H
This comes to you from the new book I am writing entitled, "How America
Can Bike And Grow Rich, The NBG Manifesto" at
http://www.bikeroute.com/HowBikeUS.html. It is a draft excerpt from the
Omaha part of it. Until this spring, when our 2006 Mayors' Ride
campaign begins, I will fleshing out one Mayors' Ride city a week so
that we can use 2006 as a trial run for the 2007 ride from Boston to
San Francisco that my team and I will be doing. As such, come next fall,
after 2006 is complete, I will then be filling in the miles that stand
between our stops (especially those west of Chicago) with fictionalized
representations of people actually using the Greenway that my Business
Plan calls for.
So if you see any holes in the following draft, do please reply to me at
[email protected].
Also, also, the 2006 & 2007 Mayors' Ride schedules are ready:
2006 - http://www.BikeRoute.com/NationalMayorsRide2006
2007 - http://www.bikeroute.com/2007Schedule.html
Plus: Listen to the new interviews we did with Gene Smith of Kool Stop
International, (makers of the best bike brake pads in the world) and
Jack Castor, the survivor of the internet famous HiWheel, Hi-speed
crash: at http://www.bikeroute.com/NBGPodcasts.php
======= Omaha & the NBG ==============
Omaha, now an active city of 390,000 was formed in 1854 by land
speculators from Council Bluffs, a city equally as large on the other
side of the Missouri River in Iowa. Back in 1804, although the Lewis &
Clark expedition made careful note of the Platte River that empties into
the Missouri at Omaha, they continued north into the Dakotas on their
search for a route to the Pacific Ocean. And as such they missed Omaha's
significance as a gateway to the West.
At a point in time when the Missouri River marked the end of
civilization, it was the Platte River corridor that was highly
significant in the westward expansion of the United States. Although it
was never worthy of boat travel, during pioneer days for example, the
common humorous description was that the Platte was "a mile wide and an
inch deep", it still provided fresh water, game, and a clear path into
a new frontier. Once an informal route for fur traders, from the time
Major Stephen Long mapped it in 1820, it set a course for growing waves
of pioneers headed west for the allurement of California¹s gold fields,
the rich farmland of Oregon or to Utah¹s promised land.
It had been Long¹s work, commissioned by the US Army, that had removed
any confusion the Platte may have caused. At what is now a little over
half way across Nebraska, the Platte split into two rivers. One, the
North Platte, travels down from what is now the state of Wyoming, while
the other, the South Platte flows up from Colorado . As such, when Long
established the north fork as the way to get west, an important door had
been opened to the settlement of far away lands
As the trail became more and more civilized and wagon trains began to
use it in the 1840¹s, it was the Platte River passage that formed much
of the basis for the Oregon and Mormon Trails. In fact, Omaha was the
main point of departure for the Mormon Trail that ended in Salt Lake
City, 1,032 miles away. Oregon Trail users typically began their 2,000
mile trek in Independence, MO, traveled across the state of Missouri and
picked up the north fork of the Platte in eastern Nebraska. In all, from
1840 to 1870, more than 500,000 emigrants went west along the Great
Platte River Road from department points along the Missouri River.
As an important doorway to a new America, it was Omaha that supplied
many of these journeys. Since covered wagons traveled at one to two
miles an hour, these travelers needed provisions that would last for up
to six months. Omaha was also kept busy with repairs and any other last
minute needs those headed west required.
Omaha also served as a support headquarters for those commercial
ventures that had come to rely on the Platte. The legendary Pony Express
and Wells Fargo stage coach lines both had offices in Omaha. While the
horse riders, many carrying news about the Civil War, were put out of
business after only 19 months in 1861 by the copper wires of the first
transcontinental telegraph, the Wells Fargo operations continued. They
carried gold, mail and other valuables from California right up until
rail signaled an end to all this frontier spirit.
In 1869, when the transcontinental railroad commandeered the Platte
River basin for its tracks, Omaha no longer stood out as one of the
major lines in the sand between the west and the east. Before the Union
Pacific left Omaha to meet the Central Pacific in Promentory, Utah,
Omaha had once been the end of the line for all trains headed west.
Omaha¹s significance in the settlement of the West was pushed even
further from the collective memory when in 1913 the Lincoln Highway
began to use dirt roads along the Platte River corridor to connect the
coasts. A powerful example which I will explore in an entire chapter for
how we are going to make the National Bicycle Greenway real, the
Lincoln Highway connected New York City to San Francisco. It did so at a
time when, like our bike ride, coast to coast travel in a car was a
several month journey fraught with adventure.
As the Lincoln Highway grew up and was ultimately superseded in 1974 by
the coast to coast Interstate referred to as 1-80, future
transcontinental travelers would roar by the rich heritage of these
lands. They would so so without realizing the hardship their ancestors
had suffered to conquer them.
Fortunately however, the state has outfitted the Lincoln Highway, now
referred to as US 30 in Nebraska, with a generous bike lane the length
of the entire state so at least some of its travelers can slow down and
appreciate. If that¹s not enough to show that Nebraska is committed to
honoring its past, Omaha, its biggest city, also has plans on the books
to connect to Council Bluffs with an epic bike bridge. Three thousand
feet long and 27 feet wide, it will place Omaha at he American forefront
once again. A beautiful suspension span, this water crossing will not
only be the first bike bridge to connect two major cities, it will also
connect two states. And all of this will leave Nebraska soil at the spot
where the Lewis and Clark expedition first landed in Omaha.
And even before the bridge soon gets built, Omaha, thanks to the PAPIO
Natural Resource District, already has 90 miles of concrete bike trails
running all throughout the city. Add a Mayor who jogs and cycles, a
zealous Convention and Visitors Bureau, lifelong bike advocates and
various nonprofits (ACT!vate Omaha, PAPIO Missouri River Natural
Resource District, National Park Service, Omaha by Design, Visit Omaha,
and Omaha Pedalers Bicycle Club) that daily work to improve Omahans'
quality of life, indeed everything is in place for Omaha to set a
powerful example for all of of Nebraska to follow. And as they do,
hopefully they will be connecting a new San Francisco Gold, its wealth
of cyclists, with the rest of the West once again.
========================================
Happy New Year!
and
THX 4 all of U!!
Can Bike And Grow Rich, The NBG Manifesto" at
http://www.bikeroute.com/HowBikeUS.html. It is a draft excerpt from the
Omaha part of it. Until this spring, when our 2006 Mayors' Ride
campaign begins, I will fleshing out one Mayors' Ride city a week so
that we can use 2006 as a trial run for the 2007 ride from Boston to
San Francisco that my team and I will be doing. As such, come next fall,
after 2006 is complete, I will then be filling in the miles that stand
between our stops (especially those west of Chicago) with fictionalized
representations of people actually using the Greenway that my Business
Plan calls for.
So if you see any holes in the following draft, do please reply to me at
[email protected].
Also, also, the 2006 & 2007 Mayors' Ride schedules are ready:
2006 - http://www.BikeRoute.com/NationalMayorsRide2006
2007 - http://www.bikeroute.com/2007Schedule.html
Plus: Listen to the new interviews we did with Gene Smith of Kool Stop
International, (makers of the best bike brake pads in the world) and
Jack Castor, the survivor of the internet famous HiWheel, Hi-speed
crash: at http://www.bikeroute.com/NBGPodcasts.php
======= Omaha & the NBG ==============
Omaha, now an active city of 390,000 was formed in 1854 by land
speculators from Council Bluffs, a city equally as large on the other
side of the Missouri River in Iowa. Back in 1804, although the Lewis &
Clark expedition made careful note of the Platte River that empties into
the Missouri at Omaha, they continued north into the Dakotas on their
search for a route to the Pacific Ocean. And as such they missed Omaha's
significance as a gateway to the West.
At a point in time when the Missouri River marked the end of
civilization, it was the Platte River corridor that was highly
significant in the westward expansion of the United States. Although it
was never worthy of boat travel, during pioneer days for example, the
common humorous description was that the Platte was "a mile wide and an
inch deep", it still provided fresh water, game, and a clear path into
a new frontier. Once an informal route for fur traders, from the time
Major Stephen Long mapped it in 1820, it set a course for growing waves
of pioneers headed west for the allurement of California¹s gold fields,
the rich farmland of Oregon or to Utah¹s promised land.
It had been Long¹s work, commissioned by the US Army, that had removed
any confusion the Platte may have caused. At what is now a little over
half way across Nebraska, the Platte split into two rivers. One, the
North Platte, travels down from what is now the state of Wyoming, while
the other, the South Platte flows up from Colorado . As such, when Long
established the north fork as the way to get west, an important door had
been opened to the settlement of far away lands
As the trail became more and more civilized and wagon trains began to
use it in the 1840¹s, it was the Platte River passage that formed much
of the basis for the Oregon and Mormon Trails. In fact, Omaha was the
main point of departure for the Mormon Trail that ended in Salt Lake
City, 1,032 miles away. Oregon Trail users typically began their 2,000
mile trek in Independence, MO, traveled across the state of Missouri and
picked up the north fork of the Platte in eastern Nebraska. In all, from
1840 to 1870, more than 500,000 emigrants went west along the Great
Platte River Road from department points along the Missouri River.
As an important doorway to a new America, it was Omaha that supplied
many of these journeys. Since covered wagons traveled at one to two
miles an hour, these travelers needed provisions that would last for up
to six months. Omaha was also kept busy with repairs and any other last
minute needs those headed west required.
Omaha also served as a support headquarters for those commercial
ventures that had come to rely on the Platte. The legendary Pony Express
and Wells Fargo stage coach lines both had offices in Omaha. While the
horse riders, many carrying news about the Civil War, were put out of
business after only 19 months in 1861 by the copper wires of the first
transcontinental telegraph, the Wells Fargo operations continued. They
carried gold, mail and other valuables from California right up until
rail signaled an end to all this frontier spirit.
In 1869, when the transcontinental railroad commandeered the Platte
River basin for its tracks, Omaha no longer stood out as one of the
major lines in the sand between the west and the east. Before the Union
Pacific left Omaha to meet the Central Pacific in Promentory, Utah,
Omaha had once been the end of the line for all trains headed west.
Omaha¹s significance in the settlement of the West was pushed even
further from the collective memory when in 1913 the Lincoln Highway
began to use dirt roads along the Platte River corridor to connect the
coasts. A powerful example which I will explore in an entire chapter for
how we are going to make the National Bicycle Greenway real, the
Lincoln Highway connected New York City to San Francisco. It did so at a
time when, like our bike ride, coast to coast travel in a car was a
several month journey fraught with adventure.
As the Lincoln Highway grew up and was ultimately superseded in 1974 by
the coast to coast Interstate referred to as 1-80, future
transcontinental travelers would roar by the rich heritage of these
lands. They would so so without realizing the hardship their ancestors
had suffered to conquer them.
Fortunately however, the state has outfitted the Lincoln Highway, now
referred to as US 30 in Nebraska, with a generous bike lane the length
of the entire state so at least some of its travelers can slow down and
appreciate. If that¹s not enough to show that Nebraska is committed to
honoring its past, Omaha, its biggest city, also has plans on the books
to connect to Council Bluffs with an epic bike bridge. Three thousand
feet long and 27 feet wide, it will place Omaha at he American forefront
once again. A beautiful suspension span, this water crossing will not
only be the first bike bridge to connect two major cities, it will also
connect two states. And all of this will leave Nebraska soil at the spot
where the Lewis and Clark expedition first landed in Omaha.
And even before the bridge soon gets built, Omaha, thanks to the PAPIO
Natural Resource District, already has 90 miles of concrete bike trails
running all throughout the city. Add a Mayor who jogs and cycles, a
zealous Convention and Visitors Bureau, lifelong bike advocates and
various nonprofits (ACT!vate Omaha, PAPIO Missouri River Natural
Resource District, National Park Service, Omaha by Design, Visit Omaha,
and Omaha Pedalers Bicycle Club) that daily work to improve Omahans'
quality of life, indeed everything is in place for Omaha to set a
powerful example for all of of Nebraska to follow. And as they do,
hopefully they will be connecting a new San Francisco Gold, its wealth
of cyclists, with the rest of the West once again.
========================================
Happy New Year!
and
THX 4 all of U!!
