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EspañolLONE TREE FERRY
The 'Lone Tree Ferry', later known as the 'Council Bluffs and Nebraska Ferry Company', was the crossing of the Missouri River at Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska, US, that was established in 1850 by William D. Brown. Brown was the first pioneer to see the potential for a city on the site, and the landing became a popular gathering site for the first settlers of the Nebraska Territory.Federal Writers' Project of the Works Progress Administration. (1970) ''Nebraska: A Guide to the Cornhusker State.'' Nebraska State Historical Society. p. 241. Named after a solitary tree on the Nebraska bank of the river, the Lone Tree Ferry became central to the founding and development of the City of Omaha."Chapter XII," ''Romance of Omaha''. Retrieved 8/13/07.
William Brown was headed west from Mount Pleasant, Iowa in the California Gold Rush of 1849 when he decided to stay in Council Bluffs. In 1850 he outfitted a flat boat with oars and obtained a charter from the Pottawatomie County Commissioners to operate a ferry across the Missouri River, illegally staking out of the prime Missouri Valley flatland which became Omaha.[1] It was from this position that Brown first conceived of founding Omaha.
Brown convinced 12 businessmen, including Dr. Enos Lowe, Jesse Lowe, Jesse Williams, and Joseph H. D. Street, all of Kanesville, Iowa, that the Omaha plateau was an ideal spot for a city. On July 23 1853 they formed the Council Bluffs and Nebraska Ferry Company. [2] In addition to owning ferry boats the company also owned property on both sides of the Missouri River.Council Bluffs and Nebraska Ferry Company. ''Early Omaha: Gateway to the West''. Retrieved 8/13/07. In September 1853 the the company bought a steamboat from Alton, Illinois called the ''General Marion''.
During the summer of 1854 the organizers of the ferry company surveyed and laid out the town site of Omaha west of the Missouri River. The first commercial building in Omaha belonged to the ferry company, which donated its services as the legislative chambers for the first territorial legislature and the first post office.
The company ran a twenty-year charter, at the end of which a bridge was being constructed that made the ferry service obsolete. It reportedly operated a variety of ferries from Council Bluffs to Omaha until 1872, when the Union Pacific railroad opened the first bridge across the Missouri River.
There has been speculation about the location of the Lone Tree Ferry landing. One source places the Nebraska side at the east end of present-day Davenport Street in Omaha and the west side on East Broadway Street in Council Bluffs, Iowa.[3] However, in 2004 a map expert using GPS and old maps identified a location by the Gallup University as the location.[4]
★ History of Omaha
★ Founding figures of Omaha, Nebraska
1. Sandoz, M. (1966) ''Love Song to the Plains.'' University of Nebraska Press. p. 147.
2. Omaha Timeline. Omaha Public Library. Retrieved 8/13/07.
3. Roenfield, R. "Sam Bayliss on Broadway," Pottawatomie County Historical Society. Retrieved 8/13/07.
4. (2004) "Omaha's First Ferry Dock Identified," KETV. Retrieved 8/13/07.
| Contents |
| About |
| Location |
| See also |
| References |
About
William Brown was headed west from Mount Pleasant, Iowa in the California Gold Rush of 1849 when he decided to stay in Council Bluffs. In 1850 he outfitted a flat boat with oars and obtained a charter from the Pottawatomie County Commissioners to operate a ferry across the Missouri River, illegally staking out of the prime Missouri Valley flatland which became Omaha.[1] It was from this position that Brown first conceived of founding Omaha.
Brown convinced 12 businessmen, including Dr. Enos Lowe, Jesse Lowe, Jesse Williams, and Joseph H. D. Street, all of Kanesville, Iowa, that the Omaha plateau was an ideal spot for a city. On July 23 1853 they formed the Council Bluffs and Nebraska Ferry Company. [2] In addition to owning ferry boats the company also owned property on both sides of the Missouri River.Council Bluffs and Nebraska Ferry Company. ''Early Omaha: Gateway to the West''. Retrieved 8/13/07. In September 1853 the the company bought a steamboat from Alton, Illinois called the ''General Marion''.
During the summer of 1854 the organizers of the ferry company surveyed and laid out the town site of Omaha west of the Missouri River. The first commercial building in Omaha belonged to the ferry company, which donated its services as the legislative chambers for the first territorial legislature and the first post office.
The company ran a twenty-year charter, at the end of which a bridge was being constructed that made the ferry service obsolete. It reportedly operated a variety of ferries from Council Bluffs to Omaha until 1872, when the Union Pacific railroad opened the first bridge across the Missouri River.
Location
There has been speculation about the location of the Lone Tree Ferry landing. One source places the Nebraska side at the east end of present-day Davenport Street in Omaha and the west side on East Broadway Street in Council Bluffs, Iowa.[3] However, in 2004 a map expert using GPS and old maps identified a location by the Gallup University as the location.[4]
See also
★ History of Omaha
★ Founding figures of Omaha, Nebraska
References
1. Sandoz, M. (1966) ''Love Song to the Plains.'' University of Nebraska Press. p. 147.
2. Omaha Timeline. Omaha Public Library. Retrieved 8/13/07.
3. Roenfield, R. "Sam Bayliss on Broadway," Pottawatomie County Historical Society. Retrieved 8/13/07.
4. (2004) "Omaha's First Ferry Dock Identified," KETV. Retrieved 8/13/07.
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