been fast in the mid-
dle of the stream for three days. Mr. Gaylord
succeeded in driving across without accident.

"We reached Council Bluffs December 21,
riding against a piercing northwest wind the
last half day.

' 'The hotel Avas full to OA^erflowing and Mr.
Gaylord and Mr. Rice walked the streets till
eleven o'clock to find a lodging place.

"But in these days priA'ate houses Avere
small and croAvded with their own occupants.

"We stayed at Mr. Rice's house that night
and the next day found a A'acant place at the
hotel. Then Mr. Gaylord came OA^er to Omaha
to see if the house promised us was ready.

48 AXECDOTES OF OMAHA.

Winter had come on with such severity that
work was suspended and it could not be
occupied. It was the small house until recently
standing north of Donaghue's floral establish-
ment on Sixteenth street.

"The Douglas House, the only hotel, on the
corner of Fourteentli and Harney, was more
than full. A part of the dwelling where Dr.
Wood now has his office, (northwest corner of
Fifteenth and Capitol Avenue) was secured,
and on the afternoon of Christmas day, Mr.
Gaylord brought his family from the Blufi"s to
find a shelter here.

"We crossed the Missouri on the ice at a
point quite north of the town. The cold was
so intense that we were nearly paralyzed on
our arrival, and had to be helped into the
house. Mr. Milton Rogers had, himself,
brought a stove from the Bluflfs and a fire was
soon kindled. What there was of the dwelling
stood on four blocks at the corners, with no
other foundation, and the floor was not re-
markably tight. Of course there was no plas-
tering, and for five weeks no thawing sufficient
for water to drop from the eaves, except one day
in February.

"A sod stable, some distance to the south-
west, afforded shelter for the tired horses.
Across Fifteenth street, where the Exposition
l)uilding now stands, was a house owned by
Mr. Poppfi^on and occupied by a family named
Tucker. Mr. Cloodwiirs family were not far

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 49

away. Subsequently additions were made to
this house by Mr. Samuel Brown, who trans-
formed it into a very cozy and pleasant liome
for his own family.

'^ About six weeks after we moved to a more
comfortable house on the south side of Harney
street, west of the Douglas House and near
Fifteenth street. This dwelling was owned by
Mr. Shoemaker. The Douglas House was kept
by Mr. and Mrs. Mills, who were among the
early residents of Omaha. Governor Richard-
son (the third Grovernor) and family lived a
short distance west on the north side of Harney
street."

THIRTEENTH LESSON

NEBRASKA IN 1857.

Among the arrivals of 1855-56 was a young
gentleman who wrote an interesting little vol-
ume called ''Nebraska in 1857, and signs him-
self in that volume James M. Woolworth,
attorney and counselor-at-law and general land
agent, Omaha City, Nebraska Territory.

I think you will enjoy the first chapter of
his book which, by the way, you can find in the
City Library. He says: "Thousands will, this
season visit ttie West, not only to locate ]:)ut to
'look around.' Many of them are unacquainted
with the different routes and are unaccustomed
to traveling. For the benefit of such the fol-
lowing statement has been prepared. It com-

50 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

inences at JNew York and extends to Omaha in
Nebraska, but any person will be able to deter-
mine how best to reach any point on the line
from his own home.

"Those whose time is more valuable and
important than comfort and who can only make
a flying visit can take the Hudson river R. R.
to Albany; then the New York Central to Sus
pension Bridge; then the Great Western R. R.
through Canada to Detroit; then the Chicago
and Rock Island R. R. to Davenport; then the
Mississippi and Missouri R. R. to Iowa City; then
the stage to Omaha.

"The distances on this route are:

"From New York to Chicago, 960 miles; From
Chicago to Iowa City 236 miles; From Iowa City
by stage, 275 miles. Making 1471 miles by the
shortest route. Passengers taking this route
can leave New York by the early morning train
and arrive at Suspension Bridge the same night,
Detroit the next morning, Chicago the night of
the second day, Rock Island the morning of the
third day, Iowa City at noon, leaving for
Omaha the night of the third day and arriving
there in three days more, making the trip from
New York through, in about six days and six
nights. This is as quick as the trip can be
made.

"But those who can spend two or three
days more time for the sake of greater comfort
will do well to take the following route:

"People's Line of steamboats from New

ANEfDOTES OF OMAHA. 51

York to Albany; New York C'.^ntral to Buffalo:
North Shore Line of steamers on Lake Erie to
Detroit; then Michigan Central to Chicago; then
Chicago, Alton and St. Louis R. R, to St. Louis;
tlien by steamboat up the Missouri river.

' 'Distances by this route are :

"From New York to Chicago, 1035 miles;
From Chicago to St. Louis, 285 miles; From St.
Louis to Omaha, 795 miles; From New York to
Omaha, 2115 miles.

"Passengers taking this route leave New
York by evening boat, reaching Albany the
next morning and Buffalo the night of the
second day, Chicago the third night and St.
Louis the fourth day.

" Steamboats are always in readiness at St.
Louis for the Missouri river and travelers with
their baggage can be transferred from the cars
to the boats.

' ' The usual time from St.' Louis to Omaha
in a good stage of water is about five days, thus
making the time from New York to Omaha, via
St. Louis, about nine or ten days.

"Passengers should in every instance, after
determining their route, purchase tickets as far
through as possible, which can be done at any
of the principal ticket offices — to St. Louis or to
Davenport.

' ' These tickets are good for a year and will
cost much less than to buy them at intervals.
When parties of fifty or more purcliase together

0~J ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

a discount from the regular price is iniide. At
present writing the prices for the summer are
^ not. established but they will not vary much
from the following rates, which were established
last summer.

"From New York to Iowa City, J?27.00:
from Iowa City to Omaha, $19.00, making J!^-i6.00
from New York to Nebraska. From New York
to St. Louis, Jf^24.00, and from St. Louis to
Omaha, J?20.00, making a total of $44.00.

"The steamboat route gives much more
comfort than the all railroad route and is more
economical. The passenger gets two nights rest
between New York and St. Louis and the pas-
sage up the Missouri is in boats as fine and
comfortable as any in the West; and while
living is extra when traveling l\y railroad, it is
included in the steamboat fare.

"It is likely that fares up the river will ])e
lower than ever this coming season on account
of competition; but they will not be very much
and in no event do w^e think they will be higher
than the foregoing estimate.

"There are, of course, oth n* route.> to the
West.

"We have tried them all, and have found
that those named are the most comfortable,
expeditious and safe. They have been long
established and well iiianagtMl and are usually
more certain to make regular connections. The
countries through which they pass are thickly

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 53

settled with great cities and towns, making the
journey from New York to Nebraska safe, easy
and attractive."

Contrast this journey of fourteen days, when
Pulhnan sleepers and dining cars were unknown,
with the trip of three days now. Do you sup-
pose you will some day look back to the poor
accommodations and slow methods of 1891?

FOURTEENTH LESSON.

1857 found Omaha City fairly started, and
possibly, of all the buildings erected that year,
none gave more interest and pleasure to the
inhabitants than the capitol building and Mr.
Gaylord's church. The capitol stood on Capitol
Square, a stately brick l^uilding 120 feet long,
its eastern front decorated with heavy pillars
and visible from miles around, as the high
school is now. It was entered directly from
the approaches without giving its visitors the
troul^le to climb any steps.

The second was a little brick church which
stood just west of Sixteenth street facing the
alley between S. P. Morses and the Y. M. C. A.,
building. The lots were donated to the
Congregational society, but the society was
small and building the church was rather a
difficult matter. A room in the basement was
finally finished and Mr. Gaylord with his little
band took possession, with glad hearts.

Omaha was now well started and the next

54 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

object desired by the people was a school. A
Mrs. Smith came here about this time and
opened a little school in this basement room,
and this was the first school in town.

Previons to this and after her school closed,
the yonng people would form classes among
themselves, and induce some one of the citizens
to give them lessons on different topics.

Those who could afford it, had tutors and
governess to instruct their children at home.
This was by far the better way, for Omaha City
was scatterd over a wide tract of land, and the
tall prairie grass made it difficult for people to
get a])Out.

As time passed on Omaha grew in popula-
tion very much faster than in l^uildings, and
about this time, to accommodate these crowds,
another large hotel was erected on the corner of
Ninth and Farnam. It was a fine four story
brick building and was called the Herndon
House.

It was at this house that that eccentric man,
George Francis Train was stopping when he
made such a funny arrangeuient. It seems,
wliere he sat in the dining rocmi, he was annoyed
l)y a draft from a l)roken window.

He hired a negro waiter to stand between
him and the window till he had finished his
dinner, agreeing to pay him ten cents a minute
for his services. But the head waiter interfered,
and sent the other waiter away.

Mr. Train was verv anur> and told th«'

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. OO

proprietor of the Heriidon House he woukl buihl
a better hotel inside of sixty days, and he kept
his word. He put up the hotel on Ninth and
Harney, which was known for a long time as
the Cozzens House. Lately it has been called
"The Omaha Medical Institute."

The Herndon House was sold to the Union
Pacific Railroad in 1870, and is still standing,
having been altered and improved, and is
known to us as the Union Pacific Headquarters.

FIFTEENTH LESSON.

In Mr. Woolworth's '^Nebraska in 1857," to
which we have referred before, there is a
description of this locality to which your
attention is called.

"Douglas County is more distinguished for
its towns than any other characteristics; having
the capitol and being the part of the territory
easiest reached from the east, it has filled up,
especially the principal town — Omaha City —
with the active speculative young men who
throng to any point newly opened, which prom-
ises to become a great emporium. Capital,
energy, business activity, skill and will have
poured in here until the whole country may be
;said to rival any town at the east.

' 'Along the Missouri River we have laid out
four towns; the first is Omaha City;on the north
of it at a distance of six miles is Florence, and

56 AXECDOTES OF OMAHA.

between Florence and Omaha City is Saratoga
and south of Omaha City is Omaha.

"Omaha City is beautifully situated in a
wide plateau, the second bottom of the Missouri
River. Back of it rise the bluffs by gentle slopes
from the summits of which the great prairies of
the interior roll in beautiful undulations.

"From the first of these may be seen the
grandest view the eye of man ever looked upon.
Up and down the river on the Nebraska side
runs, as far as the eye can reach, the table
lands so smooth, so unbroken, so perfect, the
hand of art could not add to or take from one
part of it. Beyond is the river, bordered by
heavy trees, with its broad shallows and turbid
current floating with serpentine windings.

"On the opposite side isthe broad bottom of
the river, and cutting short the view, rise the
bold rugged blufl's of Iowa, the tracing of their
forests standing out in the clear atmosphere
with the strongest distinctness, while Council
Bluffs lies ensconced within an opening, a busy
mart of all that region.

"Omaha City is well Iniilt up with sub-
stantial brick blocks. It numbers 1,800
people. Its advantages are first, it is the
capital of the territory.

"The United States have commenced build-
ing a capitol, which is situated on a handsome
and commanding hill in the west part of town.
The building is a parallelogram in • form, with
heavy columns upon the side. The ornaments,

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 57

which are elaborate, are of iron, as are also the
casmgs of the pillars and the caps of the
windows.

"Fifty thousand dollars have been expended
in laying the foundations and carrying it up one
story. A like sum has been appropriated by
Congress to complete it. When finished it
will be a most elegant building.

' 'The second advantage which Omaha City
enjoys is the fact that she lies directly opposite
Council Bluffs, and is, at present at least, the
head of navigation of the Missouri River.

"The first circumstance gives her the
advantage of receiving the emigrant into the
territory. He sees her promise and feels her
enterprise, and makes her his home; or if he
seek some other point ever acknowledges that
she is the great town of Nebraska.

"The second fills her landings with the
immense imports from the east, which supply
the territory. She is indeed the main point of
entry for the emigrant and for merchandise.

"The coming season, at least one boat a
day will unload at her landing. A further
advantage of Omaha City is the fact that she is
the eastern terminus of the great route to the
west.

"A year ago Congress established a military
road from this place to Fort Kearney, and
appropriated $50,000 for its construction. That
road is nearly complete and runs up the valley

.5

58 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

of the Platte, through all the principal settle-
ments west of this.

"Congress has made the further appropria-
tion of $400, 000 to construct a great wagon road
to the South Pass, the eastern terminus of which
is here. These facts give Omaha City a great
impetus in her growth into a commercial town.

"Far and wide over the country her name
is known as well as that of the territory itself.
To it is the great rush of emigration at the
present time. It has the start of all rivals,
which no ordinary advantage can overcome.

"The population of this place is made up
of intelligent and enterprising men. They are
generally from the cultivated and educated
classes of the east. In the character of its
society as regards intelligence and culture,
genteel and ever fashionable life, Omaha rivals
the best town of twice her population, which
can be named in New York or New England.

"As an evidence of this we refer to a course
of ten lectures delivered under the auspices of
its Library Association, by the citizens of the
place, which, botli in the character of the
lectures delivered and of the audiences
assembled to listen to them, would do the
highest credit to an eastern city.

"Handsome churches liave been built l^y
the Methodists and Congregationalists, in Ix^th
of which are settled clergymen. The Baptists
also have a clergyman here.

"An Episcopal church has been organized

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 59

and service is regularly held on Sunday by a
clergyman. A handsome church is to be
erected by the Episcopalians the coming summer,
at an expense of $7,000. The Roman Catholics
also have a church here.

' 'The Territorial Library, containing a full
set of the American Reports and a good selection
from the English, together with a large number
of elementary law books and a handsome case
of miscellaneous w^orks, in all numbering about
4,000 volumes, is located here. The library is
provided for in the Organic Act. "

SIXTEENTH LESSON.

JUDGE WOOLWORTH's DESCRIPTION OF OMAHA..

[ CONTINUED.]

"Florence, as we have said, lies about six
miles north of Omaha City. It is a thriving
place, with many ad vantages. It lies upon the
same beautiful plateau as Omaha City. Oppo-
site to it on the Iowa side is Crescent City, also
a flourishing place. Its growth has been rapid
and apparently substantial.

"Those interested in it claim for it a rock
bottom landing, and that at a short distance
from the shore is a rock island and upon these
two, . it is believed, a substantial and cheap
bridge can be constructed; a work which can-
not be accomplished elsewhere on account of
the variable bed and current of the river.

60 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

"The great military road to Fort Kearney
touclies its western line and much of the trade
from the Platte Valley stops here. The mer-
cantile business of the place is heavy, command-
ing, as it does, the north, a portion of the west
and even a part of Iowa. We believe that at
some time a great city in the direct line of New
York, Albany, Buffalo, Detroit, Chicago and
Davenport and sharing their importance, will
grow up near these places.

"Severe argument has long been kept up
between Omaha City and Florence as to their
relative claims for this great point. This fact
surely favors Florence; that the road to pass
through it makes a shorter route than by
Omaha City. As to the rock island and rock
landing, even surveyors differ, both as to their
existence and ad vanl age. Saratoga lies between
these two places upon the same plateau with
them. As yet it has no improvements, although
a large hotel and some fine residences are to be
built there this season. Its promise is rather
for a splendid place for residence than for
business. It is hardly possible it should draw
largely on the trade of Omaha City, unless
some circumstance which cannot now be seen
reveals itself. But as a residence it is un-
equaled.

"Omaha lies at the southeast corner of
Omaha City with about two-thirds of its site
upon the bottom of tlie Missouri, the remain-
ing third being upon the Bluffs. It was laid

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 61

out only a few months since; although the
revenue of a large quarry of limestone which is
upon its land, by a resolution of the company
is to be expended in grading and paving its
streets and constructing a levee, which will
add largely to its value.

"Its value consists in being located directly
opposite the depot and grounds of the Missis-
sippi and Missouri railroad, (i. e., where they
are going to be built).

"The Act of Congress donating lands to aid
in the construction of this road designates
Council Bluffs as its western terminus. The
company and members of the company on its
behalf have made large purchases of land for
depots and grounds, as was necessary at that
place.

' ' It must be ten years before the great
Pacific Road can be carried through; carried
even so far as to render the shortest route a
necessity or even a desideratum. Till then,
places of considerable size, although lying a
little off the air line will bring the road to
them.

"The fact that Council Bluffs is the ter-
minus of this road, and Omaha is directly oppo-
site, will build up a town of large influence here
very rapidly. We are therefore of the opinion,
that the great point for ten years to come is to
be about the point where this road crosses the
river. By that time it may change — may go to
Florence — to save the deflection of many miles;

62 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

first to the south, to reach Council Bluffs, and
then north, to keep the north bank of the
Platte. This is the work and problem of future
years.

"It is further to be noted that along the
Mississippi the large towns are all on the west
side of the river. The law of that region can
hardly help but rule here. The gentlemen
most interested in the Mississippi Road seem to
have foreseen the importance of Omaha, having
obtained large interests there. The ferry,
which heretofore has landed toward the north-
ern part of Omaha City, it is said, will, the
coming season, land at the landing of Omaha.

"A large influence is at work to secure the
landing of all boats from St. Louis at this
place. The Simpson University, a school under
the Methodist influence, is located at Omaha^
City and the Nebraska University of Saratoga,
is located at that place. Neither are yet
organized."

SEVENTEENTH LESSON.

THE PANIC OF 1857.

The handsome Congregational Church Mr.
Woolworth speaks of, was 36 feet long by 27
feet wide and seated about two hundred and
fifty people. The Episcopal Church was about
the same size, and stood down on Ninth street

ANECDOTES OF OilAHA. 63

just below the southwest corner of Farnam
streets.

The Simpson College and the Saratoga Uni-
versity were never built, but the boats from
St. Louis did land at Jones street, which was
the northern boundary of Omaha or else the
southern boundary of Omaha City. In a very
short time these two settlements became one.

For the next few years, however, the growth
of Omaha City was not rapid, owing to a panic
in the money markets of the East. Congress
reduced the tariff on foreign importations,
which caused a great number of business fail-
ures. It was so great a depression that it is
even yet referred to as "the hard times of 1857."

A two story brick building, which had been
erected on the southwest corner of Twelfth and
Farnam, was occupied by the "Western Ex-
change Bank Association," and the failure of
that bank caused a loss of $80,000 to the deposit-
ors, most of whom were business men residing
here. This bank had been regarded as the very
best and safest place of the kind in this part of
the country and its failure caused real distress.

There were other troubles in the East at
that time which also affected Omaha; the hard
and bitter feelings between the slave holding
States and the free States were increasing and
people were beginning to realize that the trouble
could only be settled by the horrors of civil war.

In 1858, however, the discovery of gold in
Nebraska was announced throughout the world

64 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

and aroused another gold fever. You must re-
member that Nebraska then extended west to
the Rocky Mountains and the gohl found was
in the vicinity of Pike's Peak. Another great
rush began which was a help to Omaha City in
many ways. Crowds of people stopped here to
rest and to lay in fresh supplies. Many were
thorouglily wearied by the time they reached
here and resolved to go no further.

Long after this gold fever had subsided the
emigration continued and emigrant trains
arrived daily.

Of course there were nowhere near houses
enough to shelter these travelers and . so they
put up tents on all available spots till the town
looked like a military camp.

The few streets were swarming with people
on foot and on horse back; not a few of the
dwellers in the camps were Indians. They were
peaceable and orderly and greatly interested in
the strange ways of these new comers. They
made all sorts of Indian trinkets, which found
a ready sale in the town. They had another
way of earning a little money also. They would
split a little stick at one end and insert a piece
of money, usually a dime, and then shoot at this
dime from a distance of a few rods, with their
arrows. If tliey hit the money, and generally-
they did, it was theirs.

Where our butchers display beeves and
lambs to-day, the butchers of 1858-9 displayed
venison and buffalo meat.

AKECDOTES OF OMAHA. 05

At night camp-fires were blazing in all direc-
tions and the lamp light shining through the
canvas tent walls turned the dark streets of the
little frontier town into a most jolly little city.

The people were careful to keep a sharp
lookout for both Indians and wolves. The In-
dians had a fashion of helping themselves to
other people's property which was not alto-
gether popular.

The prairie wolves were frequently seen but
they were too cowardly to do much harm unless
driven by hunger in cold weather.

No railroad trains had, as yet, fulfilled Mr.
Pattison's dream, but the whistles of the steam-
boats were familiar.

The following copy will show you how wel-
come the first steamer in the spring was a^ she
came up the river.

"George B. Lake, who is rearranging the
records of Douglas County, encounters some
Interesting things among the entries in some of
the old time books which have places in the
county vault. In an aged assessment book he
discovered the following entries as regards
navigation and commerce at that time:

March 4, 1859 — Good stage of water in the
river and free from ice. Steamer Florida in
view at the lower landing.

March 5, 1859 — The Florida came up, and,
as she passed the foot of Farnam street, she was
greeted with the firing of cannon and the hearty

66 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

cheers of the people. She had very little
freight.

March 6, 1859— The Florida left thin morn-
ing. A hard way to serve the Lord.

March 10, 1859 — The Omaha arrived about
noon with a heavy freight; few passengers.
She left the same day.

March 21 — Steamboat Emigrant arrived at
7:00 and left at 10:00 a. m. William Kayer and
H. Johnson go down.

March 22 — Steamboat Sioux City arrived at
7:00 F. M.

March 26 — Steamboats Hesperian and E.
M. Reiland.

March 29— Steamboats Asa Wilges and
Spread Eagle.

April 1— Steamer White Cloud, left April 2.

April 4 — Steamer Hannibal.

April 5 — Steamer Emigrant.

April 9 — Steamer Iryitan.

April lO^Steamer Omaha."

EIGHTEENTH LESSON.

.JOHN brown's visit TO NEBRASKA.

It was in 1859 that John Brown, who lived
in Maryland, made an attempt to free the
slaves. When both Northern and Southern
States were fighting over the admission into the
Union, of both Kansas and Nebraska, in 1852
and 1853, John Brown came west to help their

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 67

admission as free States. When that was
accomplished he went home again, and seven
years later, gathered a little company of twenty
men to take possession of the arsenal at Harper's
Ferry, hoping to make it a place of refuge for
the fngitive slaves of the neighborhood; but
the company was easily overpowered, and their
leader John Brown, was tried by the Court of
Virginia and hung.

While these exciting scenes were being
enacted in the east, a very different method of
making men free was being tried in Omaha. In
other words, the first public school was being
organized. A school director was elected from
each of the three wards into which the city was
divided, and these gentlemen engaged Mr.
Howard E. Kennedy as Superintendent. He
found plenty of work to be done from the start,
for all that was ready for school were the
pupils; not a house, book, desk, or teacher was
to be found. Mr. Kennedy finally rented a
room in the old State House, which had then
become private property and he taught there
with Mrs. Nye as his assistant. A little one
story one room frame building was rented on
13th street, near Douglas, and Mrs. Rust taught
there. Out on Cuming street, near the Military
Bridge, which crossed the North Creek, was
another little school which was taught by Mrs.
Torrey. These schools were crowded during
that year with pupils of all sizes, but at the end
of that time the money for the school fund was

68 ANECDOTES OF OM\HA.

used up and the public schools remained closed
for three years. So the people returned to the
earlier plan of private schools, private classes,
and private teachers. About that time Mr.
Beales, who is now teaching in the High School,
opened a private school in that most convenient
building— the old State House. Mr. Beales has
a most interesting account of his arrival in the
Life of Reuben Gaylord, from which the follow-
ing is taken.

"At day-break the steamer West Wind, that
brought me thither swung from her moorings at
the lower Council Bluffs landing, and made her
way up the river. As we steamed from behind
the wood covered hills below the city, among
the first objects that met my eyes, was the
Territorial Capitol, which, with its Corinthian
pilasters and frieze, and its towering dome,
rested on the brow of the hill above the city
like a crown and gave promise of good govern-
ment— the reign of law and order.

"Our boat made the shore and tied up at the
foot of Jones street. The natural bank of the
river was the only wharf and the loose sands of
the bottoms the only pier. To reach town the
omnibus drove through those sands to the foot
of Farnam, which was then, as now, the princi-
pal street. As we passed along, we noticed
here and tliere a vacant building which, with
the small number of people in sight, told plainly
that business and thrift were not then at their
height.

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 69

' ' I secured temporary accommodations at the
Farnam House on the corner of Thirteenth and
Harney Streets. '• ''' " I had de-

voted my life to the cause of public instruc-
tion; at the East I had been engaged only in
the public schools and desired to continue in
them at the West, but employment in the public
schools in Omaha at that time was impossible.
The directors had used all the money in their
hands to sustain them during the past year and
did not expect to have enough to open them
again for one or two years. Being compelled,
therefore, to give up my hope to make an en-
gagement with the directors, I turned at once
to organize a private school."

This school was extensively advertised as
the Omaha High School and was of great im-
portance to the city. It grew rapidly and Mr.
Beales had to employ assistant teachers from
the first.

There was one other cause, aside from the
troubles in the East, which helped to depress
and discourage Omaha during 1859 and that
was the Indian scare known as the Pawnee war.
The Pawnees left their homes and encamped at
Fontanelle, only a few miles from here, and the
settlers of that neighborhood were greatly
alarmed. It was during this war that Logan
Fontanelle, the great chief of the Omahas, who
lived with his family at Bellevue, was killed
by a party of Pawnees. This scare made those

W ANECrOTES OF OMAHA.

who were here anxious and those who were not
here did not care to come.

In 1860 Al)raham Lincoln was elected Presi-
dent. The Southern States had threatened to
secede from the Union if a Kepul)lican Presi-
dent were elected, and they kept their word.
Before Lincoln was inaugurated seven States
had seceded and the War of the Rebellion was
begun in earnest. There were four candidates
for the Presidency when Lincoln was elected.
One of the unsuccessful ones was the Little
Giant, Stephen A. Douglas. He was a noted
lawyer of Illinois; Douglas county and Douglas
street were named after him.

NINETEENTH LESSON.

LYNCHING OF BOUVE.

George B. Armstrong, who resides with his
family on Saunders street, was Mayor of this
city in 18G1 and 1862, and contributed his
energy, sagacity and clear headed business
ability to the growth of our home. It was a
strange town to preside over.

Men were making money here and work
seemed plenty yet there were so many poor in
town the Aldermen were ol)liged to give them
assistance from the city funds.

The Marshal, who performed the work of
Chief of Police, was kept busy in his endeavors
to protect the settlers from tlie thieves who

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 71

infested the town, and often found his hands
more than full of work. The citizens finally
formed a vigilance committee to assist in
preserving order and one thief named Bouve
was lynched by them.

Bouve and a companion named Her assaulted
and robbed Mrs. George F. Taylor, who lived
same distance northwest of town. The thieves
came to Omaha and hid the plunder near the
present Missouri Pacific depot. They were
suspected of the crime and arrested.

Mrs. Taylor fully identified them and said
that Bouve wanted to shoot her so that she could
never betray them, but Her prevented him from
doing so. The men were tried in court, l:)ut the
jury failed to convict them and they w^re
released. People were indignant and the
vigilantes finally obtained a confession from
Her, who told them where the money was hid.

The vigilantes held a meeting in one of the
rooms over Goodman's drug store, and decided
to hang Bouve who had been rearrested and was
confined in the Court House . Mayor Armstrong
heard of the resolution and at once com-
missioned several men as special policemen to
protect Bouve. But at midnight a party of
masked men went from Farnam street, just
above the Paxton Hotel, up to the Court House,
which stood Avhere Max Meyer's jewelry store is
now, and forcing their way to Bouve's cell, hung
him to a beam. Her was forgiven and allowed
to escape.

72 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

Men who helped to pull Bouve up are still
living in Omaha. When the Mayor reached
the Court House the next morning Bouve'sdead
body was still hanging from the beam. Mayor
Armstrong learned afterwards that some of the
men whom he had appointed to guard the
prisoner were among the masked men who
handled the rope.

This seems rough life to us now, but it was
necessary for men to protect themselves efiec-
tually against the crowds of lawless people
coming and going through the surrounding
country. To protect the titles to property in
early days men of the town formed what were
called "claim clubs." These clubs considered
the claims of rival settlers to disputed property
and awarded the right to the property as they
judged best. No doubt some unjust things
were done by these claim clubs, but in the end
security to the inhabitants and legal titles to
their homes were estal)lished. In April of 1S61
the War of the Rebellion was actually Ugun
and President Lincoln issued a call for volun-
tees from all the Northern States. John M.
Thayer, a resident of Nebraska who had won
honor for his bravery in the war with Mexico,
applied to Governor Saunders for commission
as Colonel, and orgaui/.ed the First Neln-aska
Regiment. The recruiting office was in this
town and although volunteers came from all
over the Territory, the greater part of the
regiment was composed of Omaha men. The

ASKCDOTES OF OMAHA. 73

regiment was not called into action for some
time and meanwhile it was carefully drilled.
The call came at last and one bright July
morning the regiment formed ranks in front of
the capitol (just where President Harrison ad-
dressed the children May 13, 1891,) and then
marched away to the steamboat landing at the
foot of Jones street, where they embarked for
St. Louis. From thence they w^ent to Fort
Donaldson on the Cumberland River, in Tennes-
see. This, their first great battle, was won by
the Union soldiers after four days of hard
fighting. When the Confederate army asked
for terms of surrender. Grant made his cele-
brated reply "No terms other than uncondi-
tional surrender can be accepted." Anderson's
History says, "This terse reply gained for its
author the title of U(nconditional) S(urren.
der) Grant. " Colonel Thayer, who later became
Major-General, and still later Governor of Ne-
braska, gives the following account of this
battle:

"At break of day the troops were all
landed when Grant joined us. He immediately
brigaded them and assigned the brigades to
divisions, giving me the command of six regi-
ments. It was then that the Nebraska First
came under fire of a real battle for the first
time. My brigade was formed across the road,
the battery in the road, the First Nebraska
supporting it on the right,, the Fifty-eighth
Ohio on the left and other regiments on the

74 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

Tight and left. There that brigade received
and met the onset of the whole rebel army. In
three quarters of an hour that same rebel army
was on a hasty retreat back into its works.
And this was the last attempt it made to break
through our lines and escape."

The regiment also distinguished itself at
Pittsburg Landing and several other places.
Years later when the dying commander was
writing his History of the Rebellion, he remem-
bered the bravery of the First Nebraska and
said of them some very pleasant things for us
to know.

TWENTIETH LESSON.

GENEKAL SHERMAN's VISIT IN 1865.

A railroad to reach from the Mississippi
river to the Pacific Coast, was spoken of as early
as 1846, but the matter was talked about for
fifteen years before anything was actually
decided upon. Then, Congress having passed
a resolution to build the Pacific Raih'oad, the
power to decide where this road should be
located was given to President Lincoln, and he
decided in favor of Omaha City. You may be
sure this decision gave great pleasure here;
the towns people knew that the future of Omaha
w^as secure now. Tlie telegram was received
here December 2nd, 1863, and the people
decided to begin their part of the work that
very day. So the crowd which had gathered

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 75

in tlie streets as tlie news became known,
formed itself into a procession and marched
down to the river, near the foot of Webster
street. A spot was selected, and after the Rev.
T. B. Lemon had offered prayer, Grov. Saunders
took a spade and began the Union Pacific Rail-
road. He was followed by the Mayor B. E. B.
Kennedy, George Francis Train and several
other gentlemen, while the crowd threw up their
hats and cheered, and cannon roared salutes in
return. In the evening the city was illumi-
nated and a ball was given at the Herndon
House. The river afterwards washed away this
place of beginning.

But the work after this gay beginning pro-
gressed rather slowly. They could not grade
till the winter was over and it was difficult to
find laborers. There was no railroad for more
than one hundred miles east of Council Bluffs,
so the material, such as iron, cars, etc., was sent
from Quincy, 111. , to St. Joe and thence by boat
to Omaha.

The first locomotive came by this route the
following summer and was used on the con-
struction train. Two years later the road
reached from here into Sarpy county about
twelve miles and an excursion over this little
road was given to General Sherman and his
party when he visited Omaha at that time.

76 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

Dr. Miller has written the following account
of the trip:

"The improvised Pullman for the occasion
was a dirt car with boards placed on nail kegs,
serving for seats, with buffalo robes for cushions,
the wine being housed in the front pew. The
party was composed of our most prominent citi-
zens and at the end of the track, which was al-
ways a permanent station during construction,
speeches were called for.

"That of General Sherman made a strong
impression on me in the liglit of subsequent
events. He told the story of his part in the agi-
tation and building of the Pacific railroad in
California, where he was stationed in his earlier
days and how he sank $5,000 in an investment
in that end of it to get it started towards the
Atlantic coast.

"His speech was remarkable for soldierly
eloquence and forecast of the future for our
section and its great enterprises. I remember
among other things he said, turning to the
younger men about liim, 'I cannot hope to see
this great work comijleted in my time, the two
oceans united by the bond of steel and locomo-
tive, but you can.'

"As a memento of the trip the engine Avas
named the General Sherman. The interesting
part of it all is that in exactly four years from
tliat date General Sherman rode over the com-
pleted Union Pacific in a Pullman car and

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 77

across tlie Laramie plains at the rate of over
thirty miles an hour."

Dr. Miller had rather a startling case soon
after he went on this excursion which proves
that Omaha was still a frontier town. An old
Englishman came one day to his office, holding
his hat on with one hand, while he carried a
pail of water with the other. The doctor was
horrified to discover that the man had been
scalped by Indians and, surviving the injury,
had actually brought his scalp in the pail of
water .just as the Indians had torn it from his
head for the doctor to sew it on. This was im-
possible but Dr. Miller was able to save the
man's life and he finally returned to England
with the top of his head covered by an immense
scar.

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA,

TWENTY-FIRST LESSON.

JOHN G. SAXe's poem.

Although no one doubted in 1865, that a
great future awaited Omaha — it was then a very
shabby little frontier town. Its appearance in-
spired the following poem by John G. Saxe:

Hast ever been to Omaha,

Where flows the dark Missouri down,
Where four strong hor^■es scarce can draw

An empty wagon through the town ?

Where sand is blown from every mound
To fill your eyes and ears and throat,

Where all the steamers are aground
And all the shanties are afloat.

Where taverns have an anxious guest

For every corner, shelf and crack,
With half the the people going West

And all the others going l)ack?

Where theatres are all the run

And bloody scalpers come to trade;
Where everything is over done
: And everybody underpaid?

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 79

TWENTY-SECOND LESSON.

ORGANIZATION OF THE FIRE DEPARTMENT IN 1860.

1860 found Omaha pushing steadily ahead
in spite of the gathering war clouds in the
East. The town was composed largely of
wooden houses, hastily erected, and the danger
from fire was great. It is a singular fact that
the first building burned in Omaha stood on
Farnam street, where the Paxton hotel now
stands, and where, a dozen years ago, the Grand
Central hotel was burned. It was a small frame
building occupied as a grocery store by Messrs.
Porter and Bremen.

To avert further loss the Pioneer Hook and
Ladder Company was organized by the young
business men of the town, many of whom
served as volunteers. This company is now
Company No. 1, of the City Fire Department.

The Bee gives the following account of this
company in referring to the fire at the Paxton,
April 12, 1891.

The average citizen who witnessed the gallant
efforts of Omaha's firemen to save life and
property at the Paxton hotel catastrophe last
week, gave little thought to a comparison of
their methods of fighting the flames with those
in vogue two decades ago. The former depart-
ment wrestled with the destroyer at the same
place. Yet there were several men in the
throng surrounding the building who handled

80 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

the nozzle and liose in the early days of the
City, and could readily appreciate the great
advantage the department enjoys to-day with
its modern appliances and perfect discipline.

Across the street from where the firemen were
engaged with the flames Sunday evening a
small crowed of Omaha's veteran firemen had
congregated and were critically observing the
scene. Several of them traced their connection
with the department to its organization as a
volunteer. There were Frank Murphy, Andrew
Simpson, "Uncle" Dick McCormick, W. J.
Kenney, Henry Pundt, James Donnelly, jr., and
Harry Taggert. Several of them had held the
nozzle the evening of September 5th, 1870, in
the Grand Central fire on the same location and
witnessed four of their companions burn to
crisp.

The veterans of Pioneer Company No. 1,
were busy relating incidents of their early
career as firemen and comparing their instru-
ments with those being handled on the burn-
ing building. It was in 1860 that the merchants
of the city concluded to effect some kind of an
organization for protection against fire.

Tlie Pioneer Hook and Ladder Company,
composed entirely of business men, was the
result. Andrew Simpson, of the Simpson Car-
riage Manufactory, volunteered to provide the
ladders, liooks, and carriage for conveyance.
The bluffs north of the city furnished a num-
ber of young saplings from which the ladders

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 81

were fashioned, and in two weeks the pioneers
were the proud possessors of the first apparatus
for fighting fire in the Territory.

After the machinery with its red paint had
been placed in the small slab house near the
steamboat landing, Ben Stickler, a young
dentist who had had the honor of Captain of
the first fire company of the city, conferred
on him, stood guard over the affair while it was
inspected by hundreds of visitors. For several
years this primitive instrument sufficed to pre-
vent flames from destroying the city.

Finally the pride of the pioneers yearned for
something greater, and Andy Simpson was
commissioned to go to Davenport and purchase
a fire engine, which was immediately christened
the Fire King. The combined efforts of twenty
men were required to drag the machine through
the streets and on several occasions Dick Mc-
Cormick and Frank Murphy were sent back for
reinforcements while proceeding to a fire, to
pull the Fire King out of the mud. A dozen
of the company were required to pump the
machine, and for a long time only one string
of hose was available.

Water was furnished the company from cis-
terns built in the streets, and when the supply
in one was reduced, all the members of the
company were required to unlimber the Fire
King and drag it to the next nearest reservoir.
But while the company possessed no steam
appliances and patented connections, on sev-

82 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

eral occasions the effective work of the old
blunderbus under the management of the
determined members of the company saved the
entire city from destruction. It was this com-
pany that had four of its members burned to
death in the Grand Central hotel fire and sev-
eral of the men who w^itnessed the death of
Captain Carter Sunday night, saw Billy Mc-
Namara, John Lee, Lon Randall and Frank
Fischer cast headlong into a fiery furnace on
that identical spot twenty years ago.

Another and most important event of 1860
was the completion of the first telegraph line
into Omaha via St. Louis.

This line was built by Edward Creighton,
who later won a fortune and a national rep-
utation in building the first telegraph line to
the Pacific coast. Engaged in tliis business he
went by coach to Salt Lake City, where he suc-
ceeded in interesting Brigham Young in the
project and from Salt Lake City to Sacra-
mento, California, he travelled on horseback.
Imagine, if you can, the perils and hardships of
that terrible trip over the mountains. He suc-
ceeded, how^ever, and returned to Omaha. He
died here several years later and his wife gave
$200,000 to begin Creighton College as his
memorial.

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 83

TWENTY-THIRD LESSON.

REOPENING OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

The vigilantes who \\ung Bouve inspired
the thieves and gamblers flecking into the new
and defenseless town with a most wholesome
regard. Few desperadoes needed more than
one hint from that committee to leave town.
One young man, who was caught trying to steal,
had a rope put around his neck by which he
was drawn up to the limb of a tree, but some
one cut the rope and he fell into a snow drift.
While the crowd shouted with laughter the
thief took to his heels and never was seen in
Omaha again.

In 1863 a boy gathering drift-wood on the
river bank north of the town found the body of
a murdered man. The murderer proved to be
a man named Tator. He was brought to Omaha
for a trial and was defended at Court by A. J.
Poppleton; he was convicted and sentenced to
be hanged. When the time came to execute the
man, the Sheriff sent for a company of soldiers
from Iowa to help him preserve order. Then
the Sheriff and the City Marshal took the
prisoner in a buggy out to a place near Sulphur
Springs and hung him. This was the first legal
execution in Omaha. The second was the
execution of a man named Baker who murdered
his room-mate, and after robbing the dead
body set fire to the house to conceal, if possible.

84 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

liis crime. This man was liuiig a few blocks
west of the High school on St. Valentine's day
in 1868.

In 1865 the city donated the lots where the
Union Pacific shops stand, to the railroad as an
inducement to the road to locate its shops here.
Thomas C. Durant, the first General Manager of
the Union Pacific, was a good friend to the
youthful town, and another good friend from
its earliest days w^as James E. Boyd, then a
young man establishing a reputation for good
work in any branch he undertook. He was
largely interested in the construction of the
Union Pacific and also the Burlington road to
Lincoln.

By this time a police force was a necessity
and so the city council appointed four policemen
to guard the town. Colonel Lorin Miller was
Mayor then and he was a terror to evil doers,
making the rough element which crowded into
town with the laborers on the Union Pacific,
stand well in fear of him.

But the men who were so busy improving
the town all these years did not forget the
children, and in 1863 the public schools were
reopened and have never since been closed.
The first one w^as a one room, one story frame
building which stood at the southwest corner
of Jefferson Square, and was crowded to excess
from the first day it opened. Later, ground on
Cass street where the Cass school now stands,
was purchased and the little frame building

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 85

was moved over there, where it remained for
fifteen years. It was then moved up to Burt
and Twenty -Second street (where it was nsed
for a stable), and the present Cass school
erected.

Brownell Hall was also organized in 1863
and '64 by the Episcopal Church Society, and
occupied a building out on Saunders street near
the present Saratoga School. From there it re-
moved to Sixteenth Street, between Jackson and
Jones, and again in 1885 and '86 to its beauti-
ful home of to-day on Tenth Street.

The Catholic Societies also started several
schools in rented rooms, one especially, down
on Eighth Street, near Harney, while they were
waiting for the churches to be built.

The Pacific School was the first brick school
building owned by the city, and Mr. Beals, who
is now teaching in the High School, was its first
principal. The Izard School was the second
building, but these schools were not ready for
occupancy until 1872. Before that time Omaha
had several newspapers. One was called the
Tribune, which later became the Republican,
and another — The Herald — was published by
Dr. Miller, Col. Miller's son. These papers
thought it very -foolish in the school directors
to build a school so far out in the country as
Izard and Nineteenth streets. But the school
flourished, and so did its nearest neighbor, the
Pleasant School nearly a mile away, on Pleasant
street, near St. Mary's avenue. Several years

86 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

later, when the workmen were laying the foun-
dations for the Dodge school, on the corner of
Dodge and Eleventh streets, they exhumed the
skeletons of Indians buried in the old Otoe
Indian burial ground.

TWENTY-FOURTH LESSON.

ADMISSION OF NEBRASKA AS A STATE.

In 1867 Nebraska's population had increased
to such extent that she was admitted into the
Union as a State, which added another star to
the flag of the Union. Lincoln was appointed
capitol by the Legislature. The people of
Omaha had become convinced by that time that
this was going to become a rich and populous
city whether it was capitol or not. Even then
it was able to raise $100,000 towards paying for
the Union Pacific bridge, and that, too, soon
after raising $80,000 for an Iowa railroad and
$22,000 to build a city hall and fire engine house.

The removal of the capitol to Lincoln left
the building on Capitol Hill vacant, and the
Legislature presented it to the city for a High
School. But the building was becoming old,
and besides being somewhat unsuitable for
school purposes was not considered entirely
safe, so it was finally torn down and our present
High School erected. By the time it was
finished it was badly needed, and school was
held there before any desks could be obtained,

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 87

some of the pupils sitting on benches and some
on chairs, while they kept their books under
their seats, on the floor.

General Garfield once said, "A school is a
bench with a teacher at one end and a student
at the other." So, as there were earnest
students and good teachers in the unfurnished
rooms, the High School fulfilled its purpose and
eventually was comfortably furnished with
plenty of desks. About this time the river
seemed to realize that Omaha was growing very
rapidly and needed more room daily, so it
kindly changed its channel during one of its
spring floods and presented us with Cut Off
Island from the State of Iowa.

This gift startled Omaha at first for the
people were not so well acquainted with the
peculiar ways of the river then, and men
watched it with apprehension for many days.
Council Bluffs was not at all pleased. It was
bad enough to see Omaha getting so far ahead
in population without contributing whole
islands, and so Iowa claimed the island as
belonging to her. It was a long time before
either State could secure a title in the courts,
but Nebraska finally obtained one in 1890,
because the law says the Eastern boundary
of this State shall be the middle of the channel
of the river. This title however, is still dis-
puted in the courts. Now we call the Missouri's
Gift — East Omaha.

The traces of the old river bed are still to

00 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA,

be seen on the island. It made a change in
Omaha. Before that people thought this would
be a river town like St. Joe or Kansas City.
The shifting channel taught them not to depend
upon the river for navigation.

After that the river front was given over to
railroad tracks and heavy business places, while
the residences and lighter business houses
moved further Avest. S. P. Morse's dry goods
store was then down on Tenth street, with the
other fashionable places, but he moved with
the crowd west to Farnam street, near Four-
teenth, and from there to his present place on
Sixteenth street.

TWENTY-FIFTH LESSON.

STAR SPANGLED BANNER.

In 1814 Francis S. Key, a young American
officer, found himself one night a prisoner on
board a British ship lying in the Chesapeake
Bay, opposite the city of Baltimore.

Fort Mr Henry guards the entrance to the
harbor of Baltimore and from his place on deck
Mr. Key could see the British Men-of-War bom-
barding the Fort. All that night Mr. Key and
his friend Mr. Skinner paced the deck watching
the flag on the Fort by the Hashes of fire from
the guns. When the firing ceased, the two
Americans were left in cruel doubt as to which
side had conquered; but wlien daylight finally

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 89

dawned and they saw the stars and stripes still
floating over the Fort, they knew that Balti-
more was saved.

While waiting so joyfully for a chance to
return to his home, Mr. Key composed the song,
"The Star Spangled Banner." The friends to
whom he showed it were charmed and gave it
to the publishers. From that day on, it has
been our National song.

0 say, can yon see, by the dawn's early light,

What so proudly we hailed, in the twilight's last gleam-
ing.

Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the jjeril-
ous hght.

O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming.

And the rockets red glare, the bombs Inirsting in air.

Gave proof through the night that one flag was still there.

0, say, does that Star Spangled Banner yet wave.

O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep.
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes.
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses.
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam.
In full glory reflected now shines on the stream.
'Tis the Star Spangled Banner, and long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave..

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore,.
That the havoc of war, and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more?
Their blood has washed out their foul footstep's pollution.

90 ANECDOTRS OF OMAHA.

No refuge could save the hireling and slave,
From the terror of death and the gloom of the grave,
And the Star Spangled Banner in triumph shall Avave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O thus be it ever, when freeman shall stand
Between their loved homes and the war's desolation;
Blest with victory and peace, may the heaven-rescued

land
Praise the power that has made and preserved us a Nation.

Then conquer we must, for our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: "In God is our trust,""
And the Star Spangled Banner in triumph shall wave,
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

TWENTY-SIXTH LESSON.

THE BUILDING OF THE UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD.

The building of the Union Pacific Rail-
road was of great interest and importance, not
alone to Omaha and the Great West, but to the
whole nation, and therefore the following
detailed account of its construction and com-
pletion has been reproduced from the book —
Curious and Important Events of The Past
Hundred Years — published in Chicago about
ten years ago.

Believers in the "manifest destiny" of the
Universal Yankee Nation were favored with
one of the most conclusive and gratifying con-
firmations of their cherished theory, when that
most stupendous work ever introduced by man,

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 91

the construction of the Pacific Railroad, was
fully consummated. * * *

Notwithstanding the neccessity of such a
line of communication had for years been
repeatedly urged, it was not until 1859 that a
bill was carried through Congress authorizing
the grand scheme. This bill comprised no less
than three great lines, namely: the northern,
the southern and the central. But the break-
ing out of the civil war checked the enterprise.
The astonishing development, however, of the
precious metals in Nevada, and the travel and
traffic that inevitably followed, embodied for
the mines of California that imperious need of
a cheaper and easier conveyance, into a plan of
a continental railway, which had always been
popular there. The assumed impracticability
of crossing the Sierras did not discourage a
few daring, far-sighted engineers; prominent
among whom was P. T. Benjamin, the character
of whose surveys decided the State Legislature
to charter the Central Pacific Railroad Company
in 1862. In a short time success crowned the
efforts of the friends of the enterprise in Con-
gress; and so in July, 1862, the great continental
railway from the Missouri to the Pacific was an
assured undertaking. East of Salt Lake City
the elevation of the road averages about seven
thousand feet above the level of the sea.
Most of the country is very rough, destitute of
wood and water, and a large portion of the way
is through an alkali desert. Tremendous snow

92 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

storms in the mountains presented another
great diificulty. The spirit of rivalry did its
share in stimulating the activity of the Union
Pacific Company. The efi:orts of this company
had so far languished during the earlier history
of their corporation that little was done till
after the closing of the war.

Work on the Union Pacific did not commence
till eighteen months after the Central had begun
their section of the enterprise. In the spring
of 1867, when the snows had melted, the work
was resumed by both companies with great
vigor, the race being kept up with an ardor that
constantly gathered head. Tlie Union was far
ahead in respect to distance, but they had to
fight against constantly increasing difficulties,
while the Central had already overcome the
great ones of their undertaking in crossing the
Sierras, and could look forward to an open and
easy route. The first passenger train reached
the top of the Sierras. Nov. 30, 1867. By the
time the Western end of the route had reached
the lower Truckee, one hundred and forty miles
east of Sacramento, the Union had reached a
point in the Black Hills, five hundred miles
west of Omaha. At the opening of summer,
1868, the two companies were nearly equally
distant from Monument Point at the head of
Salt Lake, and the emulation between the two
gave rise to ijrodigious elForts. Almost twenty-
five thousand men and six thousand teams were
engaged along the route between the foot of the

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 93

Sierras and Evans' pass. The competition in-
creased as they neared each other, and at last
the struggle arose as to the point of Junction.
The Central company wished Ogden fixed as the
point of Junction and the Union urged Monu-
ment Point; the matter was at last settled by a
decision in favor of the former. The dangers
to which the laborers were subjected, and the
necessity of vigilant protection of the track and
material of the road, were great and unceasing,
owing to the inveterate hostility of the Indians.
From Fort Kearney west up the Platte river to
the foot of the Black Hills, the road was sub-
ject to a continual succession of fierce attacks.
Several battalions of United States troops were
scattered along the line and found full employ-
ment in guarding the objects of their vigilance.
It is not to be w^ondered at that the original
pick and shovel, employed in commencing this
vast enterprise, should still be looked upon with
patriotic interest. They are carefully preserved
and bear the following inscriptions: ' 'Pick that
struck the first blow on the Union Pacific rail-
road, Omaha, Dec. 2, 1873. Pickers, Thomas
Acheson, Wilson F. Williams, George Francis
Train, Peter A. Day.^'

"Shovel used by George Saunders to move
the first earth in the Union Pacific railroad,
Omaha, Neb., Dec. 3, 1863. Shovelers, Alvin
Saunders, Governor of Nebraska; B. E. B. Ken-
nedy, Mayor of Omaha; J. M. Palmer, Mayor

94 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

of Council Bluffs; Augustus Kountze, Director
of the Union Pacific railroad."

The following table of distances on the two
lines will show the magnitude of this great
channel of continental communication: From
New York to Chicago, 911 miles; from Chicago
to Omaha, Neb., 491 miles; from Omaha, by the
Union Pacific, to Ogden, 1,030, and a branch of
forty miles to Salt Lake City; from Ogden, by
the Central Pacific, 748 miles; from Sacramento
to San Francisco, 120 miles. Thus the grand
distance by the iron track from Omaha to San
Francisco is 1,898 miles. In less than one-half
or one-third of the time predicted at the outset
of the enterprise, the road was completed — a
great feat, indeed, when it is considered that
the workmen operated at such a distance from
their base of supplies, and tliat the materials
for construction and subsistence had to be
transported under such a variety of difiiculties.

TWENTY-SEVENTH LESSON.

BUILDING OF THE UNION PACIFIC KAILKOAD.

[continued. I

On the 10th day of May, 1869, the grand
historic event took place at Promontory Point,
Utah, of uniting the two grand divisions of the
transcontinental railway. Early in the morn-
ing, says the Chicago Tribune, Governor Stan-
ford and party from the Pacific Coast were on

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 95

the ground; at half past eight an engine with a
palace and two passenger cars arrived from the
East, bringing vice-president Durant and di-
rectors Duff and Dillon, of the Union Pacific
railroad, with other distinguished visitors,
including several Mormon apostles.

Both parties being in readiness the ties
were thrown down on the open space of about
one hundred feet, and the employes of the
two companies approached with the rails to fill
the gap. Mr. Stenbridge, sub-contractor, who
had been in charge of the building of the
Central Pacific, from the laying of the first rail
on the bank of the Sacramento, commanding a
party of Chinese track-layers, advanced from the
West, with Assistant-General Superintendent
Corning.

The Chinamen, conscious that the strangers
from the far East were watching their move-
ments with curious eyes, wielded the pick and
shovel and sledge with consummate dexterity
but their faces wore an appearance of uncon-
cern and indifference, wonderful if real, and
not the less so if affected. White laborers from
the East did their best w^ork but with more
indication of a desire to produce an effect, and
at eleven o'clock the European and Asiatic
soldiers of civilization stood face to face in the
heart of America, each proudly conscious that
the work was w^ell done, and each exultant
over so noble a victory.

Engine No. 119, from the Atlantic, and

96 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

Jupiter No. 60, from the Pacific, each decorated
with flags and evergreens for the occasion, ap-
proached within a hundred feet from opposite
directions and saluted with exultant screams.
Superintendent *Vandenburgh now attached
the telegraph wires to the last rail, so that each
blow of the sledge should be recorded on every
connecting telegraph instrument between San
Francisco and Portland, Maine.

It was also arranged so that corresponding
blows should be struck on the bell in the City
Hall at San Francisco, and the last one fire a
cannon in the batteries at Fort Point. General
Safford, in behalf of the territory of Arizona,
presented a spike composed of iron, gold and
silver, as an offering by Arizona, saying:
"Ribbed with iron, clad in silver, and crowned
with gold. Arizona presents her offering to
the enterprise that has banded every c ontinent
and dictated a new pathway to commerce."

It was then announced that the last blow
was to be struck. Every head was uncovered
in reverential silence while Rev. Dr. Todd, of
Pittsfield, Mass., offered a brief and deeply
impressive invocation.

Tlie magnificent tie of laurel, on which was
a commemorative plate of silver, was brought
forward, put in place, and Dr. Harkness, in
behalf of tlic State of California, presented
Governor Stanford the gold spike. President
Stanford, (jf the Central Pacific, responded,
accepting tlie golden and silver tokens, predict-

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 97

ing the day as not far distant when three
tracks Avould be found necessary to accommo-
date the traffic which would seek transit across
the continent, and closing with the happy
summons:

"Now, gentlemen, with your assistance,
we will proceed to lay the last rail, the last tie,
and drive the last spike. "

General Dodge, in behalf of the Union Pa-
cific railroad, responded as follows:

"Gentlemen: — The great Benton prophe-
sied that some day a granite statue of Colum-
bus would be erected on the highest peak of
the Rocky mountains pointing westward, denot-
ing this as the great route across the continent.
You have made good that prophesy this day.
Accept this as the way to India."

Mr. Tuttle, from Nevada, presented a silver
spike on behalf of the citizens of that State
with the following remarks:

"To the iron of the East and the gold of
the West, Nevada adds her link of silver to
span the continent and wed the oceans."

Thereupon, Superintendent Coe, in behalf
of the Pacific Union Express, presented the sil-
ver hammer or sledge with which to drive the
last spike.

Governor Stanford and Vice-President Du-
rant advanced, took in hand the sledge, and
drove the spike, while the multitude stood
silent. Mr. Miles, of Sacramento, chairman of
the meeting, announced the great work done.

98

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

The silence of the multitude was now
broken and a prolonged shout went forth,
which, while it yet quivered on the gladdened
air, was caught up by the willing lightning and
borne to the uttermost parts of the earth.
Cheer followed cheer for the union of the At-
lantic and Pacific, the two Pacific railroad
companies and their oflicers, the President of
the United States, the Star Spangled Banner,
the laborers, etc. A telegram announcing the
grand consummation, was sent at once to Presi-
dent Grant and one to the Associated News-
paper Press immediately followed, worded thus:

"The last rail is laid, the last spike driven,
The Pacific railroad is completed."

TWENTY-EIGHTH LESSON.

RECEPTION OF THE NEWS.

The news of the completion of the road
created great enthusiasm in all the cities of
California. In San Francisco the event was
celebrated in a manner loug to be remembered.
All the Federal forts in the harbor fired salutes,
the bells being rung and the steam whistles
blown at the same time. The procession was
the largest and most imposing ever witnessed
in San Francisco, both city and harbor being
decorated in fine style. At night the whole
city was brilliantly illuminated.

At Sacramento the event was observed
with marked demonstrations. The city was

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 09

crowded. The Central Pacific had thirty
locomotives gaily decked and as the signal gun
was fired announcing the driving of the last
spike of the road, the locomotives opened an
overpowering chorus of whistles, and all the
bells and steam whistles in the city immediately
joined in the deafening exhibition.

Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and
many other cities had grand parades, that of
Chicago being over four miles in length. A
history of Omaha, published in 1870, gives this
account of the demonstration in this' city:

"Invitations were issued to numbers of indi-
viduals, associations, etc. , outside of the city to
participate in the celebration, most of which
were accepted, and, upon the morning of the
10th inst., the whole city was fairly alive with
excitement. Crowds of visitors were arriving
every hour, and the streets were thronged with
eager and anxious faces. It had been so
arranged that wires were attached to the last
spike in such a manner that when the blow
was struck which finished the work, instant
communication could be had with the tele-
graphic offices throughout the country.

"An instrument had been placed on Capitol
Hill near Captain VanLannigham's battery, and
a salute of one hundred guns was to be the
signal for the commencement of the exercises.
At twelve minutes past one p. m., the cannon
thundered forth the joyful tidings, and twenty
minutes later the grand procession began form-

87:>i

i»J/f

100 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

ing on the corner of Ninth and Harney t^treets,
and at 2:30 p. m., commenced the line of march
to Capitol Square.

"Generals Auger, Switzer, Ruggles, Alvord,
Barriger and others led the van with the entire
command stationed at this point. The Masonic
Order, comprising the lodges of Omaha,
Bellevue and Fremont came next, followed by
the Odd Fellows. Then came, in regular order,
the Knights of Pythias, Frontier Hook and
Ladder Company of Fremont, Durant Steam
Fire Company (the engine elaborately and
beautifully dressed); Fire King Company No. 2;
Pioneer Hook and Ladder Company: Omaha
Engine Company; the different trades societies
of the Union Pacific Company, with banners
and mottoes; the Turnverein of Omaha; United
Irishmen; telegraph corps in an immense wagon.
Everything typical of their profession was
with the'm; telegraph poles with wires stretched
across and instruments with operators at the
keyes. In due order came the officers, followed
by the General Superintendent, with heads of
the various departments of the Union Pacific
railroad; then State officers and Justices of the
Supreme Court, the President, Vice President,
and orators of the day, invited guests and com-
mittee of arrangements, all in carriages,
mounted citizens, the express and transfer com-
panies. Among the coaches was one well laden
with trunks and outfitted for San Francisco.
The inscription ''Through to California in

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 101

eighteen days," was very conspicuous. The
driver was riggid in his traveling suit and
beside him sat Jules Eccoffy, Esq., dressed in
true hunter style, buckskin coat, leggins, rifle
and all, indicative of the style in which our
coaches were guarded a few years since when
the noble (?) red man .was constantly upon the
war path. The sides and boots of the coach
were placarded 'For Sale' an indication that
the mode of 'crossing the plains,' had been
changed and that the lumbering 'Prairie
Schooner' must give way to the swifter-footed
locomotive. Various other bodies completed the
line, wliich was about two miles in length. .

"At 3:30 o'clock tlie procession reached
Capitol Square and began forming around the
stand. At least ten thousand people were
present and on every hand the utmost order
and decorum prevailed. The speakers stand
was located about two hundred feet from and
facing the capitol building and was festooned
with American flags, Avhile at intervals were
spherical plates bearing the names of Casement,
Hoxie, Dillon, Durant, Snyder, Frost and
Reed. On each side of the rostrum, which pro-
jected from the main stand, were large canvas
frames bearing the mottoes: On the right,
'The day we celebrate begins a new era in the
world's commerce,' and on the left, 'Omaha
and San Francisco! What God has joined
together let no man put asunder. '

"The meeting was called to order by Gene-

102 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

ral O. P. Harford, who introduced Ex-Governor
Saunders as President. The speakers were
General Clinton B. Fisk, of Missouri; General
Manderson and Judge Wakely, of Omaha.
The exercises closed with the Doxology, 'Praise
God from whom all blessings flow, ' sung by the
entire assembly. The illumination w^as one of
the grandest spectacles conceivable. Nearly
every house in the city was dazzling with bril-
liance; many of them showing that much care
and labor had been bestowed upon them. The
most attractive of all, however, was the Capitol
building, its prominent position and its high
dimensions rendering it noticeable from every
quarter. Every pane of glass in its four score
windows contained a dozen candles, and from
pedestal to dome the whole building seemed a
fit token of that enthusiasm which was so prev-
alent everywhere. The whole celebration was
in accordance with the great event it was
designed to honor and reflected great credit
upon its managers."

TWENTY-NINTH LESSON.

THE BRIDGE.

The first bridge over the Missouri was the
Union Pacific bridge, begun in 1869 and com-
pleted three years later. Pictures of it adver-
tised Omaha far and near. Over it merchandise
for tlie Great West beyond us was transported

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 103

for years, and this traffic grew with astounding
rapidity. Indeed the growth of this country
throughout is the greatest marvel known to
history. As the traffic increased locomotives
were made heavier and heavier to accommodate
it, and the bridge proved too light. It remained
standing all right till one morning in August,
1877, w^hen a terrible storm came sweeping down
the river. It struck the bridge with a rush and
a roar and tore out two spans on the eastern
end, burying one span seventy feet in the river
sand where it lies to-day. The other was twisted
and bent as if its heavy iron rails and beams
were slender wire nettings.

The bridge watchman, John Peterson, went
down with the bridge, but fortunately was not
injured. He struck out bravely for the shore
and reached it in time to warn an approaching
train of danger ahead. This is the nearest ap-
proach Omaha has ever had to a cyclone. A
cyclone is a revolving windstorm but this was
simply a straight wind blowing with great fury.

The bridge was repaired and a new bridge
built close to the side of the old bridge.

The bridge at the foot of Douglas street
was built for the Motor Company in 1888. The
completion was celebrated by a holiday and a
procession over the bridge. You may remember
seeing in that procession one of the old over-
land stages with a load of Omaha pioneers.
When the long line of carriages reached the
bridge, it was saluted with long and ear-split-

104 ANECPOTES OF OMAHA.

ting shrieks from every steam whistle in Omaha
and Council Bluffs. The big whistles roared
and the little ones squeaked;, bells were rung,
bands were playing and people were cheering.
The days of the old ferry boat were gone for-
ever.

Mr. Peterson, who has had charge of the
Union Pacific bridge ever since it was built,
gave the following interesting account of the
place to the Bee recently.

The bridge seems like home to me; I know
every inch of the bridge, and every bolt and
brace and stringer is as familiar to me as the
members of my own family. I don't know just .
how many trains go over the l)ridge in a day,
but there cannot be many short of one hundred
and fifty, including all. An ordinary passen-
ger train passes a given point on the bridge in
about a minute, and a freight train in al)Out
three minutes. The trains run slowly so as not
to rack the l)ridge, l)ut that is not because it is
weak or because it would be dangerous to run
fast. Tliere is a little more vibration when a
train rolls over it at a higher rate of speed but
there is no swaying nor trembling. The engi-
neer who built the l)ridge said tliat a cyclone
might move it but I am satisfied that nothing
else would. I was here when the l)lizzard
strn(-k it in 1888 but it did not aft'ectthe l)ridge
at all. The company took the dummy trains off
because they were afraid the wind would blow
thorn ofi the bridcre. That was an awful niq-ht.

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 105

You could not see your hand before your face.
The hills cut off the worst of the storms from
the signal office, but it comes down this
valley with nothing to stop it. I actually be-
lieve it is the coldest spot this side of the North
Pole. There is weight enough in the bridge to
hold it down and there is not so much surface
exposed to the wind as one might suppose.
There is something funny about the Missouri;
it gets shallower or deeper both ways at a time.
What I mean by that is this. When the river
rises the increased volume of water makes it cut
at the bottom and washes the bed deeper;
and on the contrary when the river falls and
there is less current, there is a heavy deposit
of sediment and the bottom is raised accord-
ingly. I have watched it here for years and
measured it daily and I know that this is the
case. There is something very strange and
erratic about the river's actions. One day it
will fill in a sandbar, and the next it will wash
it out again and leave a hole forty feet deep.
You never know what to count on when the Mis-
souri River is in question.

THIRTIETH LESSON.

THE CORRAL.

Until 1867 boats arrived more or less regu-
larly accoi'ding to the amount of water in the
river. When the people in town heard a boat
whistle, as it rounded the bend just below Iler's

106 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

distillery, a cro^Yd would rush down to the land-
ing and generally have a dance on board while
the boat was being unloaded.

To connect with these boats, stages were
run east into Iowa and west on the Military
Road as far as the road was built. James
Stephenson owned and drove some of these
stages.

Many of you remember the exhibition of a
coach being attacked by Indians, when Buffalo
Bill gave his Wild West Show out on the fair
grounds, but the genuine Indian attacks were
not so pleasant to encounter. Perhaps the
children in the little school on Jefferson square
heard his whip cracking over the four horses,
which, starting from the Herndon House, went
dashing gaily up Thirteenth street to Cuming
and west on that street to the Military Road.

How strange to think that over the same
streets where w^e ride in electric motors they
traveled in stages with knives in their boots,
revolvers in their belts and guns in their hands.
And this too, only a few years ago.

Tlie shifting channel and varying depth of
water also taught the people not to depend up-
on the river to bring the supplies which were
needed in constantly increasing quantities, so
the first train to reach Omaha was welcomed
very lieartily if not so enthusiastically as the
boats.

The Chicago & Northwestern railroad was
the tirst to reach Omaha, followed the next

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 107

year by the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy.
These trains ran into Council Bluffs and the
passengers were brought over the river by the
ferry or over the ice. The cars were miserable
affairs and the roads were rough, jolting the
unfortunate passengers without mercy, but the
improvement has been steady, and to-day no
Emperor rides through his kingdom more com-
fortably than does the Omaha child who leaves
the new Tenth street depot in a Pullman coach.

For convenience in arranging the troops of
the regular Army, the United States is divided
into several departments, as they are termed, and
each department is in i^harge of a general. This
part of the country is in the Department of the
Platte and the General commanding is stationed
at Fort Omaha, three miles northwest of town,
with several regiments of soldiers. All the
soldiers of the regular army are fed, clothed and
armed by the government and the* Quartermas-
ter is the officer who has charge of all these pur-
chases. His office is called the Quartermaster's
Depot.

Previous to 1879 the Quartermaster for the
Department of the Platte had his office down by
the river, north of Webster street, but the
ground was frequently overffowed, which made
it bad for men, horses and supplies, so G-eneral
Meyer, who was then Quartermaster decided to
move out of town.

When this became known to the business
men, they realized the loss of that depot meant a

108 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

loss to the city and they rushed around to find a
suitable spot to offer the government as an in-
ducement to remain. Five acres at Twentieth
and Poppleton avenue, then far out in the
country, were secured and the government ac-
cepted them. The grounds are enclosed in a
high fence and a sentinel is stationed at the
gate, who allows no one to pass within without
a permit.

You are accustomed to hear this place
spoken of as "The Corral." While large quanti-
ties of the supplies for the Department of the
Platte are purchased in the East, the trade with
Omaha amounts to thousands of dollars annu-
ally.

It is not so many years since the soldiers
were needed to guard us from Indian attacks.
Grreat alarm was felt here in 1S62, when the First
Nebraska was away at the war and the Sioux
Indians attacked tlie settlers in Minnesota and
Dakota. Mayor Armstrong oi ganized the Second
Nebraska Regiment, then to go to the relief of
those settlers. Later alarm was felt here over a
rumored attack of Missouri Gruerril las. Several
other alarms have been known, that of IbUO-Ul
being the latest and least.

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 109

THIRTY-FIRST LESSON.

OMAHA AS A PORT OF ENTRY.
[Taken from the World-Herald.]

Omaha has no great ships which, go out to
sea. It has no dock, no wharf. No such thing
as a mast ever rose near the city. It has no
little ships which go out to sea. It has no sea.
It has not even a steamboat. And yet Omaha
is a port. There is at least one difference be-
tween Omaha and Boston. Boston has a cus-
tom house because it is a port and Omaha is a
port because it has a custom house.

When Omaha was first made a port there
was a little water mixed up in it. This was
furnished by the Missouri. S. A. Orchard was
the first surveyor of customs and about all he
had to do, he says, was to measure the small
adventurous steamboats on the river, license
the boats and collect their licenses. He rented
the postmaster's old hut and used that for an
office. Importations bothered him very little
and duties less, for when people here did take
a notion to get something from Europe the
article was appraised at New York and the
amount of duty named, so Mr. Orchard had no
ciphering to do when it arrived here. All he
had to do Avas to hold it until the duty was
paid. But things did not come from Europe
very often and Mr. Orchard was left chiefly to
the steamboats.

110 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

All this is changed now. The steamboats
have gone. The river has become muddier
than ever; but Omaha has grown to be a port
of far more importance than it was twenty
years ago, when Mr. Orchard was appointed
surveyor by President Grant.

"The basement of this building is a gov-
ernment warehouse and the government re-
quires the doors to be kept locked and only
United States officials and employes in this
building are entitled to keys, and all such per-
sons are requested to close the doors after them
when passing in and out. All other persons
than those specified herein having keys and
using them will be considered trespassers."

This is the voice of the United States,
speaking through W. H. Alexander, surveyor
of customs, and therefore it would probably be
unwise to go prowling about the basement of
the post-office building. More unwise still
would it be to get into the building for it is
hard to tell what the United States would do
with a trespasser. The best authorities state
that the government has no use for one. Then,
one would not see much if he did get in there.
He would be inside a United States custom
house but he would see, even when he got into
this basement with that threatening language
on the door, only six casks of brandy, two casks
of whiskey, five barrels of whiskey, two casks
of wine, twenty-four cases of chami)agne, some
cigars, twenty-five bales of leaf tobacco, and

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. Ill

one case of pin heads. All this might taste
very well except the pin heads, but it is no
sight to see a row of barrels.

It must not be supposed, from this small
invoice, that importations into Omaha are light.
These are simply articles that the importers do
not wish to pay the duty on and use immediately
and so they are stored by the government until
such time as the importer wishes to take them
out, provided it is not too long. Omaha, for a
city of its size, does a splendid business in im-
ports, the valae of foreign goods shipped in
here being of the value annually of $175,000.

The name, port, being applied to seacoast
towns of entry to foreign goods and where,
originally, all duties were collected, attached
itself naturally to inland cities, when the
growth of the interior rendered it expedient to
make them points to which foreign goods might
be directly shipped.

There is now probably an average of more
than one such inland port to every State.
Nebraska has two, the other beiug located at
Lincoln.

THIRTY-SECOND LESSON.

OMAHA AS A PORT OF ENTRY.

[continued.]

Some may be curious to know just how a
consignment of goods comes from a foreign city
to an inland port such as Omaha. The shipper
makes four invoices. He takes one to the

112 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

United States consul nearest to him and swears
that it is correct. To this the consul certifies
and the invoice and certificate are sent to the
surveyor of customs at the port of delivery.
Another invoice is sent to the consignee,
another to the port of delivery, and a fourth to
the port of entry. When the goods arrive at
the port of entry, the custom house officers
there see that the goods correspond apparently
with the invoice. They are then sent on to
their destination in bond. That is, the rail-
road or ext)ress company transferring them
gives a bond to the United States that it w ill
deliver the goods to the surveyor of customs at
the point of destination in as good condition as
received from the custom house ofiicers at the
port of entry. All this time the goods are
under custom house locks and ^vith these locks
no railroad or other comp'^ny has a right to
tamper; nor with the goods either. If a car
going to San Francisco, containing imported
goods in bond, should become disabled, the
company could not transfer those goods to
another car Avithout first sending for a customs
ofiicer to unlock the door, l)reak the seal and
superintend the transfer of the goods. When
a train is wrecked with imported goods on board
it is the first duty of the company to s(Mid for a
customs offi(H^r to handle the goods, note
damages, if any, reseal and relock them and
see tliem {jroperly forwarded. Tlie doctrine is,
that from the time goods are given to a trans-

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 113

portation company operating on the nea until
the duties are paid at the port of destination
they are under the custody of the United States
and are to be handled only by United States
officers. Any tampering with locks or with
goods in bond is punishable by a fine of ^5,000
and imprisonment. Any deviation from this
rule is permitted only on the most stringent
necessity. The custom house locks are very
compact brass and ingenious contrivances.
They are not only locked in a peculiar fashion,
but they are so made that they contain a
registry number which can be seen by lifting
up a little brass plate at the side. Every time
the lock is unlocked the number changes.
When goods are given to a railroad company
the car doors are locked with these locks and
to the carrier is given what is called a manifest,
showing the number and the register number
of each lock. When the goods arrive at desti-
nation, the customs officer sees if the registers
agree with the manifesto. If there is a differ-
ence it indicates that the locks have been
tampered with, and an investigation is in order.
All imported goods come addressed to the
surveyor of customs with marks on them in-
dicating the consignees. As soon as they arrive
the surveyor immediately notifies the importer,
who then has forty-eight hours in which to
come and make his entry. If he does not do
so by the end of that time, the survyor is
authorized to place the goods in some ware-

114 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

house as unclaimed goods and at the expiration
of three years, if they are not claimed, they
are sold at auction to satisfy the duty, 10 per
cent, being added to the duty for each year
held. If the goods sell for more than enough
to liquidate the duty, the surplus goes into the
United States treasury.

Sometimes when goods arrive the importer
does not wish to take them out and pay the
duty on them. In this case he makes out what
is called a warehouse entry and the goods are
stored. It is not expedient for the United
States to do storing, except on a very slight
scale, hence to accommodate this class of im-
porters, private individuals set apart certain
rooms or buildings and give a bond to the
United States that all goods stored therein will
be delivered to the United States again for de-
livery to the importer in as good condition as
wdien received. These are called bonded w are-
houses. The proprietors make their money by
charging the importers for storage. Omaha
has a bonded wareroom in the Bushman Block,
on Leavenworth street, between Tenth and
Eleventh streets. Property thus stored can be
taken from the warehouse a little at a time by
warehouse withdrawal entries, the duty paid
only on what is taken out and consumed: In
every case a custom house officer must be pres-
ent to unlock the doors, appraise the goods taken
out, and collect the duty. When an importer
wishes to take out his goods as soon as they

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 115

arrive, which is generally the case, he makes
what is called a consumption entry, pays the
duty and receives his property.

Whenever the importer makes his entry, be it
warehouse or consumption, he gives a bond that
he will pay the duty on the goods. This is held
until all duties are liquidated. It is not
expected that any imported articles shall be
carried through the mails. If, however, a foreign
package which seems to be more than a letter
arrives at a postoffice, the postmaster is expected
to send notice of it to the nearest surveyor of
customs. He will then be instructed, probably,
to open the package in the presence of the one
to whom it is addressed, and report the contents.
If they are of the value of more than one
dollar, the surveyor will state the amount of
duty and the postmaster will collect and for-
ward it. Using the mails for this purpose is
considered suspicious, and if done by the same
party twice the goods will prol^ably be seized.

The custom house has been located in the
post office building since its completion in 1873.
The salary attached to the surveyorship is a
nominal one of $350. It is supplemented by
fees collected, but in no case can the total income
of an inland port exceed $5,000.

116 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

THIRTY-THIRD LESSON.

THE LIBRARY.

Previous to 1871, Omaha had no public
library, but during that year four gentlemen,
John T. Edgar, Nathan Shelton, Albert M.
Henry and Nathan Swartzlander formed a
Board of Directors, and organized a library.

Mr, Edgar, who was a genuine book lover,
generously donated his own valuable private
collection of books for a beginning. A portion
of the third floor of L. B. Williams dry goods
store, on Fifteenth and Dodge streets, was rented
and a Miss Sears was installed as librarian.
The rooms faced the west and were reached by
two long, steep stairways opening on Dodge
street. To support the library a small sum was
charged each patron, but the library was not
widely patronized. Finally, other arrange-
ments were made whereby the city paid the
expenses.

The present tax of one mill on a dollar is
no burden to the citizens, and is the means of
affording a library we may all feel proud of.
Mr. Edgar remained in Omaha long enough to
see the enterprise in which he was so much
interested, firmly established; later, he was ap-
pointed United States Consul to Beiruth by
President Arthur, where he died before the
expiration of his term of office.

The increasing number of visitors made
larger quarters desirable and the library was

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 117

moved over on Douglas street near Fifteenth, in
1885, and after remaining there three years,
was again moved to the Paxton Block.

In the spring of 1891, Byron Reed, one of
the pioneers of the town, died; he bequeathed
to the city his valuable library and a rare and
beautiful collection of curios and coins. By
this legacy Omaha comes into possession of one
of the most valuable collections of coins in the
United States. Mr. Reed also gave a lot, upon
which it was stipulated the Library Associa-
tion should erect a suitable building. The As-
sociation have purchased the adjoining lot and
another year will give us a beaatiful home for
these riches.

Eight years ago, when Miss Jessie Allen
became Librarian, tlie library consisted of 4,000
books; to-day there are nearly 30,000. The
Directors have requested suggestions in tlie
purchase of books for the special departments
from men whose experience makes them particu-
larly and practically skilled in that line. As,
for instance, the books in the department of me-
chanics have been suggested and superintended
by John Wilson, Superintendent of the Union
Pacific machine shops; E. M. Bruce suggested
books on chemistry; Frank Irvine on the legal-
library; Mr. Henshaw on philosophy and the-
ology; Prof. Lewis on political and social
science; J. P. Metzger on French literature; Dr.
J. E. Summers, Jr., on medicine and surgery.
Little cards are to be found on the desks of

il8 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

the library requesting people to name any book
they desire to read, which is not in the library.
Students of Shakespeare can find a valuable
collection of Shakespeariana to aid them. Wise
and thoughtful people are daily looking for
desirable additions to these lists and Omaha,
like a kind parent, says: "Como, my children and
share my treasures."

THIRTY-FOURTH LESSON.

DISTINGUISHED VISITORS.

Omaha has had the pleasure of welcoming
two Presidents to her homes, although four or
five have really been here. President Arthur
stopped here a few moments only, on his way
East from a trip to the Yellowstone National
Park, and President Hayes was here also for a
short time, but no demonstration was made in
either case. Gen. Grant made a visit here when
he was returning from his trip around the world,
but that was after he had been President. Four
years of warfare and eight years in the White
House had given the General a right to a vaca-
tion. Starting East from New York he visited
all the i)rincipal places of the Old Workl, and,
crossing the Pacific, reached San Francisco in
the fall of 1879. The .journey was one long
series of ovations and honors which rulers and
people had vied with each other in bestowing.
Gen. Grant arrived in Omaha one morning in

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 119

October and the Bee, of that date, says the
train was saluted by whistles and cannon as it
pulled into the depot. Immediately upon ar-
riving, the General and his friends, with a num-
ber of gentlemen of this city, entered carriages
and were driven about the city. A stand was
erected at Fourteenth and Farnam and Grant
reviewed the parade there, and then went on to
listen to speeches and music on Capitol Hill.
In the evening there was a banquet at the
Witlmell House which stood then on the south-
west corner of Fifteenth and Harney streets and
was the finest hotel in the town after the Grand
Central was burned, till the Paxton and Millard
were built. Grant spent the night at the fort.
The next day, being Sunday, General Grant
attended the services at the old Methodist
church, which still stands on Davenport street,
west of Seventeenth street, and which, on that
occasion was crowed to excess. The next morn-
ing the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy sent
a beautifully decorated train to carry him to
Chicago, the display of flowers and fruits in
the dining car being one of the finest ever seen
in this town.

Six years later President Cleveland re-
ceived a hearty welcome here, but he only
stayed long enough to drive about the city
with his pretty and popular wife at his side.
The schools were closed that day to enable the
pupils to join in the welcome.

The 13th of May, 1891, President Harrison

120 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

was given a reception here that surprised him.
He had visited the city seven years before, but
the Omaha of 1891 is far from being the Omaha
of 1884. The gaily decorated stand, on the
corner of Seventeenth and Farnam, from which
the President, Postmaster General Wanamaker
and Secretary Rusk addressed the crowds in
the street below, could not have had the Court
House for a back-ground.

Only a few frame cottages occupied the
land where the Court House, the Bee Building
and the New York Life Building tower to-day.
Where Morse's store and the beautiful Com-
mercial bank Building are located, Avas a long,
rambling, rickety old two-story frame house,
built by John I. Redick twenty years ago for an
opera house, and later used for a City Hall.
The little pioneer Congregational church formed
the northwest part of tliis building and was,
with it, demolished about four years ago.

Instead of struggling tlirough the mud of
those days. President Harrison rode over miles
of paved streets, amid cheers and salutes from
thousands of people, anxious to honor the Chief
Magistrate of the greatest nation on earth.
The school children were gathered on the
historic High School grounds on the very sjtot
where one man in the crowd remembered seeing
three hundred Indians camped, thirty years
before, making dog soup for a feast.

In phice of the Indians, General Harrison
saw thousands of children saluting him with

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 121

flag' and liandkercliief. He could not ^tay long
but lie spoke a few pleasant words to his "little
friends, " and then drove away to Ex-Grovernor
Saunders' home on Sherman Avenue, wliere a
reception was held for a few hours. Late in the
afternoon the party left Omaha for that home
in Washington which has sheltered our Presi-
dents for nearly a hundred years.

THIRTY-FIFTH LESSON.

MEMOKIAL SP:KVICES.

Henry Fontenelle, an educated half-blood
Omaha Indian, has given the Nebraska State
Horticultural Society the following sketch:
"Blackbird was the first great chief known to
white people and his memory is held sacred by
the Omahas for his rai-e intelligence and good
traits. He held supreme command over his
people. His words were law and obeyed as such.
At the same time, he is remembered as a good
and gentle disposition and loved by his sub-
jects. Blackbird and Ta-ha-zhonka were the
first Omaha chiefs that made a treaty of friend-
ship and peace with the Governor of the Terri-
tory of Louisiana, at St. Louis, where a recog-
nition of his being chief of the Omahas, was
given him by the Governor on paper, the date
of which we forget. It is still kept by his de-
scendants as a sacred relic. At this time a por-
trait of Blackbird was painted, which at the

]22 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

present time, hangs in the Palace of the Lonvre
at Paris, France. Not many years after that
time he returned from a visit to the Pawnees at
their vilhige on the south side of the Platte
River, opposite the present site of Schuyler,
Neb. The Pawnees at that time, were visited
])y that terrible scourge — the small pox. Black-
bird took the disease as soon as he arrived home
and died in a few days. His last request was
that he should be buried on the high bluff,
overlooking the Missouri, so that he could see
the white people in their travels up and down
the river, as he was very fond of them."

It has been supposed that the "high bluff
overlooking the Missouri'' referred to. was on
Sixth street near Center in Omaha, and that he
was buried in a sitting position on the back of
his favorite horse, but this is not sure. Others
claim that he is buried about twelve miles north
of Omaha. His burial, however, is the first
nota])le one that occurred in this vicinity. The
first burial that we are really sure of, was that
of a poor old Indian squaw, who was al)andoned
by her people and left to die among strangers.
The brick yard men buried her down on Tenth
street where Turner Hall stands. Since that
time Omaha lias mourned for many who have
gone over the death river.

R. C. Gaylord, that good man who "In'ought
Sunday over the Missouri river,'' sleeps on
Prospect Hill, with many of his old-time friends
and neighbors.

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. • 123

Bishop Clarkt^on lie^; under the south wall
of Trinity Cathedral, which he loved and
labored for.

Business was generally suspended and the
city united in respectful tributes to the brave
firemen who lost their lives in the Grand Cen-
tral Hotel fire.

Three times, especially, have we shared the
National sorrow and paid our tributes of love
and admiration to heroes: Lincoln died in Wash-
ington, D. C, in 1865, but he was taken to his old
home in Springfield, Illinois, for burial. While
services were being held there, the people of this
town gathered in the Capitol Building for solemn
memorial services. Omaha was a small frontier
town then, and the few poor stores, could sup-
ply but little mourning material; what they had
was f]raped about the Capitol and the demon-
stration, though not extensive, was very sincere.

It was a pleasant summer morning in 1881,
when Omaha w^as startled by the telegram an-
nouncing the dreadful news of the attack upon
President Garfield. It was the second time in
our history that the President was to meet death
at the hands of an assassin, and public indigna-
tion was intense all over our land. In Omaha
the bulletins displayed at the new^spaper offices
were watched eagerly for days while the Presi-
dent was fighting death so many miles away.
After two months of suffering, he died, and
then, on the af^rnoon of a quiet September
day, croYNTls of people passed along the black-

124 • ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

draped streets to those High School grounds,
where so many meetings, both sad and joyful,
have taken place. There, they listened, silently
and sadly to prayers, dirges and funeral ora-
tions, while in Cleveland vast multitudes fol-
lowed the dead President to his grave.

Four years later, in 1885, the city was again
draped in mourning. Flags floated at half-mast,
bells were tolled and solemn services were held
for our best-loved hero, Ulysses S. Grant, who
suffered and died on Mt. McGregor as bravely
as he had, so often, faced death on the battle
field.

And every year, on the 30tli of May, we
gather flowers to decorate the graves of those
whom we

■■ Have loved lon^i!,' siiu-e
And lost aAvliile ""

THIRTY-SIXTH LESSON.

OMAHA TODAY.

It must be very difficult for a stranger in
Omalia to-day, to realize tliat less than forty
years ago this busy spot was only an Indian
village. What its future is to be no one can
foresee, but prominent men are predicting a
great city here.

Chauncy Depew, one of America's bright
men, has pointed out this pL'K^e on his map,
within the last few weeks as tlie place where a

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 125

great city is sure to be some day. In 1890 the
Board of Trade issued a beautiful souvenir of
Omaha, in which is given the following sketch:

"Compare the past, when Pattison wrote,
to the present. Instead of a village, Omaha is
now a city of 140,000 people. For the path
through the tall, rank prairie grass, there are
more than sixty miles of paved streets, making
Omaha one of the best paved cities in the
Union, with a sewerage system of more than
eighty miles. For the flat-boat of W. D. Brown
two great bridges span the Missouri river, and
two more will soon be added. The desolate
prairie has been filled with elegant and costly
dwellings. The log tavern has been replaced
by the Millard, the Paxton, the Murray, and
many other fine hotels. The streets are lined
with business blocks equal to any city in the
world.

"The 'wandering post oflice' has found rest
in a handsome stone structure where millions
of money are annually handled. This will be
replaced by a building costing nearly two
million dollars occupying an entire block for
the business of the government.

' 'The great Union Depot is a fitting counter-
part of the new Federal building. The brick
yard has developed into many manufactories —
one, the largest of its kind in the world — sup-
porting an operative population of nearly sev-
enty thousand persons. From the rude saw

126 ANECDOTES OF OMAHA.

mill, Omaha ranks as the third largest lumber
market in the United States.

' 'The tri-weekly line of stage coaches between
Council Bluffs and Omaha has been superseded
by a ten minute service of electric motor cars.
JNinety miles of track are operated by the street
railways of Omaha, by horse, cable and electric
power — the companies employing nearly seven
hundred men.

"Over one hundred daily trains move into
and out of Omaha, handling upward of five
million passengers every year. Telegraph wires
hum their messages in every direction from the
North to the South; from the Orient to the
Occident. The Burlington and the Missouri
Pacific are tlie connecting lines between Omaha,
Council Bluffs and Galveston.

"The Omaha railway systems control more
than three hundred thousand miles of track; em-
ploy thousands of operatives and transport an-
nually millions of freight and passengers. The
locomotive has whistled away the steamboat,
the Indian and the wolf. The camp fires of
the Omahas, the Pawnees and the pioneers
have disappeared before the electric light."

In 1891, Edward Rosewater, of the Bee,
addressing the Nebraska State Business Men's
Association, made the following statements:

"Some of you have seen the transformation
of the past ten years. Ten years ago there was
no paving, no sewers, no water works here.

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 127

To-day Omaha has the finest paved streets of
any city of her size in America.

•'The water works company has just put in
the largest pump in America, at a cost of $120,-
000. It will pump 20,000,000 gallons per day
and is a marvel. The water mains are 159
miles in extent.

" The wholesale business is extensive. In
the way of manufactures we cannot boast of as
much as the older cities of the East, but a won-
derful amount is done here. We did fifty-four
million dollars business in that direction last
year, of which twenty millions represents the
smelter, which has no superior on the globe.

' ' Six years ago the city of South Omaha,
the Magic City, was only a farm with one or
two houses, where now is a population of ten
thousand and some of the finest packing houses
in America. Twenty years ago, one small
packing house, with a total capital of $2,000,
was all Omaha had of that branch of business,
and six years ago James E. Boyd was compara-
tively the only packer in Omaha. Now pork
packing at South Omaha amounts to more in a
week than was done in that business in Omaha
in a year.

"Our banks have constantly on deposit
fifteen million dollars, and two hundred and
fifty millions annually pass through the clear-
ing house. We promise well to shortly rank
next to Chicago in financial matters as well as
a packing center.

128 ASTECrOTES OF OMAHA.

' 'What Omaha lacks in property she makes
up in energy, and as years roll by your associa-
tion will see the result at your yearly meetings.

"A move is now on foot to lay a pipe line
from the great western oil fields of Wyoming
to Omaha; eastern capitalists are now looking
into the matter. Omaha will be the center of
refineries, and instead of importing will export
the oil of the West. With it will come cheap
fuel and with that manufactures.

"Omaha looks back thirty-six years, yet
the future is still bright and full of promise.
It will ])e the center of civilization, with no
other large city this side of the Rockies."

And this place of promise is our home —
Omaha.

THIRTY-SEVENTH LESSON.

Lincoln's address.

July 1st, 1863, the Northern and Southern
armies met in terrible battle at Gettysburg, a
small town in the Southern part of Pennsyl-
vania. Thousands of soldiers died and were
buried on that battlefield. Four months later
a great meeting was held there to consecrate
that ground as a cemetery. President Lincoln
delivered the following address:

Four-score and seven years ago, our fathers
brought forth upon this continent a new nation,
conceived in liberty and dedicated to the
proposition that all men are created equal.

ANECDOTES OF OMAHA. 129

Now, we are engaged in a great civil war, test-
ing whether that nation, or any nation so con-
ceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We
are met on a great battlefield of that war. We
are met to dedicate a portion of it as tlie final
resting place of those who have given tlieir lives
that tliat nation raiglit live. It is altogether
fitting and proper tliat we should do this. But
in a larger sense we cannot dedicate, we cannot
consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The
brave men, living and dead, wlio struggled here
have consecrated it far above our power to add
or detract. The world will little note nor long
remember what we say here, but it can never
forget what they did here. It is for us the
living rather to be dedicated here to the un-
finished work that they have thus far so nobly
carried on. It is rather for us to be here dedi-
cated to the great task remaining before us,
that from these honored dead we take increased
devotion to the cause for which they here gave
the last full measure of devotion; that we here
highly resolve that these dead shall not have
died in vain; that the nation shall, under God,
have a new birth of freedom, and that govern-
ment of the people, by the people, for the people,
shall not perish from the earth."

[the end]

^^^1*^

IM

AUii z 7 1931