george f. wright, builder of the 1868 council bluffs street railway company, organized the omaha and council bluffs railway and bridge company in 1886, along with frank murphy and guy c. barton of omaha and john t. stewart, thomas j. evans and george f. wright of council bluffs. majority stockholders included marshall field of chicago and u.s. senator joseph millard of nebraska, and officials from the american smelting company.