Please, join me on my book tour to Omaha and learn about this delightful city in Nebraska.
Since the 17th Century, the Pawnee, Otoe, Sioux, and Ioway, tribes occupied the land that became Omaha. Translated, the word “Omaha” means “Dweller on the Bluff.” When the Lewis and Clark Expedition passed through this confluence of the Missouri and Platte Rivers, it was recorded July 22, 1804 that the Corps of Discovery established a camp near present-day Bellevue for five nights naming it “Camp White Catfish.” Lewis and Clark held a council meeting with the members of the tribal leadership.
By 1854 Logan Fontenelle and the Omaha Tribe sold the majority of their tribal land, four million acres, to the United States for less than 22¢ an acre. This allowed the settlement of the Nebraska Territory and the founding of Omaha City. The formation of the Territory in the Kansas-Nebraska Act was based on the condition that it remain slave-free.
When Nebraska’s constitution was ratified in 1875, the ban on slavery had an exception: Slavery for the punishment of a crime. A new constitutional amendment banned slavery in Nebraska and this time with no exceptions.
When the city was young, there were no formal police or sheriff so some of the Omaha pioneers formed a claim club to create and enforce a legal system to their advantage. Today, Omaha has 821 sworn officers. My hotel was the original location of the first police department and jail.
I flew into Omaha in late April on a Southwest jet. It is a very short ride at one hour and much more expeditious than driving. My hotel chosen on expedia.com was splendid in every way.
One of my first meetings was with Laura Marlane, executive director of the Omaha Public Library system. There are 11 branches with a new one to be built in the next few years. I enjoyed a conversation with the children’s librarian, Mary.
Then I met with Lisa L. Hukill, vice-president and senior officer operation and finance development with Boys Town. We had a delightful conversation about their library and Hall of History. Photo was taken in front of a fireplace at my hotel by another guest.
The Republican Party mayor of Omaha is Jean Stothert who is the 51st mayor in this city of 466,893 population which is the 40th largest in the USA. She earns $103,000 each year.
Omaha has 75 bookstores. Some new. Some used. Some Catholic. Some Jewish. Many kinds to browse and explore. Some of the best include Jackson Street Booksellers, The Bookworm, Cosgraves, Gloria Deo, and the Union Abbey Café.
You have, of course, heard of Omaha steaks. One of the pleasures of visiting a new city is the restaurants and local cuisine. Begun by immigrants from Latvia in 1917, today the company ages, cuts, trims and ships 14 Million pounds of beef yearly. It has 70 locations about the country plus a brisk online business.
My hotel had a convenient shuttle to and from the airport, to The Old Market District, to Joslyn Art Museum, to St. Francis Cabrini Church for Mass, to the botanic gardens, and everywhere within a three-mile range. The campus of Creighton University was beautiful with pink and white Spring blooms.
Because billionaire businessman Warren Buffett lives in Omaha, the city prospers because of his beneficence. The Joslyn Art Museum has free admission. The Museum has a Rembrandt painting, a John Singer Sargent, El Greco Padini, and van Oosternyck paintings. I purchased a Degas umbrella featuring ballet dancers in the gift shop.
Childcare centers are thriving. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Corporation includes 60 companies and as of this writing, the stock is selling for $212 a share. Some of those companies include Geico, Dairy Queen, Apple, Coca-Cola, and with an estimated worth of 82.5 Billion.
Omaha is immaculately clean because citizens form groups to pick up all litter from downtown streets. There are no cigarette butts, soda cans, papers, or anything else to be seen cluttering anywhere. The Visitors Center is very helpful and cordial as was everyone I met there. I thoroughly enjoyed this book tour visit to Omaha.