Omaha: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Many people don’t know what Omaha is, but even more people don’t know Omaha’s history or importance. For example they don’t know about who lived here before we did, or about trails that came through here, or even about famous people that were born here.

Before we lived here Native Americans lived here. The two main tribes were the Omahas and the Pawnees, there were more but they weren’t that well known.

Out of all the tribes the Omahas were the most numerous. They were also one of the most powerful tribes in the area. The Omahas relied on farming and hunting buffalo the most.

The Omaha Indians lived in present day Omaha. On March 16, 1854 a treaty was negotiated between the Omaha Chief and the President giving the present day Douglas County to the United States.

A little bit before the treaty was negotiated Jessie Lowe and his friends crossed the Missouri River into today’s Omaha, Nebraska. They set up a cabin in today’s Omaha, which soon the land would become a city.

Omaha officially began in 1854 with just that one cabin. Within thirty-three years Omaha and the Nebraska Territory became a great common wealth. With Omaha and the whole Nebraska Territory combined they both added up to over one million people.

There are also some trails that came through Omaha. These trails included the Mormon and the Oregon Trail. The main reason that the Mormons were moving west was because they were treated badly in most states in the east. The Mormons were heading to present day Utah so they could practice their religion without any violence or abuse to them. There is a site near Omaha that marks were the Mormon Trail went, some graves of Mormons are buried there too.

Also the Oregon Trail went through Omaha. The main use of this trail was for migrating to the west to find new land and wealth. The Oregon Trail followed the Platte River for most of the time it was in Nebraska. The Platte River was also used by Different kinds of trappers in the 1820’s and 1830’s.

Did you know that several famous people were born here too? One famous person that was born here was a person called Malcolm X. Malcolm X was born on May 19, 1925 in Omaha, Nebraska. When Malcolm was young he moved to Michigan. Malcolm’s dad was killed here not long after they moved here. Malcolm believed that members of the Ku Klux Klan killed his father.