Omaha daily bee., 1899-07-23
ON
Pioneer Employees
of the Union Pacific

On July 2, 1882, half a dozen Of the pio-
neer employees OF the Union Pacific railway
met in the office of the general freight agent
and perfected the organization OF what Is
known as the Union Pacific Pioneers asso-
citation. Organized with no special object
In view further than that OF keeping an
historical record OF the principal events in
connection with the building and main
tenance of the Union Pacific, the association
has gradually developed into a strong organ
ization that makes some pretensions to USE
fulness in the way of looking after the in
terests Of its members. The social side Of
life Is industriously cultivated, a picnic
being the principal social event Of each year.
The founders and charter members of the
organization, while few, are we'll known in
railroad circles. At the first meeting were
present Thomas II. Daley, chief clerk for
the superintendent of motor power and ma
chinery; G. A. Leary, James T.. Allen, Will
liam Anderson, James Taylor, John M. Rice,
r. O'Keefe, Thomas Nolan and T. j. Staley.
Mr.. Daley was elected the first president,
T. j. Staley, secretary, and Thomas Nolan,
treasurer. The association was we'll re-
ceived among the employees Of the road and
in a few weeks had more than 100 members.
No attempt was made along social lines for
a number of years. The first picnic of the
association was given in 1891, and Fremont
was selected as the place to spend the day.
The pioneers were royalty received by the
people of Fremont and presented with a
huge gilded key to the city by Mayor Fried,
a souvenir which is still to be seen among
the valued treasures OF the organization.
So great was the success Of the first
venture and so lavish had been their enter
tainment at the hands Of the good people Of
Fremont that the second annual picnic was
held in that city in 1892. On this occasion
Mayor Fried paid an eloquent tribute In
his address of welcome to the men who
at the work bench and the forge, and at
the throttle, had made it possible for the
first headlight to CLEAN over the prairies Of
Nebraska and prepared the way for the adj
vance of civilization and industry" In 1893
Fremont was again selected, and one of the
largest and best arranged excursions that
ever took that city by storm was the result.
In 1894 Columbus was decided upon, and the
run was made without incident. Theodore
Livingstone, who has been continuously In
the service of the company since 1859, was
the engineer, and Conductor Cahill, another
pioneer on the road, was in charge Of the
train. In 1895 a pleasant day was spent at
Grand Island, but the trip was too long to
render the members the enjoyment they
thought themselves entitled to, and the long
run to that city has never been repeated.
shadow Falls on Association.
In point of attendance the excursion Of
1896 was the most successful of all. Over
1900 of the pioneers and their families spent
the day at Logan, Ia. The train was sched-
uled to leave for home at GAS and was wait
ing the arrival of the eastern fast mail.
Through some misunderstanding of orders
the train pulled out before its scheduled
time, and as a result the most terrible wreck
that has occurred within 200 miles Of Omaha
furnished a sad ending to the days merry