Omaha daily bee., 1899-12-21
FORT OMAHA On The BLOCK
Historic Structures Are Disposed OF to the
Highest Bidders,
FORTY BUILDINGS WILL BE HAULtD AWAY
Large crowd of Purchasers Eater
Into spirited Contest to Acquire
Comfortable Homes at
Nominal Price.

The regimental barracks at Fort Omaha,
which have held in the last thirty years
nearly every infantry regiment In the serN-
ice, were knocked down yesterday morning to
the highest bidder. The historic structures
will either be torn Gown for the sake of
the dimension lumber contained therein. or
will be sawed into sections and hauled
away There were about 200 prospective
purchasers gathered around Officers quar-
ters No 8 when Clerk Thomas G. Masrane
of the government corral, acting as auc-
tioneer, mounted a stump and began the
sale At his back stood Colonel Hathaway,
chief quartermaster OF the Department of
the Missouri, and a department clerk 10
record the sales and receive the part pay
ments.
These we'll built commodious structures
will be offered for sale" shouted Magrane.
They were built of seasoned cottonwood,
the floors are raised from the ground and
the lumber in them is sound. What am
offered for Quarters No. g. built at cost OF
$2,50O?"
Fifty dollars" answered a we'll known
contractor in the crowd
officers Quarters Are Sold.
The price went up in S. bids until It
reached $10O where it paused and the build
ing was at once declared sold. The same
process was followed in the cases of the
other officers quarters along the west slope.
Eighteen buildings were sold at prices rang
ing from $50 to $3.50. They will in almost
every case be removed bodily, and were
purchased for the most part by parties
owning lots in the reghborhood One pur-
chaser contemplates moving mis- building to
Twentieth and Grace streets. He estimates
the cost of moving the structure at $3.50
When the officers quarters had been sold
the barracks rooms were disposed of These
are harn-like structures which can only be
used for lumber. but brought from $50 to
1920 In all forty buildings were sold, and
the prices received were on the whole con-
sdcred satisfactory. The total amount re-
ceived footed up to slightly over $4,000.
Sketch of the Post.
The military post at Fort Omaha was
erected in 1868 under contract let by Cen
eral William Myers, chief quartermaste :,
Department of the Platte. The order for its
construction was received from General w.
T. Sherman, commanding the army, while
General C. C. Augur was in charge Of the
local department. The work was done by
Contractor Wilson, who also erected the
High school building, and the contract price
was in the neghborhood of 100000.
Several years later COMMANDING OHiCel
residence was erected of brick and larg
Headquarters building was put up of a sim
liar material In the course of years several
other brick structures were added and when
the headquarters were removed to the bus
mess part Of the city the large building near
tho center of the parade was used as hos
pital The long, wooden structure formerly
used for that purpose was transformed into
ptart a n
In accordance with orders given by the
ouartermaster's department preparations are
being made to cut out a large number Of
trees around the parade. All the cotton
woods. which were set out in 1865 will he
removed, as their branches are beginning to
break off on account of age. The naples and
ems were originally planted much too close
together, the intervening spaces being not
more than twelve feet. Alternate trees OF
these species will be removed all the way
around the parade.