Gerald R. Ford as per Birth Site Gardens in Omaha.

Gerald R. Ford was born July 14, 1913.  His birth name was Leslie Lynch King Jr.  He was born in the home of his paternal great grandparents, in Omaha.  This home burned down in 1971.  When he was 16 days old his mother took the baby and left.  The father had threatened the baby, his mother and his nurse maid with a knife.  She moved in with family in Illinois, and then Grand Rapids, Michigan where her parents lived.  She was granted custody of the baby through a divorce procedure.

A couple years later she remarried, and the baby took his step father's name, Gerald Rudolff Ford.  The adoption became official in 1935 and his name was changed to Gerald Rudolph Ford.  Gerald Ford was the 38th president of the United States.  His presidential library is in Ann Arbor, Michigan at the University of Michigan.  The presidential museum is in Grand Rapids, Michigan.  His birth site is in Omaha.

model of the birth home

This site needs another visit when the gardens will be in bloom

A pattern of bricks

Governors of Nebraska Territory and State from Gerald R. Ford Birth Site

 

Omaha's Historic Park System Designed by H.W.S. Cleveland

 H.W.S. Cleveland was head of the parks in Omaha from 1889-1894 and designed a comprehensive park system.

This plaque is from Hanscom Park.  The same plaque is at Elmwood Park.  These are two of the original six large parks which were connected by a boulevard system.  River View Park is now Doorly Zoo.  Others included Miller Park, Kountz Park, Bemis and Fontanelle Parks.  It also includes Fontanelle Boulevard and Carter Lake Parks.

Book Review: Spotlight on Native Americans: Muscogee (Creek)

 Spotlight on Native Americans: Muscogee (Creek) by Ralph Waterby, Rosen Publishing Group, New York, 2016,

This trib prefer to call themselves Muscogee, their traditional name.  Europeans called them Creek because they lived near creeks in the southeast, Georgia and Alabama.  Europeans prized their land, and eventually the government forced all of the Muscogee in Georgia to move, and most in Alabama.  They moved to the reservation in Oklahoma.  The were forced to move in the winter of 1836-37.  The Indian removal Act called for Native Americans to leave voluntarily.  Those who did not leave voluntarily were forced to go.  20,000 were moved to Oklahoma.  3500 died on the trail.  William McIntosh had agreed to sell Muscogee land.  In this he broke the law as there was no council.  He was put to death.  

During the Civil War the Muskogee tribe was divided, some supporting the Union and others fought with the Confederacy.  Those fighting for the Confederacy killed many Muscogee.  

The traditional Muscogee had an abundant life.  The had good soil for raising crops, corn, squash and beans.  There was also game to hunt.  They lived in rectangular houses built from wood.  The enjoyed the Green-corn ceremony every year.  Corn was their sustaining crop which never failed, even in times of drought.  

Today the Muscogee people seem to thrive.  There are nearly 100,000.  The greater portion are in Oklahoma with their capital being Okmulgee.  There is also a significant group in Alabama, the Poarch Band of Creek.

Joy Harjo and Cynthia Leitich Smith are authors of poetry and children's books and are members of the Muscogee Nation.

This book provides background information and introduces themes bearing further study such as the Trail of Tears.  

Book Review: Strategies and Stories of the Omaha Stockyards

Strategies and Stories of the Omaha Stockyards by James P. Leary and Stephen Berigan, RRH Creation Printing and Book Publication, Monee, Illinois, 2025. 

I found parts of this book very fascinating, and another part not so much.  However the book starts with the ins and outs of the Stockyard business from the perspective of a broker.  The process of selling cattle, without a paper contract but a handshake was very interesting.  The Omaha Stockyards were the largest in the world for a time, and then the bubble burst as people started building meat packing plants closer to the cattle rather than shipping cattle great distances.  The stockyards went form 1883 to 1997.  The livestock exchange building still stands and is a medical clinic and apartment building with two dance floors.  The property is now Metro Community College.  

The Lynching of Will Brown, 1919

 Willie Brown was murder in 1919, lynched by a mob of rioters outside the courthouse in Omaha.  He had been accused of raping a white woman, which he denied.  He never received any type of trial.  The mayor was taken and threatened with death if he did not give up Will Brown.  The court was started on fire threatening those in the courthouse.  The mayor was hung, but rescued.  Finally the mob was able to get ahold of Will Brown, and they hung him.  After he was dead the riddled his body with bullets, and then they burned his body.  No one was made to account for these deeds.  These displays are from the Great Plains Black History Museum.

death certificate

Mob Boss Tom Dennison may have been behind the riot, using newspapers to enflame hatred.  He wanted to put the mayor in a bad light.

Will Brown burned

The court house was burned

Old Bellevue University in Bellevue

 There have been two Bellevue Universities.  The first was on Elk Hill in Bellevue close to the downtown area.  The second is at its current location close to Fort Crook and Harvel.  When the college was being build the remains of Big Elk were remove and moved to Bellevue Cemetery.  The tornado of 1908 hit the college and caused significant damage to several of the buildings.  After this is never really recovered and closed a few yeas later.  It served veterans after WWI and then was used as housing during WWII in support of the plane factory at Offutt.  

Parking where the University use to be.

Bellevue College
On October 16, 1880, this Presbyterian Liberal Arts College was organized, first classes were held September 10, 1883 with 26 students.  The original college contained 264 acres.  200 acres were sold in 1920 to the St. Columban's seminary.  In 1900, college enrollment was over 200 students under the leadership of Rev. David R. Kerr.  In 1910 The Presbyterian Church withdrew its support and the college became known as University of Omaha Bellevue.  The college had hopes of leading theological institution, but suffered a lack of financial support forcing it to close in 1919.  Its assets and records were given to Hastings College, Nebraska.  The building were latter used to educate World War I veterans.

Looking towards Columban Mission which use to be part of the college.

looking towards Missouri River

screen shot of map shows three buildings from old Bellevue University.  However I think they have now been torn down.