Air Mail in Nebraska

The Air Mail Service began between Washington D.C. and New York City in 1918. As a coast-to-coast service was being developed, Nebraska would become a key player in its completion. In this episode, we explore the early history of the Air Mail Service through the 2018 article, “Trail Above the Plains: Flying Airmail through Nebraska from 1920 to 1930 by Kathleen Alonso.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
The following episode features ahistoric article from the
Nebraska History magazine. This article may reflect the
language and attitudes of its time and while it offers
valuable insight into the past, may contain expressions or
viewpoints that are outdated or offensive by today's standards.
Any outdated terms do not reflect the current views or
perspectives of the Nebraska State Historical Society.
Welcome to the Nebraska History podcast.
I'm your host, Chris Goforth. Each episode we explore articles

(00:22):
written and published in Nebraska History Magazine.
The airmail service began between Washington, DC and New
York City in 1918. As a coast to coast service was
being developed, Nebraska would become a key player in its
completion. On this episode we explore the
early history of the airmail service through the 2018 article

(00:43):
Trail Above the Planes Flying Airmail through Nebraska from
1920 to 1930 by Kathleen Alonso On January 10th, 1930, a plane
crashed in a Blizzard 10 miles West of Sidney, NE.
In an instant, 28 year old Charles Kenwood became the first
airmail pilot to lose his life in the state.

(01:04):
Kenwood had dropped his two flares in an attempt to locate a
landing site, but his efforts failed.
Witnesses speculate that he did not realize how close he was to
the ground when he crashed landed on the farm of Ben
Crouch, leaving debris field of 200 yards.
After a funeral at Saint Luke's Church in South Omaha, Kenwood
was buried at Graceland Park Cemetery.

(01:27):
The most incredible thing about the fatal crash is that it had
been so long coming, given the myriad of tragedies which define
the beginning of the airmail service.
In 1920 alone, 9 pilots, 5 mechanics and other staff, and a
newly appointed district Superintendent for the Omaha to
Chicago portion of the road diedin the line of duty the

(01:48):
following year. The fatalities included James T
Christensen of Blair, NE, who failed to locate the airport in
Cleveland, OH. One foggy day a propeller still
tops the Danish immigrants gravestone, defining his life as
a flyer. Public outcry and congressional
skepticism meant that the fate of airmail in the early 1920s

(02:09):
remained uncertain, but by 1930 the well established aerial
trail across the country had become a fact of life.
The airmail service took off, survived, and eventually thrived
due to the influence of people in power, the determination of
its pilots, the vision of community leaders, and the
commitment of mechanics and other airport staff on the

(02:30):
ground. It also relied on individual
farmers, doctors, townspeople and passerby who supported local
airfields and assisted pilots when mechanical difficulty or
weather forced them out of the trail in the sky.
The airmail service, in which Nebraska would become a key
player, began between Washington, DC and New York City

(02:51):
in 1918. Almost immediately after its
creation, Albert Burleson, the Postmaster General, and Otto
Prager, the head of the airmail service, pushed to create a
Coast to Coast Aerial Hwy. with feeder lines from other cities
connecting to the existing route.
Despite the advancements in aviation during World War One,
tremendous obstacles impeded theendeavor.

(03:15):
The few airports that existed were little more than level
fields. Pilots flew by sight, which made
fog or unexpected storms deadly.The Post office's route required
pilots to fly in open cockpits over treacherous mountains and
remote sections of the western United States, with no ready
help available in the event of an emergency.

(03:36):
Despite these challenges, the first scheduled mail flew from
New York to San Francisco via Cleveland, Chicago, Omaha,
Cheyenne, Salt Lake City, and Reno in September of 1920.
Less prominent fuel stops also developed airports to aid the
pilots. A series of radio towers linked

(03:56):
these cities and towns, allowingairports to communicate with
each other regarding weather andthe expected time of arrival for
pilots. Soon after their installation,
the new technology began providing non aviation messages
for the benefit of the local population.
For example, in February 1921, William Votaw, manager of the

(04:17):
Omaha Airfield, received permission to transmit wireless
weather reports to farmers in western Nebraska and eastern
Iowa. In 1921, the Post Office feared
that Congress, with the support of new Republican president,
would cut funding for the fledging service.
The post office responded with apublicity stunt of epic

(04:37):
proportions. That February, 2 planes set off
from each coast in an attempt tofly the mail non-stop across the
country rather than transferringit to trains.
When darkness fell, which was the usual course of action, one
eastbound pilot died in a crash over the Nevada desert.
The fog kept both westbound planes from leaving Chicago.

(04:58):
Pilot Jack Knight became a national hero by flying from
North Platte all the way to Chicago.
When weather prevented his relief pilot from reaching
Omaha, towns lit bonfires along the way to keep him on course.
Front page headlines touted the success, and the wave of
positive publicity became a hugeasset for the new service.

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This, along with some Washingtonpoliticking, kept the service
going. The post office's next step for
improving the speed of delivery meant developing a strategic
plan for permanent night flying,which involved a series of light
beacons placed 10 to 15 miles apart between Cheyenne and
Chicago. These would later be extended

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across the country. Pilots started testing the
practicality of night flying in February of 1923 by making 25
mile flights in and out of NorthPlatte.
Kerosene lamps marked the PlatteRiver, which bordered the South
edge of the field, and staff setup two bonfires to mark where
planes should land. A highly successful nationwide

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test run followed in August for five days.
The male left California in the morning, reached Cheyenne by
nightfall, and Chicago by the following morning.
The regularly scheduled night service began July 1st, 1924.
In September 1924, the United States Airmail Service Division,
led by Carl Egg, relocated to the federal building in Omaha.

(06:26):
Egg started his career as a postal clerk in his hometown of
Grand Island before becoming a railroad postal clerk in Omaha.
He worked his way up to Postal Inspector in Minneapolis before
joining the airmail service. The head office remained in
Omaha only a short time before returning to Washington, DC in
July of 1926. The post office airmail pilots

(06:49):
did not regularly carry passengers, although
occasionally an official or other individual received
special permission to ride alongin the extra seat.
World War One ace Eddie Rickenbacker crashed at the
Cheyenne field on route to Washington, DC in May of 1921,
hitchhiked to Omaha with airmailpilot Christopher Pickup, and
jumped in William Hobson's planeto reach Chicago.

(07:11):
The development of private airlines allowed passenger
service to really take off. By 1925, commercial aviation had
begun to catch up with the post office.
Congress then passed the Kelly Act, allowing the post office to
contract airmail services to private corporations.
The feeder routes that ran into the main transcontinental artery

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became the first to be transferred.
But it did not take long for thepost office to completely
extract itself from the businessof aviation.
In 1927, Boeing took over the transcontinental route from San
Francisco to Chicago, including Nebraska.
Boeing's passenger service laterbecame known as United Airlines.

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Airlines also bid for new routes.
Universal Airlines instituted Nebraska's first route off of
the main line when they began flying from Omaha to Saint Louis
via Kansas City in May of 1929. Although this company lacked the
longevity and prominence of Boeing, the new route
demonstrated the continued growth of aviation.

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Nebraska's prominence with the airmail service began in January
1919 when JA Jordan, a post office representative, arrived
in Omaha to convince the Chamberof Commerce to build an
airfield. According to city authorities,
Jordan promised some reimbursement from the federal
government, but despite pleas tocongressman, none came.

(08:34):
A bill which would have returnedsome of the city's investment
failed to pass. In 1926, Omaha's Chamber of
Commerce created an Aerial Transportation committee which
reviewed several sites before arranging to lease a field from
the Knights of Exarben near 60thand Center streets, just South
of the racetrack. The chamber quickly began making

(08:54):
improvements to the field, distinguishing 1/4 mile grass
runway, making it visible from the air, erecting an airplane
hanger and lowering wires in thearea.
These rudimentary requirements demonstrate how early in the
history of aviation the Post Office began attempting its
monumental cross country feat. Airmail's formal arrival was

(09:15):
delayed for several months from fall 1919 to May of 1920 as the
Post Office acquired planes and fine-tuned its existing
services. On May 18th, 1920, the first
scheduled mail plane arrived in Omaha, making it the eastern
terminus of the airmail route. The transcontinental route
opened in September, linking Omaha to both New York and San

(09:37):
Francisco. The aerial activities at Exarban
and all cities along the new route showcase the legacy of the
airmail service. In May 1921, the airmail pilots
quote observed the 3rd anniversary of the airmail
service by carrying the mail on time, the same as they have done
since the inauguration of mail flying here on April 15th, 1920.

(10:00):
End Quote. People associated flying with
standard business rather than the individual barnstormers or
stunt Flyers at County Fair. Pilots had become regular
working men rather than entrepreneurs.
They married, raised families, promoted aviation locally, and
became active in service organizations such as the
American Legion and the Chamber of Commerce.

(10:21):
The Army trained many young men to fly during World War One and
the post office provided some ofthem with a steady, well paying
job doing something they loved. For the most part, pilots came
and went from the Exarben Field in their de Havilland DH4
airplanes without incident. However, landing a plane is the
most dangerous point of a flight, and on occasion various

(10:43):
parts of town became makeshift airstrips or crash sites.
As Arthur Cox circled for a landing during his first trip
from Cheyenne to Omaha in December of 1920, wind blew his
plane into a wireless tower nearExarben Field.
Luckily, he sustained only minorinjuries.
In June 1921, Robert Ellis's plane stalled just before

(11:06):
landing, causing him to crash through the Center St. fence
South of the field, stopping 50 feet from the Dublin Inn.
After extracting himself from his vehicle and angry, Ellis lit
a cigarette and began hurling pet names at the plane.
In November, William Hobson crashed into a tall Cottonwood
tree about two miles east of theairfield.

(11:27):
In March 1923, Hobson ran out ofgas as he approached Omaha and
landed in Fontenelle Park at thecity's north side to refuel.
He landed his airplane, Skids, which had replaced wheels for
winter time travel. Mishaps also occurred on the
ground. In June 1921, the assistant
field manager, Frank Pendleton, ran into a propeller and ended

(11:50):
up in the hospital. The story took a happier turn
when an elevator operator named Rose Lear visited him several
times. They were married in October
later that year. Most incidents did not lead to
such serious injuries. More frequently, wrecks damaged
the planes more than their pilots or the ground crew.
Although Exarban Field was considered one of the best

(12:12):
airfields in the country upon its completion in 1920, the
Chamber of Commerce never intended the location to be
permanent. Almost immediately, they began
making plans to build a municipal field elsewhere and
considered several locations. However, the chamber had not yet
found another location where thepost office began flying
overnight in 1924. Since the Exorbin field lacked

(12:34):
lighting facilities and night flying required longer runways,
the post office had to seek a field elsewhere.
Ira Radar, one of the first officers at Fort Crook in
Bellevue, decided in the early 1920s that the Army base should
have its own airport for military endeavors.
Though Radar had a limited budget, he and his staff,

(12:54):
particularly Staff Sergeant Byron Fowler, utilized manual
labor by soldiers, bartered withthe locals, and created a
landing strip and hanger with minimal cost to the government.
When the post office began searching for an alternative to
the Exarbitant Airport, Fort Crook became the obvious choice,
particularly since the military did little regular flying at the
time. A week before the scheduled

(13:16):
transition to Fort Crook, 2 windstorms on subsequent days
destroyed the Exarben Fields hangar and several airplanes.
The facilities at Fort Crook proved to be adequate, although
the post office complained aboutthe poor roads between the main
office downtown and the field. When Boeing took control of the
mail service in 1927, they arranged to continue using the

(13:38):
military location, although rumors circulated that they
would move out of Omaha and relocate somewhere else.
Potential sites included Lincoln, a proposed civilian
field in Bellevue, Council Bluffs, IA, or possibly St.
Joseph, MO. The stories turned out to be
mere speculation, in part because none of the mentioned
locations had any better facilities than in Omaha.

(14:02):
The transition from government to private airmail flights went
smoothly. Boeing hired many of the post
office's pilots, and the veteranFlyers had no trouble with the
transition. At 1:40 AM on July 1st, Ernest
Ali Allison flew from Omaha to Cheyenne with Boeing's first
batch of airmail. IO Biffle, better known for

(14:22):
teaching Charles Lindbergh to fly, headed West towards
Chicago. HG Smith and Ruben Wagner flew
the inbound planes. Though time and technology meant
fewer crash landings, they stilldid occur.
In 1928, Norman Potter hit a Cottonwood tree while landing
and crashed into a House of Lee Watson, a former airmail

(14:43):
mechanic. Potter normally flew from Salt
Lake City to Cheyenne and had not landed at Fort Crook at
night before the mail burned, but luckily the pilot walked
away. In February 1929, snow prevented
Jack Knight from locating the Fort Crook field, and when his
engine gave out, he crash landednorth of the intended

(15:03):
destination, 1/2 mile from Camp Gifford.
William Koons drove him to the airport, while the male flew in
and out of Government Field in Bellevue.
The Omaha Chamber of Commerce continued planning its own
airfield despite limited funds and mixed public opinion.
In 1925, the city purchased someParkland near Carter Lake with

(15:24):
the intention of building a Municipal Airport.
Dean Noise, the park's Superintendent, began the basic
work to clear and level the area.
In January 1927, the Metropolan Utilities District painted an
arrow on a 200 foot wide gas container to help direct local
aviators to the field. Although much more work would be

(15:44):
required to make it acceptable for commercial use, the Chamber
of Commerce expressed concerns that even with paved runways and
better facilities, Boeing would not want to use the field due to
regular fog in the area. However, by the late 1920s it
had become clear the aviation was the way of the future and
that Omaha indeed needed an airport.

(16:07):
In July 1927, the American Legion spearheaded a campaign to
raise money for a hangar. National excitement surrounded
aviation aided their efforts. Clarence Chamberlain, an aviator
from Iowa who flew from New Yorkto Germany a week after Charles
Lindbergh's famed transatlantic flight, visited Omaha in August.
A week later, Lindbergh himself arrived as part of a nationwide

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tour. Landing at the Municipal
Airport, the site of the most famous plane in the world,
protected by a chicken wire fence, emphasized the
rudimentary nature of the field.It is fitting that Lindbergh's
visit provided the necessary funds for the new hangar.
By the time the City of Omaha had begun preparing the new
field, the standards for a modern airport had changed

(16:52):
drastically. In 1920, a quarter mile strip of
grass with a clean approach and heated hangar had been luxury
quarters. However, by 1928, a city the
size of Omaha needed paved runways with much more
preparation to compare favorablywith other metropolitan areas.
After narrowly passing a bond issue for field improvements in

(17:14):
the 1928 election, the city hired the Austin Aircraft
Corporation to build the new field.
In 1930, the open grass field had completed its transformation
to a modern airport, and Boeing brought the airmail as well as
its passenger service back to Omaha.
Pilots leaving and returning to Omaha to find a new type of Rd.

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Although lacking physical substance, the new aerial Hwy.
impacted communities which lay below it.
While traveling across the state, pilots tended to follow a
set course, but variations occurred due to weather
conditions or personal preference between Omaha and
Grand Island. Pilots could stay N near current
Hwy. 92 or drift a little further South closer to US Hwy.

(18:00):
34. The official directions from
1920 instructed pilots to followthe section lines W out of
Central City and fly over Saint Paul.
Few if any pilots attempted this, although it meant a longer
flight. Pilots traveled S to Grand
Island and followed the Platte River to North Platte.
From there, they followed the path of the Union Pacific

(18:22):
Railroad and the Lincoln Highway, then crossed the state
border and landed in Cheyenne, WY.
Westbound pilots leaving Omaha reached the now unincorporated
town of Juan, located 7 miles north of Ashland, immediately
after crossing the Platte River.Despite a small population,
Juan's distance from Omaha and river bottom farmland made it an

(18:45):
ideal spot for unscheduled landings.
In March of 1926, Jack Knight crashed landed when he misjudged
the location of the emergency landing field.
Knight was uninjured, but the plane needed repairs.
In November of 1927, LL Bowen was flying from Cheyenne to
Omaha. Fog prevented him from locating
Fort Crook, so he returned to one at 1:30 AM and continued to

(19:08):
Omaha at noon after the weather had cleared.
The level terrain West of Omaha also proved to be an ideal
testing ground for new technology such as radio
communication. On December 17th, 1923, Jack
Knight left Omaha with a government radio engineer and
managed to keep in touch with Omaha Airport staff for 100
miles. He reported in as he crossed the

(19:30):
Platte River while traveling at 3000 feet.
He also checked in at Mead and Grand Island.
Despite some success with its experiments in playing to ground
communication, widespread use ofthe technology did not occur
until private companies began flying the mail.
Pilots tended to fly north of Lincoln until Boeing began

(19:52):
landing there in 1928. This edition demonstrated a
significant shift in the focus of the service.
In 1920, the goal was to get themail across the country as
quickly as possible, and stops were selected based primarily on
fuel range of the aircraft. In 1928, some smaller fields
could be passed over and Boeing could land in places like

(20:13):
Lincoln if it felt the city would provide enough business.
As pilots traveled, W rural Nebraskans became accustomed to
the droning of an engine overhead while continuing to
assist pilots if they could not continue on.
On April 23rd, 1923, a snowstormforced James Murray down 4 miles
east of Osceola, damaging a propeller.

(20:35):
About 15 minutes later, Harry Smith, carrying the mail in the
other direction, landed 10 milesfrom the site of Murray's crash.
The two men met up, and Murray ended up taking Smith's plane to
Omaha, while Smith took the train to North Platte.
Pilots on a more southerly routewould land closer to Benedict.
Between 1924 and 1926, fog or rain forced at least three

(20:59):
pilots to land near town. In at least one case, the pilot
took the mail to Osceola to be put on a train.
Frequently, if a plane went down, the post office sent
another pilot from Omaha or North Platte to retrieve the
mail. But in some cases, the train
became the better option. In 1928, Marquette, just north
of Aurora, became the site of the first airmail fatality in

(21:22):
the state. That February, a year after the
service had been turned over to Boeing, Frank Yeager crashed
into a tree while flying low to avoid headwinds between Omaha
and North Platte. Yeager sustained severe injuries
when he was thrown from the plane but survived.
His passenger, FH Craig of Cheyenne, a flying aficionado,

(21:43):
died at the scene. A local doctor treated Yeager
and took him to Aurora, while LLBowen flew in from Omaha to
retrieve what remained of the mail.
Grand Island snagged an airmail spot in 1933 with much fanfare
and celebration, especially since Boeing flew passengers as
well as the mail. The position of former Greeley

(22:04):
County resident Harriet Hurley as a stewardess on the 1st
flight added to the city's connection.
Hurley had gone to Denver to study nursing and worked at a
hospital when she discovered a new opportunity in aviation.
The eastbound mail contains 7220letters weighing nearly 100 lbs.
As frequently occurred on inaugural flights, this included

(22:26):
a letter from the Mayor of GrandIsland to the Mayor of Omaha,
and the Superintendent of the Airmail of Chicago came to town
for the occasion. Despite the late date of the
official connection, Grand Island was never a stranger to
the airmail pilots. It garnered a reputation as a
town with a solid airfield whichcould be sought out when trouble
arose between Omaha and North Platte.

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In fact, in July 1928, Jack Knight took some vacation time,
told his friends he would be fishing in Michigan, then
attempted a cross country nonstop flight.
When the plane had a mechanical issue over Kansas.
Knight turned N to familiar country and landed in Grand
Island, where mechanics repairedthe plane.
The previous year he had landed there when fog prevented him

(23:10):
from continuing his scheduled airmail flight from Cheyenne to
Omaha. Other pilots also utilize Grand
Island's services. Throughout the 1920s between
Grand Island and North Platte, pilots continued using
convenient fields for emergencies.
In February 1921, westward boundJames Murray became disoriented
in a fog and landed a few miles north of Shelton.

(23:32):
The plane crashed through a fence, causing minor damage, and
came to rest in a mud hole. Local farmers used two teams of
horses to pull out the airplane,and one man loaded 3 sacks of
mail into his pickup truck to put on the next train to North
Platte. A mechanic from North Platte
came to repair the aircraft. This area also demonstrated the

(23:53):
value of emergency landing fields which had an overnight
caretaker who would provide emergency assistance.
In May of 1925, Clarence Lange landed near the town of Wood
River after becoming lost in dense fog.
He hit a tree near the emergencylanding field and the attendant
in charge of manning the light beacon came to his aid.

(24:14):
Another pilot and two mechanics flew in from North Platte to
retrieve the mail and salvage what they could have.
The plane fog force James Murraydown near Shelton during the
night in February of 1926. He waited for about two hours,
then took off again, but anotherfog bank led to a crash landing
a short time later. The caretaker of the Shelton

(24:36):
field assisted him, and HD Slim Lewis flew in from Omaha to keep
the mail moving. Weather would always be
unpredictable, but mechanical difficulties also felt pilots.
On December 19th, 1921, ClarenceLange experienced engine trouble
and landed in the cornfield of Ernest Arbuckle, just West of
Gibbon. The farmer and the pilot

(24:57):
attempted to repair the plane and when that failed, Arbuckle
took Lange and his 10 sacks of mail to Gibbon so that could be
put on a train to North Platte. As planes became more reliable,
mechanical emergencies became fewer, but they still occurred.
In October of 1929, Christopher Pickup landed at the emergency
field in Elm Creek after he noticed a gas leak.

(25:19):
The plane caught fire about 150 feet from the air, but Pickup
got the plane down and managed to save about half of his cargo.
A relief pilot from Omaha continued the trip.
In 1919, the post office decidedthat North Platte would be the
best location for the second airmail stop in Nebraska.
It's location halfway between Omaha and Cheyenne.

(25:41):
It's railroad connections and it's size made it the most
obvious choice. That year, AR Dumphy came to
North Platte and approached Harry Dixon, president of the
Chamber of Commerce, with the request to build a municipal
airfield to host the service. Several prominent businessman
formed the North Platte Airport Terminal Company, and at least
112 men contributed a total of $18,000 to fund the airport.

(26:06):
Like Omaha, North Platte claimedthat the post office promised to
reimburse the city for its troubles.
In January 1925, an airport representative wrote to
Congressman Robert G Simmons explaining the situation and
requesting his assistance. Congress considered a bill which
would have authorized repayment to North Platte and 16 other

(26:26):
cities which had funded airfields to support the post
office. Like the above mentioned
legislation for Omaha, the bill failed to pass.
The City of North Platte negotiated a lease with the
Pawnee Springs Ranch for the land and later purchased the
airport. The inventory taken when the
city took over the airport from the federal government in 1927

(26:48):
provides a time capsule of how an airport functioned in the
1920's. The equipment transferred to the
City of North Platte included 2 beacon lights of 36 inches and
24 inches, a 10,000 gallon crudeoil tank, a 98 gallon gasoline
tank, office supplies such as carbon paper, various tools,
fire extinguishers, and an oil burning furnace.

(27:10):
The hangar was 80 feet by 90 feet and the office was 12 feet
by 18 feet. The rudimentary facilities in
North Platte and similar sites across the country fueled and
repaired planes for pilots. Airport staff kept up with the
necessary paperwork, sent and received information from other
cities, located emergency landing fields, and did a
million and one other things to keep the airmail moving.

(27:34):
These sites were the glue which kept pilots in the air.
Due to its level, terrain and low population, North Platte
gained a reputation as a place to try out new ideas.
Like Omaha, it assisted with radio testing in November and
December of 1923. More significantly, when the
post office realized that it needed to begin flying the mail

(27:55):
at night to remain competitive with train and Telegraph
service, North Platte became thefirst site of experimentation.
In 1923, airport workers set up kerosene lamps along the Platte
River, which bordered the South edge of the field, and they lit
2 fires to mark where the planesneeded to land.
Occasionally airmail pilots rendered aid to local

(28:16):
communities. In 1923, and a Jane Bar who
lived 2 miles South of North Platte had a medical emergency.
Floodwaters prevented a doctor from reaching the house by Rd.
So Charlie Slutter, manager of the airport, called his
superiors in Cheyenne and received permission to have a
pilot fly Doctor CE Selby to theranch.
Harry Smith obliged and the woman received treatment.

(28:39):
North Platte gained ties to great people of the United
States as well as the small whenPresident Calvin Coolidge and
his wife Grace spent the summer in the Black Hills in 1927.
From mid June to September, Armypilots picked up the President's
mail in North Platte and flew itto Rapid City, SD.
Continuing, W pilots passed Chapel, which had an emergency

(29:01):
landing field on its golf course.
It became the site of the first emergency landing after regular
night flights began when a stormforced Frank Yeager down on July
7th, 1924, damaging the plane. Jack Knight flew in to retrieve
the mail and traveled through the storm between Grand Island
and Lexington. He commented that quote.

(29:21):
It was one continuous lightning flash.
I had to squint my eyes on the ground all the way to keep my
course by the beacon lights and quote.
This served as the first of manyincidents which marked the
success of light beacons along the Aerial Highway.
Sydney immediately became a minor checkpoint for the airmail

(29:42):
service, in large part because it was roughly halfway between
Omaha and Cheyenne. At the time, Sydney, the largest
town in the area, was just transitioning from the Old West
to modern life. It began city mail delivery in
August of 1920 after houses werenumbered.
In September, citizens approved a $196,000 bond issue to improve

(30:05):
Public Utilities. The advent of flight became yet
another improvement in the growing town.
When the post office began preparing for night flying in
1923, Sydney took the opportunity to build its own
airport. John McIntosh became the fields
caretaker, which included operation of the beacon
overnight. Emergency landing fields did not

(30:28):
need to be so formal. Regular pastures could be used
as long as they were kept clear of livestock at night.
Like Grand Island, Sydney would be a reliable safe haven, and
throughout the 1920s many airmail pilots landed either on
the official landing site or in other fields in the vicinity.
Despite the aforementioned circumstances of Charles

(30:48):
Kenwood, most landings near Sydney did not result in injury
to the pilots. In April 1927, RL Wagner landed
at the Sydney Airport due to fog.
When he took off he ended up a mile South of the usual flight
path through Lodge Pole Valley and wrecked the plane on an
outcropping, but sustained only minor injuries.

(31:09):
In May of 1927, rain and fog again forced Wagner down near
Sydney and in May of 1930 Wagnerand Jack Knight were Co pilots
on a plane forced down by fog. Mechanical difficulties also
took their toll. In October of 1922, A westbound
plane quote offended the pilot with its odor of burning rubber,

(31:30):
End Quote, causing him to land in a field South of town, the
Sydney Telegraph noted. Quote It's a good thing that he
did for the thingamagig and the doodad was out of Commission,
End Quote. Luckily, pilots and mechanics
knew more about the planes workings than the local
newspaper. Several townspeople saw the
plane go down and went to assistor just be part of the

(31:51):
excitement. In addition to assisting pilots
landing in the area, the Sydney airport also served as a
resource for nearby towns. In February of 1928, Ernest Ali
Allison got lost in a snowstorm and began circling the town
below him, which happened to be Potter, about 20 miles West of
Sydney. The telephone operator realized

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from the continued drone of the airplane's engine that the plane
was not passing the town and that the pilot was in trouble.
She called the Sydney airport. The manager advised her to
instruct some to get some flaresand mark a landing field, which
the townspeople did. Allison landed safely, and
Northwestern Bell awarded the telephone operator a special

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commendation for her efforts. The airmail pilots were
professional Flyers and most of the time they did their job
efficiently and according to regulations.
That being said, the personalities required for seat
of your pants flying, along withthe solo nature of the work gave
pilots a degree of independence which should occasionally be

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abused. Perhaps the greatest testament
to the roguishness of early pilots occurred near Kimball.
On December 21st, 1924, George Pomeroy decided to use his
government airplane to assist a friend's antelope hunting after
landing in North Platte with a freshly killed antelope.
In addition to the mail, the pilot told his superiors that a

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force landing near Lodge Pole, Nebraska had caused the delay
and that he had spent some time there fixing a stabilizer.
Presumably he had an excuse for the deer as well.
Further investigation disclosed that Pomeroy actually landed on
the ranch of Charles Norberg, southwest to Kimball, where he
used the plane to herd the antelope so that Norberg could

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shoot them. The following month, the
Nebraska Game of Parks Commission fined Pomeroy $100
for killing a protected animal. The post office suspended him
for 30 days without pay, but given the importance of
experienced male pilots, they chose not to fire him, and he
continued flying with the post office until they ceased
carrying the mail. After leaving Nebraska, pilots

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reached Cheyenne, the beginning of a more treacherous leg of the
transcontinental route. Several pilots who regularly
flew over Nebraska lost their lives in Wyoming.
John Woodward of Mitchellville, IA crashed into the side of the
hill in Thai Siding on November 7th, 1920.
On May 7th, 1921, Walter Buntingcrashed after taking off from

(34:19):
Cheyenne. He had been injured in the crash
in Omaha the previous December and had only been flying again
for a month. James Denti Moore met his death
on a hill near Egbert on December 24th, 1923.
And Wyoming was just the beginning.
The challenges of the western United States emphasize the
importance of Nebraska in the development of aviation.

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In contrast to the uneven terrain of the Rocky and Sierra
Nevada mountains or the desolation of the Nevada
deserts, Nebraska had level terrain and a low population
density, with small towns dotting the landscape at regular
intervals. Pilots flew without the concerns
surrounding mountainous terrain,finding ready assistance in
event of an emergency. The airmail service has left an

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undeniable legacy in many different areas.
The Post Office created the first organized national system
of flight, and today's modern aviation system can be traced
back to their efforts. The two seat biplanes of 1920
gave way to passenger planes of the 1930s that could hold 8 to
12 people, along with a pilot, copilot and stewardess.

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As the number of planes in the air increased, standards and air
traffic control and flying practices developed.
Airplanes, navigation systems and airports all improved as the
airmail service changed flight from a novelty to a way of life.
Pilots, most of whom had flown for the Army in World War One,
used their experience with flying the mail to become key

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aviation players in their own right.
Harry Smith and Allie Allison went to China and helped found
an airline there, the China National Aviation Corporation.
Jack Knight in HD Slim Lewis moved up the ranks at Boeing.
Lewis ended up in Cheyenne managing the western portion of
the airmail route. Admiral Richard E Byrd tapped

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Dean Smith and his cross countryexperience as one of the pilots
in his expedition to Antarctica.Many of the former airmail
pilots later proved invaluable to the war effort during World
War 2. Having flown since very nearly
the dawn of aviation, this groupof men had gained recognition as
some of the most experienced aviators in the world.

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Allison returned to the United States and test flew bombers for
Boeing. Frank Yeager and Lewis also
assisted the war effort in this manner.
Jack Knight joined the Civil Aeronautics Administration and
later the Defense Support Corporation, which purchase
supplies such as fuel and medicine for the Army Air Corps.
Current commercial aviation in Nebraska can be directly traced

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to the airmail service. Lee Bird Field in North Platte
and the Grand Island Central Regional Airport continue to
serve rural parts of the state, although the major airport for
western Nebraska is now Denver rather than Cheyenne.
Lincoln's airport also continuesto serve an important role in
Omaha's Municipal Airport. The present day Eppley Airfield,

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though not as prominent as the airports in Chicago or Kansas
City, continues to keep Nebraskaand eastern Iowa connected to
the rest of the country. Despite the changes and growth
which have occurred, it is important to remember that these
airports and others like them across the country owe their
initial existence to the vision and hard work of the United

(37:36):
States Post Office. Thank you for listening to the
Nebraska History Podcast. To learn more about Nebraska
History Magazine, to listen to more podcasts, or to support our
podcast by becoming a member of the Nebraska State Historical
Society, go to history.nebraska.gov/podcast.
And don't forget to subscribe tothe podcast and get notified
when we release new episodes on your favorite podcast platform.

(37:59):
Until next time, I'm Chris Goforth.