Omaha daily bee., 1921-06-19
Origin Of Name. Founding Of Town

Orlgm Ol lNalllt.-
The selection of the site Of the fu-
ture city Of Omaha was due to the
westward trend of travel, large num-
bers Of adventurous immigrants
bound for the California gold fields
crossing the Missouri river at this
point on the pioneer ferry boat
owned and operated BY William D..
Brown.
Hats at Bluffs.
Always a little in advance of civ
ilization in its westward course, Mr..
Brown was one of the many adven-
turcrs who started for California in
the years OF l849 and 1850, the mag
net that attracted them being the
discovery of gold. He had been for
several years a resident of Mount
Pleasant, Henry county, Iowa, OF
which county he was the first sheriff,
having been elected to the Office in
1887. Hating at Council Bluffs, then
known a. Kanesville, he saw that
there was money to be made in the
ferry business across the Missouri
to accommodate the California travel
which was being ferried at Florence,
Bellevue and at other points. OBJ
tanning a charter from Pottawattamie
county in 1850, Mr.. Brown soon had
"a fatboar ferry in operation. The
undertaking proved highly proht-
able to the pioneer ferryn1an, who
was also the first pioneer of Omaha.
First Claim.
It was in 1858 that Mr.. Brown
staked out claim which about COW
cred the townsite of Omaha as it
was afterwards laid out. This was
the first claim and it was located the
year before any treaty was made
with the Indians. Nebraska was ad-
mitted as territory May %. 1854,
and the extinguishment of the Indian
title to the land soon followed. Mr..
Brown had for some time contem-
plated the founding of town upon
his claim and had taken several
Council Bluffs men into his con-
fdence.
The time had now come for carry
ing out his project, and not being
financially able to undertake the en-
terprise alone he Joined with the
Council Bluffs and Nebraska Ferry
company, which had been organized
in June, 1853, to lay out and build
the town. He sold six-eighths of his
ferry and of his claim to the ferry
company, which was composed of
DR.. Enos Lowe, Jesse Lowe, Jesse
Williams, Joseph H. D. Street, Bern
hart Hem, William D. Brown, S. S.
Bayliss, Samuel r. Curtis, Mr.. Tan
ner, c. H. Downs and others. These
men were the real founders OF the
city of Omaha. They purchased a
steam ferry boat, which began opera
ton early in the fall Of 1854.
New Town Surveyed.
The new town was surveyed by
Alfred D. Jones, civil engineer and
lawyer, who had wandered to the
new west from his Philadelphia
home. He had surveyed Kanesville
Council Bluffs) as town, and lie
took as his variation that of the
section line of Iowa, extending from
Council Bluffs to the river, and ran
the exterior lines with a common
compass and filled by the rodding
process. The base line Of the sur
vey was Davenport street, which coz
responds with the Iowa section linc.
Mr.. Jones laid out the original town
of Omaha in 500 blocks, covering the
ferry company's claim, the work
being completed in July, 1854.
The Fourth of July was celebrated
BY a picnic on Capitol hill, among
the attendants being Hadley D.
Johnson, Mr.. Jones and wife,
Thomas Davis and wife and son,
Fred. and his sister, A. ]. Hanseom
and wife, Mr.. Seeley and wife, Will
liam D. Brown and wife, and a few
others. All went we'll with the pic-
mic until a few Indians were seen
approaching. That ended the fes-
tivities. The frightened picnickers
ran to the river and hurriedly en-
barked on ferryboat for the other
side. Fred Davis, president Of the
First National bank, is the sole sur
vivor of that memorable picnic.
Booming the Town.
The ferry company now proceed
ed to boom the new town. A sub
stantial log cabin was erected at
Twelfth and Jackson streets for its
headquarters and it was known as
the 'iclaim house." and later was
named the St. Nicholas, it being con-
Quoted as q boarding house by Mr..
and Mrs. William P. Snowden,
whose daughter, Helen Martina
Snowden, now resides in Omaha.
Other primitive structures rapidly
followed and in the course OF few
months Omaha presented the appear.
ance of typical frontier town. ct
course, there was saloon-the Big
(Which became the political and
social center for the men of the VII
iaee. At the same time the morals
~,s,> tonted after by Rev. Peter