e Commercial Club stated that 642 homes
were totally wrecked, 1,669 were damaged and 3,179 persons made
homeless. There was need of reconstruction, indeed!

[Illustration: Photograph by Brown Bros.
This scene shows the desolation caused by the tornado wrecking a whole
street of houses at Omaha, Nebraska]

[Illustration: Copyright by George Grantham Bain.
A view showing the destructive force of the tornado at Omaha, where
happy homes stood a few hours before. Many residents were caught as in a
trap and instantly killed or fatally maimed]

CHAPTER XIX

OMAHA: "THE GATE CITY OF THE WEST"

LARGEST CITY IN NEBRASKA--GATE TO THE WEST--GROWTH OF
INDUSTRIES--SPLENDID INSTITUTIONS--A PROSPEROUS CITY--REMARKABLE
ACTIVITY.

Omaha, "the Gate City," largest in Nebraska, is a typical plains town,
proud of its industry and its climb on the census list. It stands eighty
feet above the Missouri on the west bank of that river opposite Council
Bluffs, Iowa. For twenty-four square miles stretch its many churches,
educational institutions and large manufacturing plants, with the
pleasant residential section lying above.

On the site of the present city Lewis and Clark in 1804 held council
with the Indians. There were a trading station and stockade at the place
in 1825 presided over by pioneer J. B. Royce. The first permanent
settlement was made there in 1854. A tribe of Dakota Indians that lived
in the region gave the city its name.

When the Union Pacific Railroad was stretching steel hands westward in
1864 Omaha was the most northerly outfitting point for overland wagon
trains to the far West. At that time it took its name of "Gate City"
and then its sudden growth began. In 1910 the population was 124,000.

GROWTH OF INDUSTRIES

Because of its location it soon began to draw industries. Packing is one
of its leading industries today. So extensive is this business that
Omaha ranks third among cities of the United States in packing. Silver
smelting, distilling and brewing are some of the other pursuits that
keep its citizens busy.

SPLENDID INSTITUTIONS

Among the more important buildings are the Federal Building, Court
House, a city hall, two high schools, one of which is among the finest
in the country, a convention hall, the Auditorium and the Public
Library. Omaha is the see of Roman Catholic and Protestant Episcopal
bishoprics. Among the educational institutions are a state school for
the deaf; the med