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 medical department and orthopedic branch of the University of Nebraska; a Presbyterian Theological Seminary; and Creighton University under Jesuit control. The principal newspapers are the _Omaha Bee_, _World-Herald_ and the _News_. The _Omaha Bee_ was established in 1871 by Edward Rosewater, who made it one of the most influential Republican journals in the West. The _World-Herald_, founded in 1865 by George L. Miller, was edited by William Jennings Bryan from 1894 to 1896. Omaha is the headquarters of the United States military department of the Missouri, and there are military posts at Fort Omaha, immediately north, and Fort Crook, ten miles south of the city. REMARKABLE ACTIVITY