Lincoln in 1869. In 1872 it passed into the control of the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad in Nebraska; it was in fact the parent stem of that great road. The Burlington Railroad is so closely identified with the growth and prosperity of Omaha, that it may perhaps be of interest to outline here a brief sketch of its progress and development. The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad, the parent

road, was formed by a consolidation, July 9, 1856, of the Chicago and Aurora and Central Military Tract Railroads, the two extending from a point in Illinois about thirteen miles northeast of Aurora (Turner junction) to Galesburg, Illinois, the total mileage being 151 miles. In 1860 and 1862 it acquired the Northeastern and the Peoria and Oquawaka Railroads, thus extending its line to Quincy and Burlington, after

which the company built a track of its own from Aurora to Chicago. From that time branches and extensions were bought or built in quick succession, until in 1875 it acquired by consolidation the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad in Iowa. This road extended from Burlington to the Missouri River, and at the end of 1875, the company had increased its mileage to 1,031 miles. The Burlington and Missouri River Railroad in Nebraska was acquired in 1880, and also the Kansas City,

It was in the spring of the latter year that the line from the Nebraska State boundary to Denver was opened, and this same year the St. Louis, Keokuk and Northwestern Railway was acquired by lease. In 1883, the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad was added to the Burlington system. Branch lines are constantly being opened, and particularly is this the case in Nebraska and Kansas, where during the past year 800 miles have been completed, the close of the present year witnessing a branch leaving the main line at Holdrege, Nebraska, completed through to Cheyenne, Wyoming. The Burlington has also ac-

quired within the last sixty days the Denver, Utah and Pacific Railroad, a narrow guage road running from Denver to Lyons, Colorado, a distance of forty miles. This will make a total mile-

age for the Burlington system, at the present time, of 5,580 miles. The headquarters of the Burlington for all lines west of the Missouri are located in Omaha, and from this point over 2,000 miles of road are operated. It can readily be understood that it is therefore a pre-eminently great line for Omaha, bringing to its doors the products of the vast region penetrated by its lines, the grain, stock and mineral regions of Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Wyoming and Utah. Its employes in this city number

over 200. The Fremont, Elkhorn and Missouri Valley line, which has about 1,200 miles of road in operation in Nebraska, Wyoming and Dakota, had its inception in the construction of a branch line from Missouri Valley, on the cast bank of the Missouri River, twenty miles north of Omaha, to

Fremont, Nebraska. It was designed as a feeder to what was then termed the "Blair system' of lines. In 1871 it was acquired by lease by the Chicago and Northwestern Railway, and extended to

Norfolk, Nebraska, under the name of the Fremont and Elkhorn Valley Road. Since then other extensions have been made, until now it extends laterally across the whole State, and beyond, into Wyoming, with the avowed intention of the parent road to ultimately make it a transcontinental Iine. It should also be stated that a branch of the line extends to the north from Chadron, Nebraska, into the Black Hills. Passing to the north of Omaha, making it possible

to drain Northern Nebraska of its products without consideration of this city, and being withal a corporation identified closely with Chicago, the Chicago and Northwestern road has for years been regarded as inimical to Omaha's interests, but the great growth of this city in the past five years has wrought a seeming change in the working policy of the road. From a desirable point on its Nebraska line it has built a short road, giving direct communication between Omaha and

the vast region to the west which its lines penetrate. It has also removed to Omaha the headquarters for the operation of all its lines west of the Missouri River and is thus

identifying itself with the western metropolis in a satisfactory manner. It is a strong and prosperous corporation, its lines traverse a rich stock and agricultural section, and is the only line penetrating the Black Hills, whose mineral wealth it daily brings to the great smelting works in Omaha. One of the important features of

Omaha's railroad system is the Belt Line, a local corporation which has a railroad circling the city, and reaching into South Omaha, thus giving all future corporations seeking ingress to Omaha a convenient and cheap method. Besides the great lines already mentioned as bringing tribute to Omaha, there are three others projected,

one of which, the Kansas, Nebraska and Omaha, is graded from a point in southwestern Kansas to the Nebraska line, and will soon be completed to Omaha, thus giving access to the cattle regions of (continue to main text, skipping biographies)