Omaha

the chief city of Nebraska. It is situated on the west bank of the Missouri, about twenty-five miles above the mouth of the Platte. It takes its name from the tribe of Omaha Indians to whom the site formerly belonged. The first settlement was made in 1854. Omaha was the capital of the territory until its removal to Lincoln in 1867. The city was incorporated in 1857. The gold excitement in California gave Omaha a start. Its situation at the eastern end of the Platte Valley, through which the stream of immigration poured westward, made it a point of outfitting. An enormous business grew up in provisions, wagons, draft animals, guns, ammunition, blankets, clothing, and other articles required by travelers for the long overland journey. Later, it became the eastern terminus of the Union Pacific Railway, which also followed the valley of the Platte. The city is the center of an extensive wholesale trade and markets enormous quantities of wheat and corn. Foreign goods may be brought direct to the government custom house without being delayed at the ocean seaports. Omaha is one of the great stock markets of the world. The South Omaha packing houses involve an investment of $30,000,000. They have a daily capacity of 15,000 hogs, 5,000 cattle and 4,000 sheep. The meat products are valued at over $100,000,000 a year. There are also extensive smelting works. Lead, silver, gold, and copper ores are shipped in from the Rocky Mountain region and even from Mexico and the British possessions. The annual output of these metals is valued at not far from $300,000,000 a year.

Fourteen trunk lines of railroad center at Omaha. Two immense railroad bridges connect the city with Council Bluffs on the eastern bank. Telephone lines hang from shore to shore from steel towers 110 feet high. The brewing and distilling interests of the city are large, and involve an investment of several million dollars. The city has been attractively laid out and well built. The public school system has been organized on the scale of liberality common to Western cities. There is a public library of 85,000 volumes. The population in 1900 was 102,553. In 1906 the population was 124,167.

See Packing House; Nebraska