Basic Information
Color: Copper Red
Subject: Farming in the West
Watermark: Watermarked double-lined USPS
Paper: Soft porous paper
Printing method: line-engraved intaglio on flat plates
Perforations: 12
Scott #: 286
Quantity issued: 159,720,800
Issued: June 17th, 1898
Value
An unused stamp with perfect gum: $7-$12
An unused stamp with gum and a hinge mark: $1.75-$3.50
A used stamp: 25¢-50¢
About the Trans-Mississippi Series
A pane of #286
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Promoting the "New West"
The primary reasoning was to showcase the prosperity and progress of the states and territories west of the Mississippi River. Unlike the previous 1893 Columbian stamps, which focused on historical discovery, the Trans-Mississippi designs highlighted modern achievements and frontier life. Key themes included:
Settlement and Agriculture: Encouraging people to move to and invest in "unclaimed" Western lands.
Technological Advancement: Depicting engineering feats like the Eads Bridge in St. Louis to represent the region's industrial growth.
Pioneer Spirit: Using images of buffalo hunting and farming to evoke a nostalgic but promising vision of the frontier.
Strategic Revenue Generation
Following the massive success of the 1893 Columbian series, the Post Office Department recognized that special commemorative sets were highly profitable. By offering a wide range of denominations—from 1¢ to $2—they aimed to generate substantial revenue through sales to collectors.
About the Trans-Mississippi Exhibition
The Government Building
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Steps to the lagoon
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The Trans-Mississippi and International Exposition, also known as the Omaha Worlds Fair, was a grand world’s fair held in Omaha, Nebraska, from June 1 to November 1, 1898. Often referred to as the Omaha World's Fair, its primary goal was to showcase the rapid development and economic recovery of the American West following the financial panic of 1893.
Key Features & Attractions
The Grand Court: The heart of the 184-acre site featured a two-thousand foot-long lagoon designed to resemble Venetian canals hosted gondola rides as a whimsical form of transportation throughout the fair.
The "White City": Like the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, the buildings were constructed of staff (a mixture of plaster and horsehair) and painted white, giving them a marble-like appearance. Designed in Renaissance style reflected ancient Greek and Roman influences and possessed strenuous constraints on color, scale and height. All was built out of cheap materials or designed not to last, at the end of the exposition it was all removed.
Electrical Illumination: One of the most stunning features was the use of over 20,000 electric light bulbs to illuminate the fairgrounds and lagoon at night—a brand-new marvel at the time.
Indian Congress: A massive gathering of over 500 Native Americans from 35 different tribes, including notable figures like Apache leader Geronimo.
Entertainment: Visitors enjoyed carnival rides, a giant seesaw, and Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West show
Attendance & Legacy
Visitors: Over 2.6 million people attended the five-month event, including President William McKinley and William Jennings Bryan.
Economic Success: Unlike many other world's fairs, it was a financial success, paying back roughly 90% of its initial investment.
Current Site: Most of the temporary structures were demolished shortly after the fair closed. Today, the site of the Grand Court is home to Kountze Park in North Omaha.Exhibits Today: You can still see artifacts, souvenirs, and a scale model of the fairgrounds at The Durham Museum in Omaha.
The Abandoned Bi-Color Plan
286E8
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286 Essay with $2 value
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It was intended to print the Trans-Mississippi issue with a black vignette and a frame in color. The bi-color idea had to be abandoned because of the fact that the Spanish American War, which broke out in April, 1898, necessitated the printing of enormous quantities of revenue stamps and the facilities of the Bureau were taxed to the utmost . The time and manpower needed for the printing of stamps in two colors could not be spared and it was necessary for the Bureau to abandon the proposed bi-color stamps in favor of stamps of single colors.
The 2¢ vignette was originally planned to be on the $2 denomination. However, the purpose of the exposition was to increase to the attraction of investing in the farming in the west and the more popular 2¢ stamp would have a wider audience of the rural scene.
Usage
A #286 first day cover dated June 17th, 1898.
The only known FDC from the exposition
#286 was primarily used to pay the first-class letter rate for a single-weight letter, which had recently been reduced from 3¢ to 2¢, effective October 1, 1883. It was also used for postcards, double-rate postcards, and drop letters (local mail)
Plates
#286 was issued with the following plate #'s
597, 608, 610-611, 616, 619, 621-633, 638-642, 644-681, 683-708, 713-722, 724-729, 732-735, 737-741, 749-752
The Inspiration for the Design
The photograph used to engrave the vignette
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The original photograph
For the vignette was based on this photograph, the original copy is shown here.
The photograph from which the design was made was taken a few miles from the town
of Amenia, North Dakota. The men depicted in the photograph are the first living
men to be shown on a postage stamp.
It was taken in 1893 on the Amenia & Sharon Land Company's Fargo, North Dakota 'bonanza farm'. A line of plows drawn by mule teams going into the distance, are apparently plowing a stubble field. In the foreground, Ed Nybakken is seated on a two-bottom plow drawn by four mules. His hand is in the air, touching the brim of his hat, and blocking his face. Behind him seated in a two-wheel buggy with a dog beside him, is field boss Elihu Barber.
Behind Barber is foreman Sam White. He is standing in a buggy hitched to two horses, and is looking away from the camera. Ed for years bemoaned the puff of the wind that hid his face from the camera, on the other hand the firm, very proud of the stamp, purchased thousands and used them on their mail well into the 20th century.
The team photographed included 61 horses and their drivers, many farmers, on seeing this stamp, were incredulous as to the amount of equipment, however this was the practice of the bonanza farms of North Dakota.