Columbus, NE
with others
Settlers from Columbus, Ohio, founded the area known as Columbus, Nebraska, on May 28, 1856. In those early years, many of the settlers were English, German, Swiss, Irish, Scandinavian, Welsh and Polish. They urged their family and friends back in their native lands to join them. Nine years later, the population had grown significantly, and the area was incorporated as a town. Those early settlers chose the site because its location put it in line to be the spot of the nation's first transcontinental railroad.
The first winter in Columbus was hard, and the town's early settlers survived by skating 100 miles down the Platte River to Omaha for supplies. Before Union Pacific began service in Columbus on June 2, 1866, the largest industry in town was the sale of buffalo robes to immigrants on the western trails through Nebraska. Priced at just $1, the sale of these buffalo robes led to the wholesale decimation of the Great Plains buffalo herd, and gave rise to the raids on settlements east of Columbus by the Sioux, who vigorously pushed back against the destruction of their food supply.
Once Union Pacific had a presence in Columbus, the town quickly became a service point for the railroad, providing supplies, fuel and water during the construction of the transcontinental railroad. In late 1866, the town was the first camp for Union Pacific excursionists traveling to the 100th meridian in what would later become Cozad, Nebraska. By the turn of the 20th century, the railroad had finished double track improvements from Omaha to Columbus. On April 27, 1939, Cecil B. DeMille's train stopped at the Columbus Depot while on its way to Omaha for the premier of the movie Union Pacific, starring Barbara Stanwyk. Both she and DeMille addressed the crowd gathered on the platform.