July 30 Fascinating History Around Omaha

Hello Everyone,

Council Bluffs, Iowa, the starting point for the building of the Transcontinental Railroad is across the Missouri River from Omaha. Start your day there by visiting the Union Pacific Railroad Museum. You’ll learn the history of this event and how that company has prospered over the years. At nearby Florence, Nebraska, visit the Mormon Trail Center at Historic Winter Quarters to explore the time period between 1846-1848. Finish your day with a trip to downtown Omaha to view First National Bank’s 127 bronze and stainless steel statues of pioneers, bison, and geese.

UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD MUSEUM

This museum is housed in what was originally erected in 1904 as Council Bluff’s Free Public Library. Its location is noteworthy because friends entertained Abraham Lincoln in a home on the same site in 1859. It was the closest that Lincoln ever got to Nebraska.

When the building became available in 1998, the Union Pacific agreed to move their collection from their corporate headquarters in Omaha to Council Bluffs. On May 10, 2003, the Union Pacific Railroad Museum opened. It houses 150 years of photographs, artifacts, and several interactives. To take in all, plan on a minimum of two to three hours

LINCOLN ROOM

Check out the Lincoln Room on the museum’s first floor. You will see a mockup of Lincoln’s funeral railroad car that carried the slain President and his son Willie in 1865 to Springfield, Illinois. It was built as a presidential transport car, but Lincoln never used it when he was alive. Union Pacific purchased the rail car in 1866 for railroad directors and other important travelers during the construction of the transcontinental railroad. After removing the furnishings, UP sold the car in 1903. It was destroyed by fire in 1911 while on display in Minneapolis. The art panels and silver were removed before the car was sold.

You can see furniture and paintings from the car, a copy of the timetable of the funeral train from Chicago to Springfield dated August 2, 1865, and a model of the Lincoln Train made in the 1920's. You’ll also see photographs, lithographs, busts, fabrics, and medallions all related to Lincoln.

The silver service given to Lincoln was used in the rail car. It consists of such artifacts as a water goblet, water pitcher, and a samovar. The museum has a photo of this collection dated 1868. Lincoln’s caned rocking chair, used in his Springfield law office from 1843 to 1852, is also displayed. You can see a complete description of what is on view on the museum’s web site.

BUILDING AMERICA

Building America relates the story of the Transcontinental Railroad. It reduced the trip from the east to the west coast from six months to seven days. In 1853, Congress passed an act providing for the survey of possible railroad lines. Both northern and southern routes were suggested. In 1859, President Lincoln met with Grenville Dodge, a railroad surveyor, and became convinced that the route should begin in Council Bluffs then follow the Platte River through Nebraska as the best path west.

President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act into law July 1, 1862 creating the Union Pacific Railroad. The Central Pacific Railroad had already been operating. The CP broke ground in Sacramento, California in January 1863 while the UP began in Council Bluffs in December 1863. It was milepost zero in order to force the building of a bridge across the Missouri River. Supplies were brought by steamboat from St. Joseph Missouri when the UP started construction. Those for the CP came around the horn of South America.

The railroads were given 10-square miles of land in alternating one mile sections with the government retaining the intervening miles. This was later expanded to 20-square miles for both railroads. The railroads could sell this land for construction funds. The Act also awarded both railroads for each mile they completed. The original act paid a flat rate of $16,000 per mile. The Railroad Act of 1864 changed the rate to $48,000 a mile for the mountains. These funds were not grants but loans to be repaid at 6% interest for 30 years. The museum displays a “First Mortgage Bond” for the Union Pacific.

One problem the railroads faced was a labor shortage. The CP hired Chinese workers against the wishes of many crews and supervisors. However, they were accepted when they proved to be hard workers. The Chinese crews were largely responsible for forging through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. In 1869, these workers set a world record laying ten miles of track in one day.

The UP crew was largely composed of Irish Americans. Many Civil War veterans joined the effort, including General Grenville Dodge, in 1866. Work, until the former soldiers arrived, had been very slow for the UP. By 1865, it had only reached the Omaha outskirts.

Another problem was obtaining security for crews while passing through Native American lands. In the case of the UP, Pawnees allied with the U.S. Army as scouts. The Pawnees had been bitter enemies of the Sioux and welcomed the railroad. Under Major North, 800 uniformed Pawnees patrolled the railroad to protect crews and livestock from Sioux and Cheyenne raiders. The Army had 5,000 troops between Omaha and St. Louis. The CP was also offered military support but turned it down. Instead, Shoshones and Paiutes worked alongside of the Chinese workers and were given free tickets on any CP train.

Building 15 tunnels was a major problem for CP. UP only built four. UP’s difficulty was the lack of trees on the prairie. Ties were primarily cut along the Missouri River north and south of Omaha. With the railroad’s western expansion, trees were cut near river valleys and smaller streams. The CP did not lack trees. Laying track through the mountain ranges was difficult work. The CP needed to go through the Sierra Nevadas while the UP built through the Rockies.

On April 8, 1869, UP’s Grenville Dodge and CP’s Collis P. Huntington met in Washington, D.C. They agreed the meeting point would be at Promontory Summit in Utah. The “golden spike” ceremony started at noon on May 10, 1869 as the last rail was pounded into the ground. CP’s Jupiter locomotive and UP’s No. 119 met. A telegraph delivered the news to the nation. UP had built 1,086 miles of railroad lines while the CP built 690 miles. In November 1869, the location where the two lines met was moved to Ogden. Total cost was between $110 and $120 million.

Earl and I visited Promontory Summit several years ago. We learned that all of the railroad track at and near the Summit had been pulled up for use in World War II. At Golden Spike National Historical Park, you can still see reenactments of this event, explore their museum, and view replicas of the two locomotives.

The Transcontinental Railroad linked America to Asia and India with new markets. It led to major ports opening in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle. It also resulted in new cities and jobs on the western frontier and changed the pioneers’ diet from wild game and canned goods to fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats.

One gold-plated spike was given by state of California to Leland Sanford, CP’s president. A silver spike was given by the state of Nevada to both railroads. The state of Arizona gave a gold and silver spike to UP which visitors to the museum can view.

Union Pacific has the largest collection in the world of photographs dealing with the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad. It consists of more than 1,200 stereographs and almost 300 large imperial prints. Among the noted photographers exhibited are Andrew J. Russell, Alfred Hart, Charles Savage, and William Henry Jackson. Take time to view some of them through a stereoscope.

Check out the large wall of railroad lanterns and signals tracing communication on the railroad from the 1800's until 1980. Take time to see Union Pacific’s 55-piece firearm collection. These range from a 1866 Winchester rifle to a Colt .44 revolver owned by UP Construction Superintendent General Jack Casement in 1866.

I enjoyed the three animated Grenville Dodges. They tell about how the railroad obtained supplies, how difficult it was to build the railroad, and its impact on communities. They are all in Dodge’s own words.

Ever wonder why we have time zones? Railroads needed to keep strict time. However, Congress rejected calls to standardize time in 1809, 1870, and 1872. On November 18, 1883, the railroads implemented a system of time zones. Some citizens protested wanting a time zone for the entire country or a 24-hour clock. Others complained they were being robbed of some of their daylight. The system remained in effect with Congress passing the Standard Time Act in 1918

SECOND FLOOR

The exhibits upstairs are on Union Pacific operations. In America Travels By Train, compare train travel to plane, car, and truck travel. While plane travel is faster, trains provide an opportunity to move around, dine on board, and have downtown arrival and departures. Rail has dependable schedules and a much greater free baggage allowance. Rail is quicker and less stressful than car travel. A train can carry as much freight as 300 trucks. This makes railroads incredibly fuel efficient. This, along with diesel electric power, allows a train to carry a ton of freight more than 400 miles on just one gallon of fuel.

From 1863 to 1971, UP carried freight and passengers. Since 1971, it has been freight only. However, passenger service is now starting to come back in pockets. Take time to watch the UP television commercials, newsreels, and short videos from UP’s film collection. Observe the posters. You can put yourself into the mockups of a dining car, lounge car, and a coach car from the 1950's. Look for the vintage Union Pacific uniforms, menus, and furniture.

Notice the whole wall of 300 pieces of Union Pacific silver and fine china. Railroads distinguished themselves from their competitors by the designs on their china. They used unique patterns to brand themselves and their passenger routes. UP used a Streamliner pattern that featured a winged locomotive on such trains as City of Los Angeles or City of Denver. On some trains, they had special china for children.

Destination travel became important. The railroads created ties to the national parks. For example, the Union Pacific started advertising trips to Yellowstone National Park in 1903 and running its Oregon Short Line to the park’s entrance in 1908. UP also traveled to Bryce, Zion, Death Valley, and the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Other railroads followed. The Atchison Topeka, & Santa Fe began the development of the Grand Canyon’s South Rim in 1901 while Great Northern Railway served Glacier National Park in 1910.

At San Francisco’s Panama-Pacific International Exposition, the railroads celebrated the national parks with massive exhibits showcasing the parks they served. UP built a 4-1/2 acre display of Yellowstone National Park complete with working geysers and a replica of Old Faithful Inn.

Check out the celebrity wall of people who have traveled on the UP. These include Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, Mae West, Abbott and Costello, and Liberace.

WORKINGS OF THE UNION PACIFIC RAILROAD

Read about the modern workings of Union Pacific such as the parts of a track, how the company has grown, and about the various tasks of the dispatcher, engineer, and conductor. Find out how tracks are built and maintained. One interactive has flip cards such as how many miles comprise the UP route - 32,000. How many rail cars does Union Pacific have - 65,000. How many locomotives does it have - 8,500.

Have you ever wondered what all of those different train cars were carrying? You can explore the different types of freight cars and the commodities they carry through an interactive game where you drop the right commodity into the right car.

Visitors can explore a train cab simulation that explains the new technology Positive Train Control (PTC). You can sound the horn while sitting in the engineer’s seat.

Discover the classification system in a train yard such as Bailey Yard in North Platte, Nebraska. Check out our article on this from November 23, 2018. The Yard is the largest in the world with 2,500 UP employees as 10,000 cars go through daily.

DETAILS

The Union Pacific Railroad Museum is located at 200 Pearl Street in Council Bluffs, Iowa. Their telephone number is (712) 329-8307. Hours are 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. Admission is free.

MORMON TRAIL CENTER
During the winter of 1846-47, the Mormons moved from Nauvoo, Illinois to what would eventually become Florence, Nebraska, now a northern suburb of Omaha. More than 70,000 members of the Church of the Latter-day Saints would eventually travel from this area to their home in the Great Salt Lake Basin.

Today the site is known as their Winter Quarters . You can visit the Mormon Pioneer Cemetery, Winter Quarters Monument, and the Mormon Trail Center. The Visitor Center relates the story of the Mormon westward migration from Nauvoo to Salt Lake Valley. It’s told through reconstructed settings, artifacts, artwork, and interactive exhibits.

You can tour the Center, built in 1997, by yourself or have one of the Mormon tour guides lead you through. Take time to view videos in the three theaters about Mormon pioneer history.

EARLY MORMON HISTORY

Born in 1805 in Vermont, Joseph Smith is regarded as the American founder and leader of Mormonism and the Latter Day Saint Movement (LDS). He moved to Palmyra, New York with his family when he was young. At age 14, he was not sure which church to seek. According to his account, God and Jesus appeared and told him that all the churches were wrong. At age 17, he had another vision in his room. The angel Moroni appeared and told him about a set of golden plates containing a record of the ancient inhabitants of America, who lived 2,000 years ago. A civil war had occurred and the non Christians had exterminated the Christians. He then directed Smith to the plates.

Smith found the plates buried in a box near his father’s farm. Four years later, Moroni reappeared permitting him to remove the plates and translate its characters. Smith published it in March 1830 as the Book of Mormon.

The book tells of the flight of the Israelites from Jerusalem in 600 BC to a land in the Western Hemisphere. It is divided into sections named for individual prophets. One was Prophet Mormon who assembled the records of his people on these golden plates in 400 AD. It is 530 pages of scripture.

On April 6, 1830, Joseph Smith organized his church. Male converts were ordained and sent out as missionaries. The group moved to Kirtland, Ohio for six years where Smith’s followers built their first temple in 1836. That structure still stands today. When the hatred of the townspeople forced the group to be expelled from the area, they moved near Independence, Missouri.

In 1838, opposition rose again. Smith tried to defend the church with arms. However, local Missourians rose up against the group, and the governor ordered them to leave the state or be exterminated. In November 1838, Smith and four other leaders were imprisoned for five months on charges of robbery, arson, and treason. They managed to escape, and the Saints fled to Nauvoo, Illinois where the Mormons lived again for six years.

There he became a religious and political leader. He was extradited with his brother, Hyrum to Carthage, Missouri in 1844. While imprisoned, a mob murdered both of them on June 27, 1844.

It was then that Brigham Young assumed leadership of the Church. and decided the group would have no peace until they moved much further west. Based on John Fremont’s maps, he decided to head some 1300 miles to the Great Salt Lake Basin. He organized the town’s evacuation.

In the fall of 1845, the Saints made plans to leave Nauvoo the following spring. Families sold businesses and homes in exchange for wagons and supplies while organizing into 25 companies. When mobs burned more than 200 Mormon homes and farm buildings that September, the Mormons were coerced to leave before final preparations were completed.

THE MOVE TO IOWA AND NEBRASKA

The first group of Mormons left Nauvoo on February 4, 1846. They had hoped to reach their destination in one year. However, knee-high mud, rain, swollen rivers, and poor preparation made that impossible. What they thought would take five weeks to cross Iowa took four months.

Keeping track of miles was important to the group. To do so, William Clayton proposed that an odometer be made. It was designed by Orson Pratt and constructed out of a wooden feed box and iron scraps by Appleton Harmon. Because of this device, they were able to record their miles accurately. You can see such an odometer at the Center.

Because of the delay, they decided to spend their winter along the Missouri River and established three settlements. Kanesville is now known as Council Bluffs, Iowa. Cutler’s Park was founded about 1.5 miles west of Florence in August 1846. Winter Quarters, now Florence, was founded in September.

The group was first refused settlement near Florence due to it being Omaha Tribe lands. Non-Mormon Thomas L. Kane went to Washington with a missionary to speak to President Polk. He offered to establish a volunteer military group called the Mormon Battalion. Since this was the time of the Mexican/American War, President Polk agreed and let the group encamp on the Native American lands on a temporary basis. Forming the battalion caused a further delay in the journey to Great Salt Lake.

In 1846, the Pottawattamie, Ottawa, and Chippewa lived on the Iowa side of the river. However, they left for Kansas Territory in 1847 after their treaty expired which opened the land to settlers.

Nearly 500 men enlisted. Their job was to help secure California. Brigham Young promised they would not fight and they didn’t. They marched 2,000 miles from Fort Leavenworth, Kansas to San Diego, California. This was one of the longest treks in U.S. history.

The Mormons constructed some 600 log cabins and sod homes in Florence in an area covering three blocks from east to west and seven blocks from north to south. They traded with the Native Americans for household goods for food and supplies. However, most of the LDS subsisted on corn bread, salt-cured pork, and a little milk. Occasionally, they were able to obtain wild game or domestic meat. Industry thrived. Young men produced such items as willow baskets and washboards for sale.

They also built a gristmill with church funds to grind corn, wheat, and rye. Brigham Young supervised its construction. It was sold by Young to John Neff when Young moved to the Great Salt Lake Basin. The mill was later renovated and used for years. Today, it is the only remaining structure from this settlement. When we saw it, it was in a state of disrepair.

Due to lack of vegetables, many suffered from scurvy while others had malaria, tuberculosis, and many other diseases. Death was common and by the spring of 1847, it is estimated that 2,000 died; 359 members are buried in the cemetery. One half of these were under the age of three. From the Center’s window, you can look out and view this adjoining cemetery. No headstones are still intact from this time period. However, due to sextons’ records and work of researchers, exact spots of graves have been found. The cemetery was dedicated in 1936 and can be visited today. Be sure to see the monument there The Tragedy at Winter Quarters.

Observe the 1846 electric map at the museum showing 90 communities. These were widely scattered to allow space for farming, grazing, and gathering firewood. The LDS organized county and municipal governments, built roads and bridges, operated ferries, and plowed thousands of acres.

The first group, led by Brigham Young, left Winter Headquarters in April 1847, arriving in the Salt Lake Valley in July 1847. Their goal was to chart a way to the Salt Lake Valley, locate Zion (their ideal refuge), and designate a site for a temple. Winter Headquarters was abandoned in 1848 when the federal government requested removal of the settlers from Indian territory. Those who did not go West returned to Kanesville, the launching place for future migrations.

After gold was discovered in California, tens of thousands of gold seekers chose Kanesville to outfit them. The LDS grew food, sold baskets, and provided supplies to these men. More than 8,000 European LDS arrived by steamboat and found work here between 1848 and 1852. The town was renamed Council Bluffs in 1853 after the Saints had left.

Approximately 42% of those making the trip to the Salt Lake Basin were too poor to do so. The Mormons had a perpetual immigration fund that allowed the people coming through to borrow money and later repay the fund.

Between 1847 and 1848, most LDS journeyed to the Great Salt Lake Basin. Experienced captains led each company with immigrants strictly observing all company rules. From 1856 to 1860, 3,000 European immigrants used hand carts on their way west. Donations from fellow church members financed the journey. You will see one of the handcarts and a Conestoga wagon at the center as a well as a mockup of a steamboat cabin.

DETAILS

The Mormon Trail Center is at 3215 State Street in Florence, Nebraska. The telephone number is (402) 453-9372. Hours are October through March, Monday- Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. and on Sunday noon to 6:00 p.m. From April through September, the hours are Monday-Saturday 9:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. and on Sunday from noon to 8:00 p.m. Admission is free.

THE FIRST NATIONAL SCULPTURE PARK

The First National Bank has played a significant role in Omaha’s community since the Lauritzen family’s ancestors first arrived in 1854. In 1857, they founded the city’s first bank, trading primarily in gold dust and buffalo hides. It is the oldest bank from Omaha west. In 2019, it is the largest privately held bank in the country with more than 100 locations across Nebraska, Colorado, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, South Dakota, and Texas.

In 1998, management decided to designate two parcels of green space on their soon-to-be developed campus as a sculpture park. They transformed Omaha’s business district into a tribute to the pioneers’ great trek west. The plan was to create an environmental sculpture where visitors could interact with the art by touching it, walking around it, and even sitting on some of the smaller animals.

The park is the largest installation of bronze and stainless steel art in the nation. Consisting of 127 pieces by three of the finest bronze sculptors in our nation, it covers six city blocks. The monument’s works are 1.25 times life-size. They were installed in 2005 and 2009.

Blair Buswell and Edward Fraughton collaborated on Pioneer Courage . It is composed of four pioneer families and their covered wagons heading westward from Omaha on May 21, 1841. This portion illustrates the wagon train proceeding along a dry creek bed surrounded by native Nebraska prairie grasses, riparian plants, and more than 2,500 tons of limestone rock. Their sculptures depict that when the wagon train disturbs a nearby herd of bison, it causes them to stampede down 15th Street onto Dodge. The group also encounters several Native Americans, who help them navigate their trek.

It begins at 14th and Capitol Streets. Each wagon stands approximately 12 feet high and is more than 40 feet long when oxen, horses, and mules are hitched. Figures range from 3 feet to 7-1/2 feet tall except for the wagon master who stands at 11 feet tall.

Both Buswell and Fraughton have achieved fame as two of the world’s leading sculptors. Fraughton holds five gold medals from the National Academy of Western Art. Buswell’s work has appeared at the National Academy of Western Art and the Prix de West shows at the Cowboy Hall of Fame. He has completed nearly 40 busts for Canton, Ohio’s Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Visitors also discover Spirit of Nebraska’s Wilderness. These sculptures by Kent Ullberg consist of 67 stainless steel and bronze works. His site occupies the bank properties on all four corners of the 16th and Dodge intersections as well as works on 15th Street.

The bison consist of three bulls. Each is 8 feet tall weighing more than 1,400 pounds. Alongside them stand several yearling bulls and two cows with their calves. These animals flush a flock of more than 50 Canada geese from a nearby pond, who take flight.

Look for the birds since they’re attached to a variety of structures. You’ll find them on 18-foot bronze trees, a traffic signal, a building corner, a light post, and two other poles. Several are suspended within the First National Bank headquarters’ glass atrium.

Park your car, take your time, and enjoy this free sculpture spectacular. It is well worth seeing.