Omaha daily bee., 1921-06-19
In 1872 First
Train From
East Arrived
U. P. Bridge Completed March
IA and Omaha Supplied
With Full Service to At.
lantic Seaboard.

HC IohliiiA Va ttS iuitiSao NoS
the one great event in the carly his
tory of Omaha. When the first is.
sue of The Omaha Bee appeared on
June 2l, 1871, Omaha's railroad IA
cilities were exceedingly meagcr
compared with its splendid railroad
service of the present.
At that time there wasn't single
railroad from the east running into
Omaha. In fact, there wasn't SIN
gle bridge over the Missouri river
from its headwaters in the noun
tains of faraway Montana to
Point-of- Rocks, where the great
stream merges with the Mississippi
river. There were several railroads
in those days which terminated at
Council Bluffs, but none OF these
crossed into Nebraska.
One Real Railroad.
When the first issue Of The Bee
appeared there were three railroads
with tracks into Omalla-Union Pa
cifc, Omaha & Northwestern and
Omaha & Southwestern. The
Omaha & Northwestern became the
Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis &
Omaha, while the Omaha & South
western was later absorbed by the
Burlington.
In those days Omaha's one real
railroad was the Union Pacific, the
first transcontinental railroad, the
first line to reach from the Missouri
river to the Pacific ocean. The Bee
was almost one year old before q
single train reached this city from
the east.
Into Council Bluffs, in those days,
there were three lines running from
Chicago-the Northwestern, Rock
Island and Burlington.
Arrives in Bluffs.
The Northwestern. was the first
road to reach Council Bluffs. Sun
day, January ", 1867, was a great
Gay in both Omaha and Council
Bluffs. On that date the first train
from the east arrived at the Missouri
river. The train did not cross til :
stream, there being no bridge. 1t
stopped on the eastern side of the
: river, just where the Northwestern
station in Council Blus is today To-.
Gated.
For more than two years the
Northwestern was the only line from
the east into Council Bluffs. Prac-
tically all traffic, both freight and
passenger, between Omaha and the
cast, was carried by that line.
Via St. Joseph.
Then came the old Kansas City,
St. Joseph & Council Bluffs rail-
road, from St. Joseph. The latter
line reached Council Bluffs Deeem-
Der 20, 1867. The southern end Of
the road was at St. Joseph and it
was not for number of years that
the Kansas City end OF that line was
constructed. In those days all traf-
fc destined over the Burlington lines
went down to St. Joseph on the St,
Joseph & Council Bluffs railroad
and thence eastward on the Hannibal
& St. Joseph line, one of the Bur
hngton properties. From Hannibal
this traffic went into Chicago over
the main line of the Chicago, Bur-
lington & Quincy railroad.
For years the best connections
from Nebraska to eastern points was
down via St. Joseph, although there
were several lines of railroad direct
from Council Bluffs to Chicago. The
old Hannibal & St. Joseph line used
to run a Pullman sleeper out Of St.
Joseph which went through to New
York without change-going east
ward from Hannibal over some little
line which has long since been alb
sorbed into one of the big systems.
This line missed Chicago entirely.
But for more than so years there has
been no sleeping car line from the
Missouri river cities to New York.
Immigrants Pour In.
The year 1869 was peculiarly a
RAILROAD year" for Omaha and for
Nebraska. Immigrants were pour
ing into the state. The close of the
civil war left hundreds of thousands
OF former soldiers who wanted to
come west" and obtain land. The
homestead laws were new and Ne
braska had millions of acres of the
best land in the world waiting for
settlers.
In that year, 1869, just two year:
before The Omaha Bee was founded
BY Edward Rosewater, railroad.
were building all through Nebrasks
with Omaha as the hub.
First, there was the completion o.
the Union Pacihc-the most stu.
pendous railroad undertaking th'
world had seen up to that date and
considering the difficulties encoun
} tered and overcome, an undertaking
that has not yet been surpassed. Oh
May 10, 1869, the golden spike wa
driven at Promontory Point, Utah
and Omaha had direct railroad t
The Pacific ocean, even if it did no
have a continuous line as far as tn
city station in Council Bluffs.
Second Line Completed.
Next, a second Council Bluffs Chi
cago line was completed. This wa
the old Mississippi & Missouri rail
road, which became the main line Q
the Chicago, Rock Is land & Pacific
The Rock Island was the second lin
from the Missouri river at Oman
through to Chicago.
The third railroad completed tina
year, or rather started. out of Oman;
was the Omaha & Northwestern u
towards Sioux City.
Omaha's fourth road in year wa
the Omaha & Southwestern, at
sorbed by the Burlington and givin
the latter a roadway into this city.
At the same time the Burlingto
was doing its best to get a diret
road from the east to Omaha,
order that it might secure porto
Of the traffic which was developin
between the Pacific and Atlanti
coasts. All through the year lSt
p,.~f:, rxtor a,u,oeerc had 0uShe