44 Nebraskaland • January-February 2019
A Horse Rescue
on the Icy
Missouri
By David L. Bristow, History Nebraska
ow did a valuable pacer (a horse used in harness
racing) nearly drown in the icy Missouri River in
January 1882? The story tells us something about
19th century life in a river city.
The story begins Jan. 22, when Omaha businessman
Clifton Mayne traveled to Council Bluff s for work. This wasn't
as easy as it sounds. A railroad bridge spanned the Missouri
River, but it wasn't open to wagon traffi c. Mayne took the
"dummy train," a train that went back and forth across the
bridge.
But how would he get around Council Bluff s? He could
walk or take the streetcar, but that wouldn't do for a wealthy
man with a taste for fi ne horses. Mayne had some special
cargo loaded on the train: a light buggy that he used only on
special occasions, and his prized pacing horse, Oscar Phelps.
This was the 1880s equivalent of bringing a Porsche.
Mayne's business took longer than expected and he missed
the dummy train's westbound departure. No matter. He'd
just cross the river on the ice, as people had been doing since
before the bridge opened in 1872. The next day's Omaha Daily
Bee tells what happened.
"When part way over, he observed some boys who were
skating making violent signs at him and stopped to see what
was wanted, when one of them came up and told him he was
driving on dangerous ground. On getting out and examining
the ice he found his horse's fore feet within six inches of a
space where ice had been cut out and the new ice was so thin
that the boy who warned him readily broke it through with
his skate.
"Mr. Mayne then made a wide detour and had nearly
H
This circa-1920 harness race in Neligh was after Oscar Phelps' time, but shows the kind of racing he did. History Nebraska RG2836-1818
