Historic Omaha
An illustrated history of Omaha and the Douglas County area, paired with the histories of companies, families and organizations that make the region great.
An illustrated history of Omaha and the Douglas County area, paired with the histories of companies, families and organizations that make the region great.
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✧<br />
City fathers felt the need to cut down the<br />
bluffs on which <strong>Omaha</strong> was built to give<br />
easier access to the commercial heart of<br />
the city. This is the northwest corner of<br />
Eighteenth and Douglas Streets in July (top)<br />
and October 1891 (bottom).<br />
COURTESY OF THE DOUGLAS COUNTY HISTORICAL<br />
SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.<br />
His dynamic leadership soon attracted large<br />
packinghouses like Cudahy, Swift, and Armour<br />
through the offer of inexpensive leases and cash<br />
or stock bonuses.<br />
At first, the railroads tried to block the<br />
development of the <strong>Omaha</strong> stockyards. They<br />
preferred to route their cattle through Chicago<br />
and Kansas City and refused to ship livestock<br />
to <strong>Omaha</strong>. They underestimated McShane,<br />
who was a relative of the prominent Creighton<br />
family and had plenty of political influence of<br />
his own. Furious at the railroads, he traveled<br />
to Chicago and met with the traffic manager<br />
for the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad.<br />
CHAPTER II<br />
31
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