November 2019 • Nebraskaland 51
Omaha Stockyards
The Frank Drexel Farm, ca. 1888. History Nebraska RG1085-24-11
In the photo at left, one gets a good sense of the frenzy of
building from the photograph of construction crews grading
the land in what would become the large pen areas. On
the horizon on the right of the image, one sees the array of
newly-built houses and stores, the birthing of the City of
South Omaha. To the left, the smokestacks and substantial
industrial buildings locate the packing houses.
The crews are using horse-drawn bucket scrapers to
bury an immense 8-foot-square wooden sewer. One of the
advantages of Omaha was its proximity to the Missouri,
and a structure like this would be necessary to deal with the
waste produced by the huge volume of livestock to come.
The railroads were key to the success of the stockyards,
and both the Burlington and Union Pacifi c developed lines
into South Omaha. In addition to horse-drawn scrapers,
crews brought in dirt on a line of railroad fl atcars. On the last
car, a blade was positioned that was attached to a thick rope
running under the dirt and across all of the cars. When the
cars were in position the rope was pulled by a locomotive,
drawing the blade forward and neatly scraping the cars of
their loads. Stockyards construction was thus accomplished
with a mix of traditional methods and new technology.
South Omaha has long been known as a place of muscle and
sweat; it was born of the same stuff – all of this was going on
in a fi ve-year stretch. It is no surprise at all that South Omaha
became the hub of an exploding Nebraska meat industry.
N
This article was adapted from a piece that historian John
Carter (1950-2015) wrote for Nebraska History magazine in
2013. Visit History Nebraska's website at history.nebraska.gov
The stockyards in 1925. The Livestock Exchange Building
completed that year still stands. History Nebraska
RG1085-7-15
