OMAHA, Neb. — A stop in Omaha in 1883 helped set in motion what would become one of the most influential livestock markets in the world.
That year, Alexander Hamilton Swan passed through the city on his way back from a business trip in Chicago, where he convinced John Creighton and five other businessmen that a livestock market in the area would succeed. The idea took hold just south of Omaha, and by 1955 Omaha’s livestock market was No. 1 in the world.
After the Civil War, packing houses became a growing industry in the United States. Gary Kastrick, a tour guide and former social studies teacher who directed Project Omaha and now works as a museum curator, said the industry expanded as demand for beef increased…