Alfred Jones, William D. Brown and the Lone Tree Ferry

Published June 19, 2024 | Updated July 31, 2026

July 31, 2026

The city of Omaha was founded by William D. Brown. It’s a name you may not recognize. The man whose name is about as common as you can find isn’t recognized with street names, schools, or plaques beyond a marker at his headstone. Even so, it was at the present-day home of Gallup University that he tied his flat-bottom boat to a tree after reaching the western banks of the Missouri River.

Born in Kentucky in 1813, Brown relocated to Iowa, where he was elected sheriff of Henry County in 1837. He left that post with dreams of striking it rich during the California gold rush in 1849.

Photo of William D. Brown, the founder of Omaha. Courtesy History of Nebraska by J. Sterling Morton and Albert Watkins, 1918. Retrieved from Wikipedia.

He didn’t get far. He saw opportunity crossing the volatile waters of the Missouri River and settled in Kanesville (present-day Council Bluffs) in 1850. He obtained a 12-year charter from the Pottawattamie County Commissioners to operate a ferry across the river. After outfitting a boat with oars, he started the Lone Tree Ferry Company, named for a lone tree which marked his landing on the Nebraska side of the river.

1853 early sketch of the Lone Tree Ferry crossing across the Missouri River. From the Bostwick-Frohardt/KMTV Photograph Collection, permanently housed at The Durham Museum.

Born in Pennsylvania in 1814, Alfred D. Jones also settled in Iowa and opened a store and served as postmaster of Madison County. He continued his way through the state and completed the survey of Des Moines before arriving in Council Bluffs, which had recently been incorporated and renamed from Kanesville, where he surveyed the new city in 1853.

1854 photo of Alfred D. Jones, the man who surveyed Omaha after being hired by the Council Bluffs and Nebraska Ferry Company. From the Bostwick-Frohardt/KMTV Photograph Collection, permanently housed at The Durham Museum.

During those trips across the river for his Lone Tree Ferry Company, Brown is said to have wandered the area imagining the city that would develop once the territory was opened for settlement. In 1850, Brown even staked land, be it informally. Likely unbeknownst to Brown, Jones crossed the river in a rowboat in 1853. After spending the night, he marked trees to stake out his claim on a tract of land he called Park Wilde, a name that lives on as a street in Little Italy.

With the imminent opening of the Nebraska Territory, the men were competing against one another to be the first to claim the land opposite Council Bluffs. Jones, however, was ordered off the land by a U.S. Indian Agent as it was still considered Indian Territory, while Brown’s stake of 160 acres of Missouri River flatland was recognized as the first claim on the site that became Omaha City.

Omaha after it was established in 1854. Courtesy of Omaha World-Herald.

It didn’t take Brown long to realize that his ferry operation was too small to handle the increasing number of settlers headed west. He sold three-fourths of both his ferry company and his land to a group of businessmen including Dr. Enos Lowe and his brother Jesse Lowe, who became the city’s first mayor. The group of 12 men, which included Brown, formed the Council Bluffs and Nebraska Ferry Company in July 1853.

The company began operating a steamboat ferry across the river and hired Jones to complete the first survey of the new city, starting around May 23, 1854, taking nearly two months to complete. By May 30, the Nebraska Territory was officially opened for settlement. Omaha City was established at Capitol Hill, the present-day site of Central High School, on July 4, 1854, where the city’s founding fathers including Brown celebrated with a picnic.

1857 Sketch of the first Territorial Capitol Building at the location of current day Central High School. Courtesy of Omaha World-Herald.

With the city established, the ferry company, which owned land on both sides of the river, became instrumental in getting settlers across the river. Soon after, the Omaha Claim Club was formed to provide vigilante justice for claim jumpers and those who infringed on the land of the city’s founding fathers. At the time there were no laws regulating land claims by settlers or claim jumpers. The club held its first meeting at the site of the “lone tree” on July 22, 1854.

Omaha City Limits as of 1854. Courtesy of Omaha Public Library.

The Council Bluffs and Nebraska Ferry Company constructed the first building, a log cabin called St. Nicholas Hotel or the Claim House. Located near 12th and Jackson Street, it consisted of one main room and a kitchen. Its purpose was to encourage settlers to use their ferry. Brown transported its operators, William and Rachel Snowden, who became the city’s first permanent white settlers. During the following summer, the organizers of the ferry company surveyed and laid out the site for the city, which contained 320 acres.

The plaque outside Hollywood Candy denoting it as the site of the city’s first building. Courtesy of The Historical Marker Database.

After the original charter ended in 1862, Captain W. W. Marsh bought a large interest in the ferry company and took over. In 1868 he signed a 20-year charter with Union Pacific allowing his company to carry trains across the river. This practice ended in 1872 after the railroad built the Union Pacific Missouri River Bridge, the first to connect the two states. The ferry service continued to operate until the end of the charter in 1888.

Headstone for Rachel and William Snowden at Propsect Hill. They are credited with being the first settlers of Omaha. Located at Prospect Hill Cemetary.

After the city’s founding, Brown moved with his family including wife Martha A. Patterson Brown and daughter Mary to 15th and Harney Street. He remained involved in real estate and owned a quarter of the original townsite in addition to 160 acres in the heart of South Omaha and even more land in Council Bluffs. The historic marker at his gravesite states that much of his land was in Brown Park though sources do not credit it to being named after him. He passed away in 1868 after being beaten and robbed. His daughter continued the influence of the Brown family as she married Alfred Sorenson, a historian, newspaper publisher, and influential politician in Omaha.

Google Map view of Gallup along the banks of the Missouri River. This is near the site where the Lone Tree Ferry docked.

28 years after Brown’s death, Jones claimed in an 1896 interview that he first saw the potential in a town site opposite Council Bluffs and that he suggested the idea to Brown in early 1854. Brown’s informal claim in 1850, however, took precedence and was formally recognized as the first in 1853.

Jones passed away in 1902 and it’s likely that as he gained prominence in the years following the establishment of the city, his assertion as the city’s founder became inflated. Jones served as its first postmaster, city council member, territorial legislator, and Claim Club judge. Brown, however, is most often recognized as the founder of the city, having established the ferry and making the first claim, even if Jones said otherwise.

The article you just read was written by Omaha Exploration. If you enjoy what I do, consider signing up for email notifications on my website, where you’ll also find sources for this article and ways to support the project. Let’s keep exploring!

Read OE on Grow Omaha: Local History by Omaha Exploration | Grow Omaha

Bonus pictures

1854 Map of Omaha City courtesy of Landmarks Heritage Preservation Commission.

Omaha Exploration is sponsored by

Not just a mortgage broker, we’re your educator and guide through the loan process. Proudly local in Omaha, Nebraska, we personalize our service to your specific situation. We’re not here to sell, we’re here to solve your home loan needs. Give us a call and see how we can help! (402) 205-7618

Leave a ReplyCancel reply

The Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge: Omaha’s Bridge to Somewhere

Along the Streetcar Line: Doozy’s in The Regis

From New York Life to the Omaha Building: Omaha’s First Skyscraper