Presents the urban biography of Omaha. This book describes the building of the transcontinental railroad, the penetration of the Great Plains by homesteaders, the establishment of the meat packing industry, and the creation of an elaborate national defense system.

Lawrence H. Larsen is a professor of history at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He is the author of The Urban South: A History (1990), Federal Justice in Western Missouri: The Judges, the Cases, the Times (1994), and other books.

Barbara J. Cottrell is a historian with the National Archives-Central Plains Region.

Harl A. Dalstrom is a professor of history at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.