The Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition was a

world's fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition or an expo, is a large international exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specif ...

held in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

from June 1 to November 1 of

1898 Events January–March * January 1 – New York City annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York as the world's second largest. The city is geographically divided into five boroughs: Manhattan, B ...

. Its goal was to showcase the development of the entire West, stretching from the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

to the

Pacific Coast Pacific coast may be used to reference any coastline that borders the Pacific Ocean. Geography Americas Countries on the western side of the Americas have a Pacific coast as their western or southwestern border, except for Panama, where the Pac ...

. The

Indian Congress The Indian Congress occurred from August 4 to October 31, 1898 in Omaha, Nebraska, in conjunction with the Trans-Mississippi International Exposition. Occurring within a decade of the end of the Indian Wars, the Indian Congress was the largest ...

was held concurrently. Over 2.6 million people came to Omaha to view the 4,062 exhibits during the five months of the Exposition. President

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...

and

William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running ...

were among the dignitaries who attended at the invitation of

Gurdon Wattles Gurdon Wallace Wattles (May 12, 1855 - January 31, 1932) was an early businessman, banker, and civic leader in Omaha, Nebraska, who became responsible for bankrolling much of early Hollywood.(2006"Gurdon Wattles", ''Hollywood Heritage''. Septemb ...

, the event's leader. 100,000 people assembled on the plaza to hear them speak. The Expo stretched over a tract in

North Omaha North Omaha is a community area in Omaha, Nebraska, in the United States. It is bordered by Cuming and Dodge Streets on the south, Interstate 680 (Iowa-Nebraska), Interstate 680 on the north, North 72nd Street on the west and the Missouri River a ...

and featured a -long lagoon encircled by 21 classical buildings that featured fine and modern products from around the world. One reporter wrote, "Perhaps the candid Nebraskan would tell you in a moment of frank contriteness that the prime object of this exposition was to boom Omaha."

Timeline

The decision to hold nExposition was made in late 1895 by a small committee of Omaha businessmen determined to hold the Expo, led by banker

. In making their decision, the committee set aside several sites for consideration, including an area near 16th Avenue and Pershing Drive in

East Omaha East Omaha is a geographically designated community located in Omaha, Nebraska. Located three miles (5 km) from downtown Omaha, East Omaha is the site of Eppley Omaha International Airport, Omaha's main airport, and Carter Lake. This area was ...

, near the now-dry Florence Lake. It was the preferred site for the Exposition early in 1897. surrounding the tract that became

Miller Park American Family Field is a retractable roof stadium used primarily for baseball. It is located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, just southwest of the intersection of Interstate 94 and Brewers Boulevard. It is the home of Major League Baseball's Milwauk ...

was considered the strongest contender towards the middle of the year. However, both sites ended up losing out to a site in

later in the year when Omaha banker

Herman Kountze Herman Kountze (August 21, 1833 – November 20, 1906) was a powerful and influential pioneer banker in Omaha, Nebraska, during the late 19th century. After organizing the Kountze Brothers Bank in 1857 as the second bank in Omaha, Herman and ...

donated land in his

Kountze Place The Kountze Place neighborhood of Omaha, Nebraska is a historically significant community on the city's north end. Today the neighborhood is home to several buildings and homes listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is located betw ...

development to the City of Omaha. After the Expo some of that land would become

Kountze Park Kountze Park is an urban public park located at 1920 Pinkney Street in the Kountze Place neighborhood of North Omaha, Nebraska, in the United States. The Park is historically significant as the site of the Trans-Mississippi Exposition of 1898. A ...

. Many important developments happened throughout the city before the opening of the Trans-Mississippi Exposition. They included the opening of the Burlington Train Station in downtown

Omaha Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest city ...

. During the Expo, on August 31, 1898, the committee declared "Cody Day" in honor of

Buffalo Bill William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), known as "Buffalo Bill", was an American soldier, Bison hunting, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa, Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), but ...

Cody. Cody brought his "world-famous"

Wild West Show Wild West shows were traveling vaudeville performances in the United States and Europe that existed around 1870–1920. The shows began as theatrical stage productions and evolved into open-air shows that depicted romanticized stereotypes of c ...

back to the

Omaha Driving Park The Omaha Driving Park, later called Sunset Driving Park, was located in North Omaha, Nebraska, United States. It was an important recreational and sports venue in the history of Omaha. History In 1875, the Omaha Driving Park Association purcha ...

where it was formally founded several years earlier. October 12 was "President's Day" at the Expo and featured a speech by President

focused on international affairs and the necessity of not being

isolationist Isolationism is a political philosophy advocating a national foreign policy that opposes involvement in the political affairs, and especially the wars, of other countries. Thus, isolationism fundamentally advocates neutrality and opposes entangl ...

. The total attendance was 2,613,508, and the total receipts were $1,924,077. The following year after the Expo some members of its managing committee decided to host another Expo-type event, which became the Great American Exposition in summer 1899.

Construction

Many temporary buildings, structures, and features were installed for the Exposition.

Thomas Rogers Kimball Thomas Rogers Kimball (April 19, 1862 – September 7, 1934) was an American architect in Omaha, Nebraska. An architect-in-chief of the Trans-Mississippi Exposition in Omaha in 1898, he served as national President of the American Institute o ...

and C. Howard Walker were named co-architects-in-chief for the event. The two men were responsible for the overall site development, including perimeter buildings. They designed several major buildings, some smaller structures and the Arch of States, which was a main entrance. All these structures were temporary by design, built at about half the cost of permanent buildings. The lower cost allowed the construction of larger structures. The construction of the hundreds of temporary buildings at the Expo was notable because of the almost exclusive usage of a new, cheap and pliable building material called staff. It allowed Expo designers to construct visual reproductions of Grecian and Roman temples, fine European buildings, and more. The buildings were constructed of strips of wood covered with staff. The Grand Court of the 1898 Trans-Mississippi Exposition was located on the current site of

Commemoration

The

Post Office Department The United States Post Office Department (USPOD; also known as the Post Office or U.S. Mail) was the predecessor of the United States Postal Service, in the form of a Cabinet department, officially from 1872 to 1971. It was headed by the postmas ...

issued a series of nine

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

s to mark the Exposition, each depicting a Western scene. Now known as the

Trans-Mississippi Issue The Trans-Mississippi Issue is a set of nine commemorative postage stamps issued by the United States to mark the 1898 Trans-Mississippi Exposition held in Omaha, Nebraska. The finely engraved stamps depict various scenes of the West and are pres ...

and considered among the finest stamps produced by the US, they are highly prized by collectors; a complete unused set is worth about US$5,000. The stamps were reissued in 1998 for a limited time. A monument to the exposition was placed in Omaha's

, the former site of the exposition, during a Centennial celebration of the Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition in 1998.

References

External links

Trans-Mississippi & International Exposition
University of Nebraska-Lincoln's collected Digital Archive on the event
Trans Mississippi & International Exposition
The Omaha Public Library's Page on the Exposition

Trans-Mississippi Exposition Omaha, Nebraska, 1898 {{List of world's fairs in The United States of America * World's fairs in the United States History of North Omaha, Nebraska 1898 in Nebraska 1898 festivals American frontier Culture of Omaha, Nebraska

Timeline

Construction

Commemoration

See also

References

External links