Omaha daily bee., 1908-09-27
south.

"A "a ~ 10 Aouhu IMa SoWn Una" PVuW ONH
wv more of it and. property values considered, about the
same proportion must be credited to the city on the
Mutual interests of the two cities in their manufacturing indus
tries. public utilities and railroads bind them closer together than
even some suburbs of Omaha are bound to the parent city. They are
o no distinction in their yards. and when n industry locates 'in
Omaha. it makes no difference whether it is on trackage within the
limits of the city on the south or in Omaha proper.
But South Omaha is a separate corporation, maintaining its own
city government. which is somewhat different from the government
of Omaha, and this individuality South Omaha guards jealousy.
With the mention of the packing industry Omaha points with
pride to the rapidly growing city, the big smokestacks and buildings
which proclaim South omahas push and industry. On the other
hand, South Omaha leans up against Omaha for the entertainment Of
the throngs of people who daily visit the home of the packing indus
try. Everyone hurries up to Omaha for hotel accommodations, to do
a part of their trading. to attend the ball games, the theaters ana to
be entertained.
Although South Omaha has its excellent social circle. and men of
ability in every line, Omaha has been the mothering place of all
these, and a condition in South Omaha prevails which would not
exist II the two cities we're twenty miles apart.
When the dream of a western market for the live stock grown in
the Transmissouri country first dawned in the mind of w. A, Paxton
ana MS numerous energetic contemporaries ne present location
seemed a long way removed; but now the two cities ire heart to
heart, Twenty-Five years have been sufficient to wipe out all the in
tervening space.
Twenty-Five years ago a western market was a dream and South
Omaha was a tangle of very rough hills on the banks of the Mis-
souri,. The site of the present buildings and stacks, with the evil
dence of their thrift about them, was a cornheld.
In the early spring of 1884 a party of men, Alex II. Swan. John
A. Creighton. Thomas Swobe. W. A. Paxton, p. E. Tier. J. A. Nc
Shane and Frank Murphy rode out of Omaha four miles to the south
along the line of the Union Pacific rightofway and selected the best
spot they could find, a field level enough to be farmed among a tan
gle of wild holows filed with underbrush. Here the engineers
staked out. according to a plan, the cattle and hog yards and marked
the site OF two small packing houses. Railroad yards were planned
in what was considered generous proportion even by the most san
guine promoters of the enterprise. o.
In the summer of that year the company, planning a packing
plant, broke ground for the first building. In August the yards
were opened, cattle and hogs in moderate numbers began to arrive.
The Union Stock Yards company, Limited, was a reality; but so
small that the older markets could scracely be brought to recognize
it in any way. They called it a water trough. or at best, a feed
station.
The loyalty Of the western cattlemen, who wanted a nearer mar
kt, assisted the new enterprise quite as much as the enthusiasm OF
the promoters. Cattle were shipped until they could not be used
and had to be reloaded for markets farther east. This did not dis
hearten the western ranchers, but they cheerfully accepted the incon-
venience for the sake Of assisting. This desire for a market was
soon recognized.
G. n. Hammond, one Of the few big packers of those days, first
leased the small plant which had been constructed by the Union
Stock Yards company In 1884 and later bought, and greatly enlarged
it's capacity. Shipping to Omaha increased greatly from the day the
Hammond house opened its doors. Fowler Bros, one of the old
powers In the packing business, followed close behind the Hammond
company and bought the other small plant. They at once built a
Later it was again enlarged and took the name of the Omaha Pack
Ing company. 1t was opened in November, 1885. The receipt Of
447,O19 head of live stock in 1886 amply justified the erection of the
two plants.
Thomas j. Upton, one of the greatest provision dealers of Eng
land, established a plant for the production Of export bacon during
the same year. 1t was a partial failure. because in those days the
farmers refused to sell their light hogs. The plant was bought and
ing company. Later this plant became the Cudahy Packing company
which has since conducted the business.
Swift and Company came the next year. 1882, and have since
conducted a steadily increasing business. Ten years later, Armour
& Co.'s plant, the largest In South Omaha, was erected. Three years
ago the Omaha Packing company purchased the Hammond property
repaired and remodeled and one of the most compact and convenient
Of the packing houses.
A summary of the receipts and shipments for twenty-four years
is also of interest. showing what percentage of the total shipment
OF live stock finds its way into the dressed meat department of the
packing industry: