OMAHA

city, Nebraska, U.S., the port of entry and seat of Douglas county. Omaha is situated in the eastern part of the state and on the west bank of the Missouri River, opposite Council Bluffs, Iowa. It was founded in 1854 in an area that had been visited by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark (1804) on their exploratory journey to the Pacific coast and where the pioneer fur trader Manuel Lisa established a trading post during the War of 1812. A Utah-bound group of Mormons spent the winter of 184647 there at an encampment that they named Winter Quarters, later called Florence, and subsequently annexed by Omaha. Omaha, meaning upstream people, referring to the Omaha Indians, was established by Council Bluffs promoters who wanted the capital of the newly created Nebraska Territory to be located directly across the river, in part at least to influence the builders of the then-projected transcontinental railroad to lay their tracks through or near their own city. Omaha was indeed made the capital of the territory, and a few years later President Abraham Lincoln designated Council Bluffs as the eastern terminus of the first transcontinental railroad. As the actual starting point (1863) for the railroad (Union Pacific), Omaha soon became a focal point for trade and industry and grew rapidly during its early years, although the capital was moved to Lincoln soon after Nebraska became a state (1867). A succession of drought years following the great blizzard of 1888, together with the panic of 1893, halted population growth, but by 1914 the city had started to grow again. Several suburban communities, including South Omaha, site of the Union Stockyards, were annexed. Offutt Air Force Base, headquarters of the U.S. Strategic Command, is at nearby Bellevue. Omaha's basic economy depends on activities connected with agriculture. The city is the largest livestock market and meat-packing centre in the world, and it buys and sells much of the grain produced in the United States. It continues to be one of the largest railroad centres in the United States. It also has a large number of insurance companies. Omaha's other industries include such processing concerns as oil refining and lead smelting, as well as the manufacture of railroad, telephone, and farm equipment and of valves and pumps. Omaha's educational institutions include the University of Nebraska at Omaha (1908), Creighton University (Roman Catholic; 1878), the University of Nebraska Medical Center (1881), the Roman Catholic women's College of St. Mary (1923), Grace University (1943), and Metropolitan Community College (1974). The Joslyn Art Museum in the city houses a collection ranging from ancient times to the present. Fontenelle Forest, the largest unbroken native forest in the state, is to the south. Boys Town, a village dedicated to homeless boys, is 10 miles (16 km) west. Pop. (1991 est.) city, 338,987; Omaha MSA, 623,840. North American Plains Indian people of the Dhegiha branch of the Siouan language stock. With the other members of this subgroup (the Osage, Ponca, Kansa, and Quapaw ), the Omaha migrated westward from the Atlantic coast. An early settlement was in Virginia and the Carolinas. After a time they moved to the Ozark Plateau and the prairies of what is now western Missouri. At this point the five tribes separated, the Omaha and the Ponca moving north to present-day Minnesota, where they lived until the late 17th century. At that time the two tribes were driven farther west by the migrating Dakota people. They separated in present-day South Dakota, the Omaha moving on to Bow Creek in present-day Nebraska. In 1854, under the pressure of encroaching white settlement, the Omaha sold off most of their land to the U.S. government. In 1882 the government allotted land to them to prevent the removal of the tribe to Oklahoma; somewhat later they received U.S. citizenship. The population of the Omaha in 1780 is estimated to have been 2,800. In the late 20th century about 1,500 were reported to be living on the reservation in Nebraska. Like other prairie tribes, the Omaha combined agriculture with hunting. In spring and autumn they lived in permanent villages of dome-shaped earth lodges, moving into portable tepees for the hunting seasons. Omaha social organization was elaborate, with a class system of chiefs, priests, physicians, and commoners. Rank was inherited in the male line, although an individual could raise his status by distributing horses and blankets or providing feasts. There were 10 clans organized in two groups, representing earth and sky. Earth clans had charge of ceremonies concerning war and food supply, while the ceremonies overseen by the sky clans were designed to secure supernatural aid. When the entire tribe camped during the summer bison hunt or on migrations, tepees were arranged in a large circle symbolizing the tribal organization. The Omaha, like many other Plains Indians, awarded special insignia for such daring war exploits as touching an enemy in battle, touching a dead enemy surrounded by his tribesmen, and removing a trained horse from the enemy's camp. Killing and scalping the enemy were considered lesser exploits.