Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1911-07-30
"GOOD OLD DAYS" IN OMAHA
Chatty "reminiscences Of the Gate City
During Late Seventies.
INTIMATE PICTURES OF PEOPLE
Woman who Was Here I'm 1879 Tells
Her RecOIIectiOns I'm n Most En-
tertaining way In Book
Just Published.

book of "reminiscences and travel just pub
lished by Mrs. Carrie Adell Strahorn, en-
titled Fifteen Thousand Miles by Stage.
Mrs. Strahorn lived in Omaha for the
greater part of year, having come here
with her husband shortly after their mar
rage, and is evidently now a widow, living
in Spokane. In the preface she explains
that the circumstances leading to the ex-
periences she describes date back to the
year 1877, when my husband, Robert E.
strahorn, wrote and published a book on
the resources. climatic conditions and
scenic attractions of what was then Wyo-
ming territory" The book. It is related.
fell into the hands OF jay Gould, who was
then the wizard Of the railroad world and
the live wire of the Union Pacific com
pany, with its rails running from Omaha
TO Ogden and Salt Lake City. The fancy
seized Mr. Gould to have Mr.. Strahorn
create a literary bureau and advertising
department for the Union Pacific Railway
company, and to write a similar book on
all western states and territories. 1t was
a new departure for a railroad company,
but as the scheme was discussed its scope
broadened until it seemed to be without
limit The company wanted to know the
possibilities for extensions, the tonnage
that might accrue the tillable acres, the
SCENIC hlITdCLOnhs anu GIL the aAANAAA
duoements that could be offered to pros
pective homeseekers.
THE offer" the author explains, came
within a week after our marriage To &C
cept it meant the abandonment OF plans
already well matured, and the alternative
Of leaving me alone among strangers in
the far west or subjecting me to a life of
hardship in frontier travel that was looked
upon as we'll nigh uncomfortable, either one
of which seemed equally impossible for him
to force upon me.
"omaha in the Seventies"
The account of the stay in Omaha and
observations made here, received from let
tiers, notes and memory, is as follows:
For the winter of 70 we settled down to
quiet orderly life in Omaha. We chose
the top OF Farnam street hill for location,
and when the foundation of house on
the corner of Eighteenth street was being
laid we set a snare to secure the house
as soon as II was finished.
The spot was then far from the busy
strife of the commercial center OF the town,
and the VIEWS from its unimpeded heights
were a charm not easy to find about an
otherwise level country. No one dreamed
of such an invasion of commerce that a
magnificent court house would some day
grace one Of those corners and great BUSH
ness blocks would crowd out the most
desirable home center of the city. No one
thought The Omaha Bee would swarm from
its little old home to a ten-story hive on
the hilltop at Eighteenth street, but Father
Time is a wonderful worker in an ambi-
uous city and transformations are wrought
which no one can foretelL Those pretty
little homes that once graced the proud
eminence now exists only as "a composite
picture" in the minds eye in Inid-air forty
feet above the present street. The dear old
hill melted away under the pick and shovel
10 its present level and Omaha was de-
prived OF the most beautiful residence
quarter of the city.
Our OId-Time Hotels.
The Grand Central hotel was destroyed
by fire and for many months the old Met
ropolitan hotel kept by Ira Wilson on
lower Douglas street, and the little With
nell hotel managed by the Kitchen
brothers, were the only hotels worth men
tioninE The Metropolitan was an old
rambie shack from which we were glad TO
emerge into our first home. and We went
about the settlement with al the ardor of
loves first nest.
Paul had such a big chest OF notes to
work up into readable form that 1t APP
peared lifetime task, and Mr.. Kimball.
general manager Of the Union Pacific, was
in need OF his Information almost every
hour at Union Pacific headquarters. l was
eager to be anchored in a home, and the
combination worked well toward a season
OF home life for us.
Omaha was not attractive for climatic
reasons, II IL was for others. The terrific
sandstorms were a terror to housewives.
its bottomless streets were a menace to
commerce in the wet season, and in the
sultry season the thunder storms were of
such violence that the lightning was like
fiery-headed demons coming out OF earth
and sky, flashing into every window while
pounding on every door and roof the thun-
der chased in a maddening din from which
there was no escape.
The Missouri river valley is ever noted
for it's wild storms which follow the stream
and play such havoc along its lands. They
even drove the river from its bed and
not infrequently turned it out of the state.
At one time during the winter the wind
blew so hard for forty-eight hours that a
special policeman patroled every block in
town to watch for fires, and women were
not allowed on the streets at all.
Frequency of had Storms.
In looking over letters sent TO friends
in those days or during our visits to
Omaha, there is scarcely one of them that
does not give record OF some awful storm.
At one time no less than 600 feet OF track
was not only washed out out in Council
Bluffs. and ties and rails carried into
neighboring fields, but the roadbed was
under four and five feet of water. The
bridge across an arm OF the river at Coun-
Gil Bluffs was carried out and We walked
on the top OF freight cars 10 a temporary
ferryboat 10 cross TO Omaha. 1t was not
unusual for water 10 be several feet deep
IN some OF the streets near the river.
The Missouri river made history in Ne
braska faster than any other factor Since
the settlement OF the state IL has lost more
towns in its adjustment TO the river and 70
civilization than any other state in the
union Some OF the towns we're wiped out
by the river suddenly changing its bed or
by gradually pilfering the land until the
town had 10 be abandoned.
When the Union Pacific railroad was
built the town of Decatur was selected as
headquarters for the company and the To-
cation for the Missouri bridge-but before
the work was under way so many town
lots had been swallowed by the river that
the company changed its location TO Flor
ence and then TO Omaha. Most OF Decatur
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