This space is waiting for a great photo.

 

Tip: Return to your last location
Tip: Return to your last location

 
Mini-Big-Screen Console

This space is waiting for a great photo.

 

Population: 50,137

 

Offutt AFB
Air Show

Omaha & Neighbors

    Omaha
    Bellevue
    Council Bluffs
    Dundee
    Florence
    Papillion
    Plattsmouth
    Lincoln
    Sioux City
    Sioux Falls
    Columbus
    Grand Island
    Kearney
    Des Moines
    Ames
    Davenport
    Cedar Rapids
    Iowa City
    North Platte
    Sidney
    Scottsbluff
    Kansas City
    St. Louis

Historic Bellevueans

   J. S. Allen
   S. D. Bangs
   Maj. Barrow
   Hiram Bennett
   Isaiah N. Bennett
   Francis Burt
   F. Calkins
   H. T. Clarke
   Col.  Stephen Decatur
   Mr. Dunbar
   Mr. Ellis
   William R. English
   John Finney
   C. D. Keller
   George Nepner
   William R. English
   A. C. Ford
   James M. Galewood
   William Gilmer
   James Gow
   Esquire Griffin
   Rev.  Mr. Hamilton
   A. W. Hollister
   L. B. Kinney
   Manuel Lesa
   Col. R. Lovejoy
   Walter Lowrie
   M. S. Martyn
   Rev.  Edward McKinney
   P. J. McMahon
   J. Sterling Morton
   George Nepner
   D. E. Reed
   Gen. Peter A. Sarpy
   C. E. Smith
   S. A. Strickland
   J. A. Thompson
   George T. Turner
   Dr. Upjohn
   Watson brothers
   W. W. Wiley

Famous Nebraskans

   Bess Streeter Aldrich
   Grover C. Alexander
   George Beadle
   Spangler A. Brugh
   William J. Bryan
   Johnny Carson
   Dick Cavett
   Willa Cather
   Richard B. Cheney
   Red Cloud
   James Coburn
   William F. Cody
   Sam Crawford
   Loren Eiseley
   Val Finch
   Henry Fonda
   Andrew Higgins
   Lawrence Klein
   Swoozie Kurtz
   J. Sterling Morton
   J. G. Neihardt
   Margaret O'Brien
   John J. Pershing
   Mari Sandoz
   Standing Bear
   Darryl F. Zanuck

 

Way before Omaha was being settled, a major trading post had been established in the area.

The area went through changes before officially becoming the town of Bellevue in 1856.

The name.  Return to top.

The Lewis and Clark expedition reached the mouth of the Platte River on July 21st, 1804.  They spent two days checking out the area around the mouth of the Platte and the area to the north and west, including the area that eventually became the city of Bellevue.

Possibly before but certainly after the Lewis and Clark expedition, several places on both sides of the Missouri from around Bellevue to the Ft. Calhoun area were referred to as Council Bluffs.

In 1807, Manuel Lesa/Lisa,  a Spanish adventurer organized a trapping party that ventured into the area between the legs of the Platte River and the Missouri River.  He commented on the view as La Belle Vue (beautiful view).  Liking the area, Manuel opened a fur trading post nearby.  Soon the area was known as Trader's Point.  Even though neither was official, the area was often referred to as Belle vue, sometimes written as two words.

In 1823, the Indian agency that had previously been established at Ft. Calhoun was moved to the Trader's Point area and later known in Government reports as the "Council Bluffs Indian Agency at Bellevue"  The agency on the Iowa side being the Council Bluffs Sub-Agency.*

In the fall of 1849, the "Nebraska Post Office" was established in the area of Trader's Point, however, two years later, the Post Office's name was changed to Council Bluffs to match the Indian Agency name.*

A report of the Commissioner of Indian Affairs comments on the feasibility of the same area as a town, "Nowhere in all of beautiful Nebraska is there a prettier spot for a town than that of the now half-deserted Belle vue.  At this point the river bottoms are from one-quarter to one-half mile in width.  Back of them rise the bluffs at an elevation of about thirty feet above the river level, and upon these bluffs lies a broad plateau almost as level as a floor.  To the north and west rise higher bluffs and hills, which drop to the south as they approach the Platte River, and melt in the lowlands on its north bank From the windows of the old Mission could be seen the glittering Missouri hurrying to the great cities of the South, and beyond the woods of the Iowa shore, somber in the faint beams of the departing sun, or thrown into bold relief as the day broke beyond them in the east."

Soon Trader's Point post office name was known more than the trading post itself.  In 1848, the Trader's Point area was also know as Council Bluffs, however, the residents preferred and used the name Council Point.  Gold seekers on their way to California mailed letters back east addressed from, "Council Bluffs" (as described by C. C. Goss in a lecture in 1857*).  Even though the post office was called Council Bluffs, the post office was located at Trader's Point.

In 1851, the Mormon community of Kanesville was losing its Mormon population as they headed west and the remaining residents decided to survey the area and adopt a new name.  Due to the popularity of Trader's Point unofficially being known as Council Bluffs, the surveyor, A. D. Jones suggested the residents of Kanesville adopt the name of Council Bluffs City to intercept any mail directed to the Council Bluffs post office at Trader's Point.  The suggestion took hold and the name was adopted, although the City part was dropped a while later.

In July 1854, Nebraska had just become a territory and it was presumed by many that the area around Trader's Point would be the new territorial capitol but following the capitol hill antics of acting Governor Cuming that placed the capitol in Omaha, all westward adventurous folks headed there instead.  This included several of Bellevue's early settlers, drastically causing the population to drop off.  The decline in population also contributed to the demise of the fur trading at Trader's Point.  Still a few residents remained in the community.

When the town was planned in 1856, the original suggestion for the town's name was Council City, however, three years earlier, the community of Kanesville had adopted the name of Council Bluffs City.  Trader's Point no longer seemed fitting but throughout the community's short life, it had often been known by its nickname.  The other name for the area, Belle vue had become fairly common so Bellevue won out.

 

 

Visit the Bellevue Nebraska Chamber of Commerce website.
City of Bellevue
Chamber of Commerce

Visit the Bellevue Nebraska City Council website.
City of Bellevue
City Council

 

Visit the Sarpy County Chamber of Commerce website.
Sarpy County
Chamber of Commerce

 

 

Read
    Bellevue Attractions
    Bellevue History
    How Bellevue lost the Territorial Capitol
    How Bellevue lost the County Seat.

 
   

Click the browser back arrow or use your backspace key to return to the previous page, or click on the following links.

Back  |  Top  |  Home  |  Main  |  Omaha  |  Sports  |  Information Links
Omaha Neighbors  |  Bellevue  |  Council Bluffs  |  Florence  |  Lincoln  |  Kansas City
Louisiana Territory  |  Native American Period  |  Mormon Period  |  Omaha History  |  Bellevue History
Nebraska Intro  |  Nebraska History  |  Nebraska Waters  |  Nebraska Birds
Nebraska Communities (Miles from Omaha)  |  Nebraska Communities (A-Z)  |  Nebraska Chamber of Commerce Links
Neighbor States  |  Iowa  |  Missouri  |  Kansas  |  Colorado  |  Wyoming  |  South Dakota
Advertise  |  About  |  Contact  |  Help  |  Link To Us  |  Site Map  |  Site Info  |  Copyright  |  Disclaimer  |  Privacy  |  Terms
• External Link Pages: Attractions  |  Entertainment  |  Recreation  |  Restaurants  |  Shopping  |  Education  |  History
• External Link Pages: Omaha Links  |  Old Market Links  |  Douglas County Links  |  Nebraska Links  |  United States Links

Problems viewing the web pages due to small print?