 Doniphan, Nebraska, was plotted in 1879 at about the halfway point between Hastings and Grand Island and was named for John Doniphan, an attorney for the railroad.The SJ&GI was essentially part of the Union Pacific Railroad (UP) for most of its existence.When the UP built a shorter cutoff between Hastings and Gibbon in 1914, use of the SJ&GI tracks north of Hastings gradually declined.