Early Omaha: Gateway to the West
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Taken from an “island” in the Missouri River this view looks northwest to Omaha at about the foot of Chicago Street. J. H. Kellom an Omaha insurance man wrote to Joseph Barker November 18, 1867: “The North Western cars now bring passengers ‘smack’ up to the river nearly opposite Chicago St & the Ferry boat takes them about 30 rods [495 feet] across to a new sand bar, connected with our bank, to which point the U.P.R.R. have laid a track for freight purposes. The Road is doing a large business, and by 1870 will connect the Mo. River & Pacific - then the World's commerce will pass through here.” (4) The steam ferry “Irene” [built 1867, 117 ton double-end ferry] is at the ferry landing on the mud flats that made up the Nebraska shoreline. On the bow of the ferry is one of the loaded team and wagons full of supplies. The small building standing alone on the mud flats is the Ferry Exchange where passengers transferred from the trains in Nebraska to the trains in Iowa. Presumably anyone going by ferry between Omaha and Council Bluffs would go to the ferry landing, at the end of the board walk beyond the ferry exchange. For railroad passengers the transfer was included in the ticket. All other passengers needed to pay for the ferry.

In the background are the Union Pacific shops. Construction of both freight and passenger cars were done at the shops. Locomotives that had come up the river on the steamboats had to be assembled, and once assembled, maintained. There was a foundry where almost anything the railroad needed could be cast including most of the bolts for construction of bridges etc. The original depot was on the shop grounds. There was also a tie treating plant and sawmill among the Union Pacific facilities along the levee. Large freight trains are moving along the levee. The levee was part of the flood plain of the Missouri River. The Omaha Arrow newspaper of September 29, 1854 notes the levee at Omaha is 650 feet wide. There was all kinds of industry on the levee including railroad warehouses, lumber yards etc. Material brought up by steamboat or ready to be transported away by steamboat had to be stored on the levee, because the boats needed to be unloaded quickly. One of the photos of the 1866 Union Pacific Excursion shows the steamers Denver and Colorado tied up at the levee and there are tracks right down to the waters edge and supplies stacked up right in front of the camera. The growing city of Omaha is faded in the background.