he Omaha Illustrated -. Bee
NUMBER 327.
tlntered Second Class at Omaha PoBtoffice Published Weekly by The Bee Publishing Co. Subscription, $2.50 Per Year.
DECEMBER S, 1905.
Interesting Story of the Herndon House, Omaha's First Palace Hotel
Important Chapter of Local Lore Made Timely by the Impending Construction of New Headquarters for tLa Union Paciflo Railway Company
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1 HEN la 1856 Dr. Georgo L. Miller laid the cornerstone
the Herndon house at Ninth and Farnam street.
he virtually fixed the foundation of Omaha. It was
not long after the erection of this, Omaha's first pri
vate building of modern size and equipment, until others sprang
into existence. This old landmark, first a hotel and second the
Union Pacific headquarters, has survived to witness the rising of
a whole metropolitan city full of big buildings In emulation of
lUelf, scores whose size and architectural dignity make it, as a
building, almost forgotten. And It is soon to be pushed still
further into the background of oblivion, for the Union Pacific is
preparing to erect a new, uptown headquarters, incomparably
greater in size, equipment and appearance.
The Herndon house was not only to be the first build
ing of 'then modern design and proportions in the . quaint
little frontier Tillage; not only the finest and most pretentious
betel in this section of the uncultured west; not only the birth
place of a millionaire, the residence of national leaders, one
statesman of immortal fame; the nursery In which a cabinet
officer was snatched from death's doer; the stopping place of
heroes in peace and war; the headquarters of the greatest of all
transcontinental railways it not only was to fill these important
and famous functions it was destined to become the loadstone
of enterprise around which the energy of those early pioneers,
In their patient struggle for the feundlng of a great industrial
center, was to gravitate; it was destined fo become the focal point
from which the lines of industry, running in all directions, were
to lead to the establishment of a modern, metropolitan city.- It
was the cornerstone of Omaha.
Primeval Days of Omaha's Existence
1 Forty-eight years ago, when the Herndon house. was com
pleted, Omaha was in the primeval days of its existence. Its
buildings of any description were scarce. . It had none approach
ing the dignity of a modern structure, even for those pristine
days, save only the capltol. Scattered frame houses, with here
and there one a little more commanding In appearance, a little
more imposing in architecture, composed this dot of population
on the vast map of the west, then condemned aa a hopeless wild, ,
now praised as the prime province of possible development. A
building five stories high, with basement, erected, not of wood,
bat of brick, equipped without the sordid sign of undue economy
as a hotel, fit for the beet and biggest men of the land in such
a place aa the Omaha of the '50's, had a right to arouse all the
latent pride and ambition in the souls of those sturdy knights
of the frontier. It had a right to stimulate hopes and encourage
ambition, to enkindle seal and embolden faith, for with the single
exception of the state capltol building, which stood on what was
then the outskirts of-the town, tfte Herndon waa the solitary
frnnaing which gave aubstaac to tlx present or promise to th
building the hotel. He met tnelr advances with aversion at
first, but finally yielded to their plausible arguments and, joined
by Lyman Richardson, submitted a bid. Their bid was accepted
and they built the hotel. '
Dr. Miller had several thousand dollars and his partner
had some, but both together did not hare enough to complete
their enterprise. The venerable doctor said the other day they
might have come out better had they really built a hotel com
mensurate with the needs of the town and country and stopped
at that.
"But we didn't do that," said he; "we built a hotel far la
advance of the town and its tributary country, on what was then
a very elaborate scale. We were looking to the future and time
has proven the wisdom of our course."
The panic of '57 swept over the country. "Its pressure fell,
with crushing force, upon Omaha'svlgllant patriots. They bor
rowed money from the east to stem the tide until the east had
no money to lend, even at the usury, much less interest, the
Herndon house founders were compelled to pay. Things looked
bad. Dark clouds of adversity- cast their somber pall over Omaha
and its great enterprise.
The prosperity of the vpnture was regarded as the prosperity
' of the city and th dty made a noble oJXort to roaouo Uu prU.
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THE OLD HEIJNDON HOUSE NOW THE UNION PACIFIC HEADQUARTERS.
CORNER IN THE GENERAL FREIGHT OFFICE AT UNION PACIFIC HEADQUARTERS.
future. The capltol building, as is well known, still stands "and
Is a part of the Omaha High school, being overshadowed by the
magnificent new structure with which It has been united.
Great Event in Omaha History
And this old monument of fame, landmark, buttress of
by-gone days, Is the official home of the Union Pacific, and has
been for twenty-seven years. . With even greater ado, because
.of the natural growth of surroundings, the Union Pacific cele
brated 1U removal Into this old building In 1878. than did ita
builders their occupancy of It in 1857. Both events are memor
able ones In Omaha's history. On both occasions men of affairs,
from here and elsewhere, were present and participated in big
public demonstrations. It is true what was the Herndon house
is now duplicated la the Union Pacific headquarters. The old
building waa left standing and an addition built Just doubling
the size. But the architectural contour of the original structure
has been preserved. Dr. Miller says It looks very natural.
Indeed.
The Herndon house was not the first hotel built in Omaha;
not by several, but it waa by all odds the finest up to that time.
Its construction waa begun la 1866 and completed la 1857. Dr.
George L. Miller and Lyman Richardson had It built. The first
landlord waa M. W. Keith. He was succeeded by two or three
others until James T, Allan acquired possession of It. Mr. Allan
first conducted It as a high-toned boarding house, then as a
hotel. Meanwhile It became the property of Dr. Q. C. Monell,
father-in-law of the late Senator P. W. Hitchcock, into whose
hands the building later fell and who sold It to the Union
Pacific.
But the story of its building and its successive ownerships
Involves a note of genuine pathos. It is not a new story, but one
as old as time; the story of a man wrecked (financially) upon
the shoals of might-have-been.
Building of the Big Hotel '
The site of this historic edifice in 1856 waa a park, main
tained by the young municipality of Omaha. The people and
the city felt the need of a good hotel. Consequently the city
authorities had this park cut up into lots and offered some of
theee lot a a boaus to the man or mea who would erect there
a hostelry, commensurate with the needs of the town. Bids
were asked. At that time Dr. Miller, .who had beenout her
about two years, was almost ready to return to his old home In
Syracuse, 'N. Y., to settle down for life at the practice of hi
profeaslon. friends approached him with the proposition of
It issued script and this fragile security was used by the builder
of the hotel as long as it could be. Time went on, but the panic
itayed. The hotel was finally finished at the sacrifice of personal
fortune; its builder were, to use the expressive vernacular of
this twentieth century day, broke. They bore their dead load
as long as they could. They trudged on with their tired back
bent under a burden they were unable to support, hoping against
hope, at length to reach refuge. But they had to give up. They
had to surrender to Wall street. Into the bands of their credi
tors, represented by Dr. Monell, they consigned the dearest
treasure of their lives ownership of the Herndon house.
Dr. Miller's Personal Interest
But Dr. Miller continued to, hold a proprietary Interest In
- the hotel and he made It his home. He had, with bis own hands,
laid the cornerstone at the southwest corner of the structure,
had spent his last dollar and accumulated thousands of other
' In debt, trying to rescue himself and he could not easily give It
up. Now, after forty-eight years, during the course of which he
has seen the struggling speck of a village he had helped to plant,
nourished and aided to develop, grow to a big city of untold
possibilities, he still sits and longingly looks back to the time
of the Herndon house', basking In the delight of reminiscence
with lta tinge of bitter and its taste of sweet
Nothing has been said of the architect who designed this
splendid old building.
"Who was the architect? Let me see," said the doctor, as he
reflected upon the query. "Why, bless you, we didn't have one.
I guesa I had something to do with the flxln' and maybe Richard
son did and one or two other. But we didn't have any archi
tect that I remember. We had two young mea to do the car
penter work and a couple to do the brick work and some others
and they all worked as if their lives depended on the stability
and beauty of that building. I guess that Is why It stands today,
strong enough to hold the great Union Pacific offices. Oh, of
course, it has been kept iu good repair and improved from time
to time, but the old building U still there." .
The hotel was named after Captain W. H. Herndon, the
Bouth An?rican explorer, who, after saving the passengers on
board his ahjp, went down with the "Central American" off Cape
Hatteras, wrapped In the American flag.
Union Pacif.3 Headquarters
The Union Pacific had had two headquarter buildings before
It secured the Herndon house. It waa first located la an old
church building In that part of tie town and then moved Into
the frame building on the southeast corner of Ninth and Farnam
streets, Immediately opposite the present home, the former Hern
don. This frame building was erected in 1857 by Dr. Isaac
Edwards and called the Edwards house, fcuit, too, was a hotel.
It later became the property of United States Senator Paddock.
.Its cost of building was 821,000. In 18C9 Its name was changed
to the Casement, in honor of Colonel Jack Casement, the con
tractor who built the Union Pacific. Then in 1870 it came to be
known as the Wyoming and then the Canfleld and Hotel Farrls.
Today it Is the Hotel Elsusser. It went back to the function of
a hotel after the Union Pacific deserted it.,
It was never the intention of the Union Pacific to occupy
this building longer than was necessary to get hold of and ade
quately prepare the Herndon. But it was the earnest desire of
S. H. H. Clark, later president of the Union Pacific, to raze this
structure and on its site establish the great passenger depot of
the city. Mr. Clark urged and exhorted, pleaded and persuaded
the owners of the road to adopt' his views, buy this property
and build a union depot, but in vain. He proposed connecting
up with the Belt line, Jay Gould's creation, and entering the
city from that route and maintaining lower Farnam street", where
steamboats for years had anchored, as the terminal point for
converging railways. But Gould and bis associates took a dif
ferent view. Mr. Clark then bought the property himself and
when he died It fell to his estate. .
Headquarters for Noted Men
Men who have made their impress upon railroad affair
of the United States have occupied quarters In this building
since it became the home of the Unlcyi Pacific. Dr. Durant, the
prime promoter of the Overland, passed off the scene of action
too early, but there were President Clark, President Sidney Dil
lon, both of whose names have their own place in the archive
of railway management;' S. R. Calloway, now president of tha
American Loconjotlve works and with the Nickel Plate, Lake
Shore and New York Central, successively, after leaving the
Union Pacific; Charles Francis Adams, T. J. Potter, W. H. Hol
comb, T. L. Kimball; C. S. Mellen, later president of the Northern
Pacific and now of the New York, New Haven & Hartford; Horace
G. Burt and Edward Dickinson, now vice president and general
manager of the Orient.
The new half of this building was constructed In 1888, the
old part having been remodeled for a railroad headquarters la'
1877.
T. M. Orr recalls the interesting fact that the Union Pacific
headquarters came near standing at Tenth and MaBon streets,
opposite the Burlington passenger depot, on the southwest corner
where a saloon now stands.
"The foundation was laid there for the headquarters," said
Mr. Orr, "early In the '70s, but it never got beyond the founda
tion, and in the '90s other parties got the property and built the
present structure."
Mr. Orr has spent twenty-eight years of his life with the
Union Pacific, having gone Into the present headquarters with
the company. As assistant to the executive head of the company
"Tom" Orr ha earned the reputation of being almost an In
dispensable official and of knowing more of the road and its his
tory than any other man connected with it, though Mr. Orr
would stoutly protest against such credit being given him. He
Is the acrao of modesty when It comes to himself. (
Episode in Paul Morton's Life
Since its eroction and during its occupancy as a hotel or rail
road headquarters this building never has been on fire, never that
Dr. Miller is able to recall, and it has never been the scene of a
single tragedy, though it came very near being back in the early
days of Mr. Paul Morton, president of the Equitable Life As
surance society. The7 story of this event Is thus related by Dr.
Miller:
"When J. Sterling Morton wa ecretary of the territory of
Nebraska he aad bis family bearded at my - hotel. ', There hi
, son. Mark, bow millionaire, waa born. There Joy Morton came
IN THE GENERAL PASSENGER DEPARTMENT. '
Tery near taking the life of his elder brother, Paul..
"The little fellows were mere tots. They had observed mo
giving medicine as I went about doctoring, and Joy, a moBt
observing child, thought he would play doctor. He fixed on Paul
as his patient and gave him some medicine. The first thing I
knew of it was when I heard Mr. and Mrs. Morton and others
In the hotel crying In distress over what they feared was the
death of the child. I hastened to the scene and found Sterling
Morton pulling Paul around by the arm in an effort to revive him,
for he had every appearance of being dead. I finally bad to take
the boy away from his father by sheer force. I applied various '
remedies, but. could produce no apparent effect, but I could 'detect
the heart still beating. The child's lips and face were discol
ored. He certainly was very near death. Finally I said 'It' lifo
or death,' and got a pitcher of ice water, which I began emptying
on the lad's face. I gradually raised the pitcher higher from tha
little fellow' deathlike countenance, but for some time without
effect. I was getting discouraged myself and at length lifted
the pitcher to my full height and let the water fall. The boy
cried out. It was the most welcome cry a child ever uttered.
Everybody shouted and Paul Morton lived to become one of the
heads of a great railway system secretary of the navy In the
president's cabinet and president of one of the biggest Ufa Insur
ance companies in the world."
Dr. Miller recalls many other noteworthy Incidents which
serve to make the history of the Union Pacific headquarter im
mortal to Omaha. One of these In which he now finds special
pride Is his first meeting with General Joseph E. Johnston, of
confederate army fame, then a colonel in the union army, who
had been sent out into the western territory on military business.
In his recollections of the old building Dr. Miller cannot resist
the temptation to associate with its establishment the names of
three men, General Grenvllle M. Dodge, Henry Farnam and
Thomas C. Durant, Indlssolubly linked with the history of Omaha
and Nebraska and the west. Of these heroes of ,the frontier only
General Dodge survives.
George Francis Train's Wrath
Any attempt at a history of this notable structure would be
Incomplete without mention of what long years ago came to be
known In Omaha as the "Train Incident," and which was the
Inspiration for the building of the Cozzens house in 1867 by
George Francis Train and but recently swept from existence by
the inevitable march of progress.
Train, one of the most eccentric of men, was a boarder at
the Herndon. One day at dinner he and Mrs. Train had special
guests. Mrs. Train was not feeling well and they were all
annoyed at a draft which 'came In at a broken window pane.
Train asked a colored waiter to stand between the window and
the table to shut off the draft. He also asked the manager of
the house to remedy the defect Neither request was satisfac
torily complied with.
Indignant at what he regarded as mistreatment Train spon
taneously declared be would build him a hotel of his own where
he could get what he wanted and would have It put up la sixty
days. He did. He built the Cozzens bouse at Ninth and Harney
streets, a block away, and furnished It on an elaborate scale.
Dr. Miller admit it became an effective competitor of the
Herndon.
But the Herndon house of those old days, though It 1 a
distinct. component part of the Union Pacific headquarters, Is not
the Herndon house which once thrilled pioneer Omahans with
delight as the finest hotel of this part of the west Duplicated
In point of size, the structure has been modernized and In many
ways made a more valuable building. Within the last, few
years, since the Iroquois disaster In fact, upward of f 3 5,000
have been expended upon It. President Burt began these ex
penditures. Conceiving the necessity, after the awful catastrophe
In Chicago, of making the building safer and more modern. Mr.
Burt turned it over to Chief Engineer Berry with Instructions
to do all he could toward putting It in the best condition. A
system of fire escapes, regarded as the most effective and eostly
In Omaha, was installed, rooms were remodeled.' partitloas re
moved, old wooden doors torn out and supplanted by asbestos
doors, asbestos protectors put in wherever possible and every
thing done which It seems could be done to a building of the
character to make it what was needful and desirable.
Still, as a home for the great Overland, this old structure
Is soon to go. It has been doomed. E. H. Harrlman, head of
the system, has given his word for a new building and now plans
are maturing for a magnificent new headquarters "uptown."
. For years Omaha has been anticipating the pleasant hope of
the "new Union Pacific headquarters." So indefinite and uncer
tain has It seemed from time to time that some had come to re
gard It as an "Iridescent dream," but E. H. Harrlman, the man
with authority to speak, says the building is to be erected.
It cannot be gainsaid that the coming of A. L. Mohler from
the presidency of the Oregon Railway and Navigation company to
the general management of the Union Pacific has quickened this
movement for a new headquarters. Mr. Mohler at once conceived
the necessity for such a building, and then addressed himself to
the task of getting it. He first of all sought to convince higher
powers of It need. He secured the passage through the Omaha
city council of an-ordlnance giving trackage rights along Ninth
street, In front of the b illdlng, to the Union Pacific. He then
laid his tracks, and then he was able to convince those above him
and in the east that a new headquarters was positively necessary,
for the new tracks which are to create a new and bigger jobbing
district for Omaha rendered the old headquarters unfit loiger
' (or an official bono for the great Overland Route