Papillion History Markers

 Thee are 21 history markers in downtown Papillion.  Two are currently not acessible due to construction at City Park.  I missed one; but the rest are here.

Book Review: Lost Omaha

Lost Omaha by Janet R. Daly Bednarek, History Press, Charleston, SC., 2018.

 Through the years, much has been lost in Omaha.  Peony park which sported a large swimming pool.  The pool was off limits to blacks however and was a source of racial oppression.  Aksarben was a horse racing track and dance pavilion which too went away and is now where UNO plays hockey.  Downtown buildings include the Medical arts building, Hotel Fontenelle and the Omaha Athletic Club.  Jobbers Canyon, a series of old warehouses which made it look like a bunch of canyons with steep cliffs, is gone to make way for Gene Leahy Mall and Heartlands Park.  The Stockyards are all gone, and most of the meat packing industry.  With the ose of each meat packer went hundreds of jobs s well.  The lead refinery on the river fron is gone, making way for the river front park and the Lewis and Clark landing.  Left is a memorial statue honoring labor.  

Native American Biography: Tsökahovi (Lewis/Louis) Tewanima, Hopi

 Lewis grew up on the Hopi reservation.  He lived in a time of conflict between the government and the parents of Hopi children.  The government wanted all the children in government schools.  They eventually took the children by force.  Lewis was first at Fort Wingate in New Mexico and then Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania.  The philosophy was "kill the Indian, save the child."  Even with the trauma, at Carlisle Lewis was introduced to track and field.  He would become a long distance runner.  He participated in the Olympics of 1908 and 1912 winning the silver medal for the marathon in the 1912 Olympics.  He also participated in the Boston Marathon and was ahead for 18 miles, but did not finish the race.  

The Old Douglas Street, Aksarben Bridge

 The Douglas Street Bridge AKA Aksarben Brudge is the old street car bridge which ran between Omaha and Council Bluffs.  It was built by the Omaha and Council Bluffs Street Railway Company and was opened to traffic in 1888.  It closed to traffic in 1966 after the completion of the I-480 bridge.  The bridge was also a toll bridge for cars.  A group, Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben, raised money to purchase the bridge and charged tolls to pay back the bond.  When the bond was paid it became a free. bridge as of September 24, 1947.  The toll booths were paraded through town and it was declared toll free day.  The street cars had stopped running in 1955.  Buses and cars had become more popular.

A view under the freeway

This old pier is all that uis left of the Aksarben Bridge

Native American Biography: Alaqua Cox

 Aloqua Cox portrays an interesting character in the Marvel Universe, Maya Lopez/Echo.  Echo premiered in the Disney+ television series as Hawkeye as a character who is a rival to Hawkeye.  The character Echo is Native American, deaf and lost part of her leg.  In similar fashion Cox is Menominee and Mohican.  She grew up on the Menominee Reservation in Keshena, Wisconsin.  She played high school sports for the Wisconsin school for the deaf.  She is deaf, and she lost part of her leg and uses prothesis.  The spin off series Echo explores more history of the character and her Native American background.  Her fiance is also deaf and they have two sons together.

Interesting tid bit is that both Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfeld both learned some ASL sign to communicate with Aliqua Cox on the set.  Hawkeye and Kingpin use sign to communicate with her.  She is an advocate for Native American issues and for the deaf community.

African American Cowboy Biography: Nat Love

 Nat Love not only had a distinctive name, his nickname was Deadwood Dick, but also a distinctive look with long hair, a hat pulled back and a white neckerchief.  He was born in Tennessee.  He won a raffle and used the prize money to travel west.  He first worked o a ranch in Texas and learned to shoot, rope and wrestle cattle.  He would later win a competition in Deadwood, South Dakota.  He won the shooting, roping, bronco riding, bridling and almost every prize.  He lived in Arizona and was contemporary with Pat Garret, Bat Masterson and Billy the Kid.  He married andf decided to settle down and from there lived in Los Angeles and worked for the train company.  He wrote his own autobiography.

Information from the book, The True West by Mifflin Lowe.

Magazine Article Review: Dash of the Decade: The Race, and Race in Lincoln

Dash of the Decade: The Race, and Race n Lincoln, Nebraska History Magazine, Lincoln Nebraska, Fall 2026.

The AAU National Champions were held in 1935 at Lincoln Memorial Stadium.  Six of the fastest sprinters in the world faced each other.  Jesse Owens was expected to win, with Ralph Metcalfe close behind.  However the day turned out differently.  Eulace Peacock won the 100 meter dash with Owens close behind.  Owens also lost to Peacock in the broad jump, eveen though both cleared 26 feet.  Owens had three very good jumps, and would have broken the world record had not Peacock already done so.  It appeared at that time Peacock was the better athlete.  However a pulled thigh muscle kept Peacock from qualifying for the Olympics where Owens ran and jumped to fame.