Fort Omaha was first known as Sherman Barracks, and very
soon as Omaha Barracks, when the federal government in 1868 obtained
land from Omahan Augustus Kountze to establish a military reservation.
The property was later renamed Fort Omaha and in 1878 became the Headquarters
for the Department of the Platte, covering territory that stretched
from the Missouri River into Montana and from Canada to Texas.
Fort Omaha was a supply fort, rather than a defense fort, and today
looks much as it did at the end of the nineteenth century, its integrity
having been preserved by its designation as a National Register District.
The use, in some cases lack of use, changed through the years, until
1975, when the property was acquired by Metropolitan Community College
by quitclaim deed from the federal government.
Facilities for military reserve forces still are located at the perimeters
of Fort Omaha, and mustering in and deployment of troops continues from
this location.
Between 1868 and today, the Fort records a diverse history. The Fort
was abandoned in 1896, when its need was diminished by expansive settlement
of the west the and end of the Indian Wars. It reopened in 1905 as the
Signal Corps School, and the first balloon flight was launched in 1909,
beginning the Army's first regular lighter-than-air center. The Fort
was abandoned in 1913 when the Signal Corps School was moved to Fort
Leavenworth.
Fort Omaha became the site of America's first military balloon school
when the Fort was reactivated in 1916 as the Balloon Section of the
American Expeditionary Force, known as the Fort Omaha Balloon School.
Captain Chandler, pilot of the first 1909 flight, was named the Commanding
Officer.
During World War II, Fort Omaha became the support installation for
the Seventh Service Command and was used as a work camp for Italian
war prisoners. In 1947, Headquarters, Fifth Army gave command of the
Fort to the Navy, and Fort Omaha officially was named the Naval and
Marine Corps Reserve Center. In 1951 Fort Omaha was designated the U.S.
Naval Personnel Center.
Fort Omaha is best known for its role in the landmark trial in Omaha
in 1879 of Standing Bear. General Crook, then the Commander of the Department
of the Platte, followed orders to arrest and place under guard at Fort
Omaha the great Ponca Chief, who had traveled north to his homeland
along the Niobrara River from a reservation in Indian Territory in Oklahoma
to bury his son, honoring the son's dying wish and Indian custom. However,
General Crook's sentiments were with Standing Bear, and he secretly
engaged the services of newspaperman William Henry Tibbles to rally
support for the cause, and General Crook, in his full military regalia,
spoke on behalf of Standing Bear during the trial. The ruling was in
favor of Standing Bear, which represented the first time the Indian
was recognized as a person under the law.
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