HISTORY: Pottawattamie County, Iowa From the A.T. Andreas Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Iowa, 1875 ************************************************* Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ************************************************* POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY. Pottawattamie County borders the Missouri River, in the third tier of counties from the south line of the state. With the exception of Kossuth it is the largest in the State, its superficial area being about 960 square miles, or 614,400 acres. Besides the Missouri River, it is drained by numerous small streams which traverse its surface from north to south with a slight westerly deflection. The western portion of the county is a broad, level strip of territory, from three to ten miles wide, and known as the Missouri River Bottom. Bordering this, on the east, the range of bluffs rises steep and grand, in many places almost perpendicular, from two to three hundred feet in height. The range is parted by numerous narrow valleys and ravines, which descend from the adjacent uplands, but never loses its distinctive outlines. This remarkable range, rising abruptly from the sweeping plain, without a rock or stone upon its face, presents a view at once varied, grand and beautiful. The adjacent uplands are broken, and in many places too uneven for tillage; but are well adapted to grazing, and are frequently interspersed with thrifty groves of timber. Further east the broken outlines give place to a beautiful, undulating or waved surface, peculiar to the Western Slope, alternating with level valleys, from a half mile to a mile in width, bordering the streams. Everywhere there is a pleasing variety of scenery, enhanced in loveliness by a pure atmosphere and a constant succession of rich, mellow tints, which never fail to charm the eye with new and delightful forms and colors revealed by the perpetual play of light and shade upon the varied outlines. The county is not abundantly supplied with timber, but there is enough, with proper economy in the use, to answer for all ordinary purposes. The largest bodies are the cottonwood groves along the Missouri, but there are also some excellent bodies, embracing different varieties, on West Nishnabotany, Honey, Pigeon and Mosquito Creeks. The soil is that of the well known bluff deposit, descending to a very great depth, and on the surface richly intermingled with vegetable mold. This entire deposit is strongly silicious, but everywhere finely pulverized and intermingled with a light proportion of lime, sufficient to give it the remarkable consistency for which it is celebrated. It readily absorbs moisture, so that surplus water never remains upon its surface, and its great depth enables it to retain enough to supply vegetation in case of a long absence of rain. It therefore rarely suffers from extremes of drought or rain. This character holds on the uplands and in the valleys. This peculiar soil seems to be equally well adapted to the production of wheat, corn and grass, a combination which is extremely rare. It lies within the great wheat belt which here deflects down the Missouri river, overlapping the belt noted for the highest production of corn. The other cereals do equally well here. Wild grasses grow luxuriantly, and tame grasses thrive, and the soil is well adapted to vegetables and fruit. There are exposures of limestone in several places in the southeast part of the county. On West Nishnabotany limestone suitable for building purposes is found. North of Council Bluffs, on Mosquito Creek, and along the Missouri River are also exposures of limestone. At various places along the base of the Missouri bluffs are masses of a coarse quality of sandstone and conglomerate, formed by the percolation of lime water through beds of sand and pebbles belonging to the drift deposit, but this deposit is practically worthless. It is not a stratified rock, and the cementing process usually extends only a few feet inward from the surface. Good brick is manufactured at Council Bluffs, and materials for the purpose exist elsewhere, but not in abundance. HISTORY. In the Summer of 1894, the celebrated explorers, Lewis and Clarke, on their way up the Missouri River, held a council with the Indians at the place where Fort Calhoun was subsequently established, on the Nebraska side of the river, about twenty miles above the present city of Council Bluffs. From this circumstance they gave to that place the name of "Council Bluffs." As early as 1824, a French trader named Hart, had established a trading house on the bluffs just above the large spring, now known as "Mynster Spring," within the limits of the present city of Council Bluffs. At this time the American Fur Company had established various trading posts in the great Northwest, and this point was known to their employes who ascended the river as Lacote de Hart, or Hart's Bluff. The spot was doubtless selected for the advantages of the splendid spring of pure water which bursts out high up on the bluff and flows down in a volume almost sufficiently strong for propelling machinery. At that time the Missouri River was navigated by a few traders and persons belonging to the Fur Company, having their headquarters at St. Louis, and only with small keel boats propelled by hand. In 1827, Francis Guittar, a Frenchman in the employ of the American Fur Company, encamped with others in the timber at the foot of the bluffs, where now Broadway with its double row of magnificent business blocks is located. He and his companions indulged in the fine sport of shooting deer, elk, and buffalo on the prairie now within the city limits. He subsequently selected this as his home, counting the years from the date above given. Others, however, permanently located here before he did. In the Summer of 1838, Davis Hardin and family, including his wife and seven children, landed in the county, at the point then known as Council Point, about four miles below the City of Council Bluffs. Mr. Hardin had been appointed to act as government farmer among the Pottawattamie Indians, who were then about to be removed from the Platte Purchase in Missouri to Iowa. Council Point is now known as Hardin's Bend. A few months after, the Indians were brought up, and Mr. Hardin then removed to where he opened a farm on a little stream known as Indian Creek, now in the business portion of the city. His sons were John, Allen, Richard, and Martin D. Hardin, and became permanent settlers, remaining here throughout the time when the region was under Mormon control, but maintaining very little intercourse with them. When the Pottawattamie Indians were brought up, a number of white persons came also, including traders, agents, and other government employes. The Indians scattered in various portions of the adjacent country, but received their government annuities and supplies at Council Point and Trader's Point, a few miles below the city. In 1839, two companies of troops came up and built a block house, or sort of fort, on the bluff in the east part of what is now the city, and shortly after, a Catholic Mission was established here under the charge of Fathers DeSmith and Veright. They built a dwelling house and used the block-house for religious services. They also located a burying ground near the fort, which is now within the city limits. At this time "Billy Caldwell" was the principal chief of the Pottawattamies. No white persons came as settlers, except those among the Indians as traders and agents in various capacities, or those connected with the military or missions, until the Mormons came in 1846. The Indians remained until 1846-7, when by the treaty of June 5, 1846, they relinquished this territory and removed to Kansas. MORMONS. Their departure made way for the advent of the followers of Joseph Smith, who, after the death of the prophet, at Nauvoo, in 1844, turned their faces westward. Brigham Young, with the head men of the church, halted for the Winter of 1846-7, at a place called Winter-quarters, now Florence, Nebraska. In the Spring he departed on his journey with a portion of the colony, but the greater part returned to the Iowa side, mainly within the limits of Pottawattamie County, where others had arrived in the Spring of 1846, in season to plant and secure a crop. The center of this community was established on Indian Creek in the vicinity of the old fort, at a place first called Miller's Hollow, and afterwards by them named Kanesville, in honor of Colonel Kane, of Pennsylvania, who visited them at an early day; but their settlement spread rapidly over the county and into some of the adjoining counties wherever groves of timber and water afforded an available location. Over this community Orson Hyde, priest, writer, editor, and lawyer, was installed as the president of the quorum of twelve, and the country remained under their exclusive control for several years. In 1846, they raised a battalion 500 strong for the Mexican War under Colonel Clark, which, after traversing Northern Mexico, and taking part in the battles there, closed its campaign in California. It is claimed that the gold in the Sacramento was first discovered by this battalion. Here many of them remained and engaged in mining. Mr. William Garner was one of these, who, after securing considerable gold, returned to Kanesville and made his permanent home in the county. The Mormon population was probably most numerous in 1848, but in 1849, after many had left for Utah, it numbered 6, 552, and in 1850, 7,828, but they were not all within the present limits of the county. Many followed Brigham Young previous to 1852, when finally the word went round that all true believers should gather together at Salt Lake. The Gentiles now swarmed into Kanesville and all the surrounding country. Farms were sold to them, lots, cabins, and stores were bartered off, all at a ruinous sacrifice, and the migration went forward and continued with diminishing volume during several succeeding years until all who were willing to acknowledge Brigham as their leader and the true successor of the prophet had left the country. A remnant, however, remained, some of them abjuring the Mormon Faith, and others rallying around the standard of Joseph Smith, Jr. who abjured the practice of Polygamy. In 1849, the unexampled rush of emigration to the California gold mines commenced. Kanesville lay directly in its route, and soon became a general rendezvous and starting point for all who crossed the State of Iowa as the last settlement ere they set out upon the plains. Traders, liquor venders, gamblers, horse-thieves, and desperate characters of every description now made it their headquarters. Gambling and crime ran riot. Self-constituted vigilance committees flourished. A short rope and the nearest tree ended many a mad career. When the miners began to return the rage seemed rather to increase than diminish, and it was several years ere order was restored. ORGANIZATION. The county was organized Sept. 21, 1848. The first county commissioners were A. H. Perkins, David D. Yearsley, and George D. Coulton, and they held their first session at the house of Hiram Clark in Kanesville-T. Burdick was their clerk; he was also first county judge, elected in 1851; James Sloan was elected district judge, and held his first term in the county, May 5th, 1851. Evan M. Green was Clerk, and Alexander McRea, Sheriff. At this term Orson Hyde was admitted to the bar. Sloan was appointed by the Governor; he was a native of Ireland, and many anecdotes are related of his wit and eccentricity on the bench. He resigned in the course of a year, and was succeeded by Judge Bradford. These officials were all Mormons. Evan Green was appointed post master at Kanesville, receiving his commission in 1848, but it was some time before regular mail service was established between it and the nearest post office in Missouri, and four or five years before mails arrived regularly from the east. The first representative of the county in the State Legislature was Henry Miller. In 1852 Archibald Bryant was elected Representative and Hadley D. Johnson Senator. THE FIRST GENTILES. In June, 1848, a store was established on the present site of Council Bluffs, a point then known as Miller's Hollow before it was named Kanesville. The business was opened in the name of Stutsman & McDonald, and was carried on by Mr. Stutsman. Mr. Jonathan B. Stutsman was the first Gentile who settled among the Mormons. He soon after married and remained a prominent resident of the place, becoming one of its leading merchants. His business was carried on for some time in a log building. He subsequently built the first frame store, and also the first frame dwelling house in Council Bluffs. The next Gentile settler was Mr. Cornelius Voorhis, who arrived on the 17th of August, 1848, and opened a small store in partnership with Eddy, Jamison & Co., of St. Louis. The third was Wm. B. Ferguson, of St. Louis, who also engaged in trade. The various settlements scattered about the county included one a short distance east of Kanesville, on Mosquito Creek, near the seat of Wick's old Indian Mill, where Wm. Garner, Ezra Scofield, Simon Graybill, Alexander Follett and Alexander Marshall remained after the exodus; another on Pigeon Creek, in the northern part of the county; another on the Nishnabotany at a place afterwards called Macedonia, where Peter Haas and Weymeyer built a mill, and another in the northwestern part of the county in and about Lewin's Grove, where the first settlers were Captain Joshua Headlie, Wm. Henderson and John Kritzinger, the latter of whom built a mill. In the Summer of 1850 Joseph Tootle came up from St. Joseph, Mo., and established the celebrated outfitting house for California emigrants, known as the Elephant Store, and J. A. Jackson became connected with the house in 1851. The trade of the place was also increased in 1850 by the accession of W. D. Turner, S. H. Riddle and J. L. Foreman. Dr. B. Y. Shelly commenced here the practice of medicine the same year, and Dr. S. E. Williams, then a medical student, arrived in the Fall. Dr. P. J. McMahon came in 1851, so also did B. R. Pegram, A.S. Bryant and the Robinson Brothers. The immigration that came in 1852 to take the place of the Mormans was numerous. Early that Spring Mr. Samuel Bayliss purchased of Henry Miller his tract in the valley of Indian Creek. The deed was signed by Orson Hyde, and commenced, "Jesus Christ and the Church of Latter-day Saints sell to Mr. Samuel Bayliss," etc. The title has never been disputed. PUBLIC LANDS. The public lands of Pottawattamie County were surveyed during the years 1851-2, and the United States land office was located at Council Bluffs early in the Spring of 1853, with Joseph H. D. Street, Register, and Dr. S. M. Ballard, Receiver. The first entry was made by Joseph D. Lane. The amount of land entered in the month of March, 1853, was 3, 810 acres. This was under the preemption law, and actual sales did not take place until the 6th of June. The amount of land taken at this time was small, but sales soon increased. In 1855 speculators came from all parts of the county, and in the Spring of 1856 the demand became almost a mania, caused by the passage of the law making large grants to four proposed lines of railway across the state, and the announcement that in consequence the sales would be closed. The business closed on the last day of May, and was not reopened until the Winter of 1858. In 1855 a fever of speculation in city real estate set in, and reached its highest point in 1857. Large additions were made to the plat of Council Bluffs, and lots advanced to enormous prices. The crash of 1857 came on, however, and put an end to this state of affairs. The lands were reopened to public sale in February, 1858, and what remained in this section of Iowa, besides the railroad grants, were nearly all entered before the passage of the homestead law in 1862. TOWNSHIP ORGANIZATIONS. In 1852 the county was divided into three civil townships, Kane, Macedonia and Rockford. Macedonia comprised the eastern portion of the county, Kane the southwestern, and Rockford the northwestern. The latter had been quite extensively settled by Mormons, of whom Hiram Bostwich was the first, in 1846, and remained permanently. Here also the first school in the county was taught in 1848. The first Gentile settlers were Joseph Hill, Joseph Kirby, Robert McGavern, Samuel Kirkland and Sherman Goss, who came in 1850-1. Center Township was detached from Macedonia and organized June 23, 1856. The territory assigned to this township had been settled about Big Grove by the Mormons as early as 1847-8. The Gentiles began to arrive about four years later. April 29, 1852, Joshua C. Layton arrived and settled near the eastern limits of the Grove. His brother Joseph came the following year. Jacob Rust was one of the old settlers. The town of Iola was laid out in this township by Thomas Tostevin, Horace Everett, Geo. Rood and Dr. P. J. McMahon, in 1856, and the expectation was for a time entertained that it would become the seat of justice of a new county. In July, 1856, Walnut Township was formed, also out of Macedonia. Milton P. Black, Wm. E. Van Riper, William and Frederick Merwherter, Joseph and Granville Pierson, and Amos West, were early settlers in this township. The Township of Crescent was formed on the 2d of March, 1857. When the Mormons left this locality in 1852-3, they were succeeded by a number of families from Indiana, among whom was William A. Reel and sons in 1852. They erected a saw mill. Other settlers were Edmund Latham, Joseph Boulden, David Dunkle, and Elkanah Hall. A prospect of the deflection from Crescent to the Missouri River in the proposed railroad line at one time, attracted unusual attention here, and Crescent City was laid out and grew rapidly in 1856-7. Business sprang up and a post office was established in 1857. Here Joseph E. Johnson, the editor of the Council Bluffs Bugle, started the Oracle early in 1856. A failure of the railroad prospects caused a decline in the prospects and business of the town which set in in 1857, as rapid as its previous growth. Boomer Township was organized January 8, 1858, in the north part of the county. This, also, had been settled by the Mormons as early as 1847. Of this class Robert Kent, Samuel Bateman, Joseph Wild, John Macklin, Joseph Beardsley, and William McKeon, remained after the exodus, and organized a church of the branch which repudiated Brigham Young. Joseph Hall in 1852, and Z. W. Remington and William Goodman in 1854, were the first settlers who were not Mormons. Silver Creek Township was organized September 7, 1858. The early settlers were a man named Mace, who located upon Silver Creek in 1850, at a place long known as a state station, a man by the name of Shaw who settled on Keg Creek, William Campbell, James M. Putney, and Thomas Moffatt, who came in 1852. Grove Township was organized September 25, 1858. The early settlers were James S. Watson, A. J. Field, Jacob Anderson, William Ellswick, John Smith, James Otto, A.. F. Wheler, S. M. B. Wheler, Thomas Connor, and John C. Traver. Wheeler's Grove Post Office is near the center of the township. James Township was organized September 25, 1858. Samuel Flesher, S. A. Slocum, Belknap, and Anderson, were the first settlers, but it was not extensively settled until late years. York Township was organized July 14, 1859. Joseph Holman, Isaac Atkins, Elam Mechim, Alexander and David G. Clough, were the first settlers. The township settled slowly for many years, and when organized contained only fourteen voters. The other townships which form a part of the county at present were organized during late years. COUNCIL BLUFFS. This city has a pleasant location at the foot of the bluffs in an arm of the Missouri River valley running up between the hills, and extending out over the beautiful valley towards the river some three miles distant. On the slopes and summits are many fine residences with room for many more, overlooking an enchanting view for many miles up and down the river and across on the hills of the Nebraska side, where the City of Omaha rises on the opposite slope. The City of Council Bluffs is the most important railroad center on the Missouri River. It is, therefore, a commercial point of much importance. It commands a large trade, both wholesale and retail. The place had grown almost to the proportions of a city before the land on which it was built was brought into market, consequently none of the property-holders possessed a title. In April, 1854, therefore, Congress passed an act authorizing the County Judge to enter a square mile, embracing the town limits, for the benefit of the occupants. The land was accordingly entered by Judge Street, May, 10, 1854, and Thomas Tostevin was employed by him to make a survey of the plat. This was a difficult matter, as the claims frequently conflicted, but the survey was made and generally acquiesced in, and has since been recognized as the original survey of the plat. On the 19th of January, 1853, the name of Kanesville was relinquished, and Council Bluffs adopted, the name given by Lewis and Clark to the point twenty miles above where they held their council with the Indians, and on the 24th of February following, an act was passed by the Legislature granting Council Bluffs the privileges of a municipal corporation. In April an election for mayor and councilmen was held, resulting in the choice of C. Voorhis as Mayor, and S. S. Bayliss, G. G. Rice, S. T. Carey, L. O. Littlefield, L. M. Klein, J. E. Johnson, J. K. Cook, and J. R. Stutsman, Councilmen. The other officers were W. H. Robinson, Recorder; M. W. Robinson, Marshal; A. D. Jones, Surveyor; G. P. Stiles, City Attorney, Isaac Beebe, Supervisor; resigned, and the city government appears to have been in abeyance until the election of a new council in the Spring of 1855. In January, 1857, the city charter of Council Bluffs was amended, the city was divided into five wards, the powers of the council were greatly increased, city courts were established, and the boundaries of the corporation were increased so as to embrace an area of about four miles square, extending westward to the Missouri River. At the first election thereafter, J. S. Hooton was chosen Mayor, and Frank Street, Recorder. A more efficient code of ordinances was passed soon after, and considerable progress was made in public improvements. In 1856, the city borrowed $10,000 and expended it mostly in widening and grading Broadway, then the principal street. At a subsequent period $60,000 more was borrowed on city bonds, and expended in improving the streets, furnishing fire engines, public offices and other conveniences. INCIDENTS. In 1853 Samuel S. Bayliss and his brother, J. D. Bayliss, opened a brick yard and burned several kilns, the first ever manufactured in Western Iowa, and several brick buildings erected in the city the same season. May 13, 1853, a brutal murder was committed by a California emigrant names Muir, at Glendale, his victim being an emigrant like himself, by the name of Samuels. A jury was impaneled before Judge Lynch, and the murderer was sentenced and hanged to the limb of a tree upon the spot. On the 14th of November, 1853, Council Bluffs was visited by a destructive fire. Twenty-five buildings were burned down, including nearly all the business houses. The work of rebuilding was commenced and carried on vigorously; but one year from the former date, November 14, 1854, another fire broke out on the same spot, and consumed seventeen buildings. Several conflagrations have since occurred, but none of them so widely disastrous. A banking house was first opened in the city by Green & Weare, in the Fall of 1854, and managed by them until 1855, when Thomas H. Benton, Jr., was added to the firm, and directed its affairs until its dissolution in 1857. Banking houses were opened in 1856 by Baldwin & Dodge and by Henn, Williams, Horton & Co. A branch of the State Bank of Iowa was established in 1860, with James A. Jackson, President, and John D. Lockwood, Cashier. This was afterwards changed to the First National Bank of Council Bluffs, and was the first bank of issue established in the city. The Council Bluffs Iron Works were established in 1859, by F.C. Hendrie & Co., and incorporated as a stock company in 1866. The works occupy a frontage of one hundred feet on each of two streets, and their business is very extensive, employing a large number of men. During the Winter of 1859-60 the business of port packing was instituted in this city, and has since been quite extensively carried on. RAILROADS. During the Fall of 1853 and the following Winter, G. M. Dodge, then a resident of Iowa City, and formerly an engineer in the construction of the Chicago, & Rock Island Railroad, surveyed a line across the state from Davenport to Council Bluffs, known as the Mississippi & Missouri River, which was mainly adopted in the final construction of the road. Mr. Dodge continued his survey on and up the Valley of the Platte. This was the inception of the Union Pacific. In the Fall of 1853, Colonel (afterwards General) Samuel R. Curtis also traced out a line across the state, and made arrangements for a depot ground at Council Bluffs, and in January following the county voted to subscribe $100,000 toward building the road. This route was never adopted, and no bonds were issued; but General Curtis afterwards became President of the Union Pacific Railroad Company, and continued to take a warm interest in Council Bluffs, where he eventually died. The Cedar Rapids & Missouri River Railroad was the first, however, to approach the city from the east. The officers of the road visited Council Bluffs in July 1866, and secured a contribution of thirty thousand dollars and eight acres of land for depot ground from the citizens. September 14 ground was broken for it in the city, and on the 22d of January following (1871) the first locomotive reached the city, which was the occasion of a grand jubilee. The line was immediately leased by the Chicago & Northwestern Company. The Summer of 1858 witnessed the inception of the railroad between Council Bluffs and St. Joseph, Missouri, and a survey was made from the former places to the state line by H. C. Nutt, who reported very favorably. Ground was broken for the proposed road in Pottawatamie County, November 7, 1859. On the 8th of December, 1859, the City of Council Bluffs decided to issue its bonds, in the sum of $25,000, in aid of its construction, and the bonds were subsequently issued. The county likewise contributed $40,000 toward the same object from the proceeds of its swamp lands. Work progressed slowly until 1865,when new hands took the contract, to whom both city and county transferred their stock, on condition that the road should be completed by January 1, 1867. The first construction train reached Council Bluffs over this road on the 27th of December, 1866, and on the 17th of December, 1867, the road was completed and ready for business. December 26, 1867, the first locomotive crossed the Missouri over a temporary bridge, for the use of the Union Pacific road, and late in the Fall of 1868 work commenced on the permanent bridge of the Union Pacific Railroad opposite the city. The completion of this road placed the city on the great trans- continental line of commerce and travel. Additional railroad communications have since been secured, both to St. Paul and Dakota, by the Sioux City & Pacific and its extensions. In 1857 the county voted to subscribe three hundred thousand dollars stock to the Mississippi & Missouri River Railroad Company. The company succeeded in getting a hundred thousand dollars of bonds, in payment of stock, issued in January, 1859, but the county judge refused to affix his signature, until public opinion became irresistible. The work was not carried on according to terms, but about $35,000 of the bonds were sold, and resulted in heavy judgements, which the county was compelled to pay; the remainder were finally surrendered to the county. The road was not completed to Council Bluffs until May 12, 1869, when the first train of cars reached the city over it. This is now known as the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad. PUBLIC BUILDINGS, ETC. A building called Hyde's New Hall was purchased for the sum of $200, in June, 1852 and used for five or six years for a court house, school house, and various other purposes. In February, 1856, the contract was let for the erection of a court house to John Hammer and C. Johnson for the sum of $42,000. Bonds of the county were issued to defray the expenses, and work commenced during the Summer, and by Winter the walls of the basement and first story were nearly completed. The work went steadily forward the following year, and late in December, 1867, the county officers were enabled to move into it. It is a fine edifice of two stories and a basement. The basement is constructed of stone, and the superstructure of brick. The style of architecture is composite, size 56,86 feet, and the cost of construction was about $50,000. On the 18th of February, 1859, the grand jury of the county presented an indictment against John H. Sherman, County Judge, in which he was charged with gross mismanagement of fiscal affairs and illegally issuing county warrants. Pending his trial an investigation was held in which it appeared that within a period of nine months he had issued $33,000 in warrants. He was tried, found guilty, and removed from office in August, 1859. At this time county warrants went as low as twenty-five cents on the dollar. Many school fund securities were found to be worthless, and it was many years before the county was enabled to emerge from the mismanagement of its affairs and recover its pecuniary credit. The Pottawattamie County Agricultural Society was organized in 1858. Caleb Baldwin, President; W. H. Kinman, Secretary, and held its first fair at Council Bluffs, on the 13th and 14th of October, which was very successful. This institution is now in a very prosperous condition. NEWSPAPERS. In 1848, Orson Hyde established at Kanesville a paper entitled the Frontier Guardian, which he continued until 1952. It was primarily devoted to the interests of the Mormon Church, and generally favored the Whigs in politics. When Hyde went to Salt Lake in 1852, he took a part of the office material with him, and the remainder went into the Bugle office. The Bugle was founded in 1850 as a Democratic paper, by A. W. Babbitt. In 1852, he sold to J. E. Johnson, who continued the publication for about four years, when he also followed his church to Salt Lake. The Bugle was a heavy sufferer in the fire of 1853, and also of the year following. The Bugle printed a daily issue for a while in 1857, but the experiment was abandoned and not resumed until the early part of the war. The Bugle was discontinued after the establishment of the Globe. The Globe was established in 1870 as a weekly, and as a daily in 1873. Published by the Glove Printing Company, and edited by J. H. Williams. The Inland Advocate is a religious paper published weekly by Knotts & Davison; Reverend P. F. Breese, editor. It was established in 1872, by Joseph Knotts. The other newspapers are the Council Bluffs Republican, published weekly by D. H. Honn. The Independent, A. M. Underhill, editor, and the Christian Expositor. The Avoca Delta is a spicy sheet published at Avoca by J. C. Adams. The first number of the Council Bluffs, Nonpariel appeared in May, 1857. It was a handsomely printed sheet of nine columns to the page, issued weekly. Maynard & Long, proprietors; William W. Maynard, editor. The daily was established in 1861. Mr. Maynard was succeeded by Mr. Burke, in 1862. He was succeeded by Maynard & Chapman, and this firm by Chapman & Walker, this by Chapman, Gray & Mill, this by Gray, Schermerhorn & Mill, which became Schermerhorn & Mill, and afterwards Schermerhorn & Smith. November 1, 1870, it was incorporated as a stock company, with John W. Chapman, President, and M. C. Schermerhorn, Thomas Treynor, and Spencer Smith joint stock-holders with him. It is now the oldest paper in Western Iowa, and operates four steam presses. The daily is published every morning except Mondays, and the weekly every Thursday; Republican in politics. The office was destroyed by fire in 1868, while the property of Chapman & Walker. A paper called the Chromotype was issued a short time in 1857, but it changed hands and became the Democratic Clarion, which was at length drowned by the Bugle, and departed in 1868. The Council Bluffs Press had a brief lease of life in 1859. The Council Bluffs Democrat, daily and weekly, made its first appearance May 3, 1868. Alfred S. Kierolf & Co., publishers; but discontinued October 31, following. CHURCHES. The first orthodox sermon preached in the county was by Reverend Wm. Rector, of Fremont County. In 1850, Reverend William Simpson, a Methodist clergyman, came into the county in pursuit of horse thieves, and was soon afterwards stationed at Kanesville, his circuit extending over Fremont, Mills and Pottawattamie Counties. Simpson, in one of his sermons, drew upon himself the wrath of Hyde by likening the Mormons to the frogs that "come out of the mouth of the dragon, and out of the mouth of the beast, and out of the mouth of the false prophet." Hyde pronounced a curse upon him and notified him that his life would be in danger if he remained. Simpson waited upon him and informed him that he would hold him responsible for all harm that might follow, and the curse was withdrawn. In 1853, the first church was erected. The Presbyterian Church was organized in 1856, and the following year a subscription was raised and the erection of a brick church commenced, which proceeded, however, only as far as the basement walls, when work was suspended until 1865, when the edifice was completed. St. Paul's Parish of the Episcopal Church was organized in April, 1856, and August 1, 1857, the corner stone of a church edifice was laid, but the work was continued no farther, and soon afterwards a wooden church building was erected on the lot, and has since been occupied by the society. The Methodist Episcopal Society laid the corner stone of their church edifice, June 14, 1866. It was completed the following year. Standing in a prominent position, a model of architectural beauty and solidity, it became the pride of the city. The Odd Fellows were the first secret society to organize here, and Council Bluffs Lodge No. 49, began its existence in November, 1853. In July, 1855, a Masonic Lodge was organized and held their first meetings in the Odd Fellow's Hall. Council Bluffs maintains excellent graded public schools, with costly and substantial school houses. The State Asylum for the Deaf and Dumb, occupies fine buildings and grounds a short distance below the city. AVOCA. This is a thriving young town and shipping point on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, about thirty-eight miles east of the Missouri River, by the line of the railroad. It was laid out in March, 1869, by B. F. Allen and others. The first house was erected by Captain W. F. Dingman, and occupied by him as a hotel. Captain C. V. Gardner and family were among the first settlers. The first sermon in the place was preached by Reverend C. W. Blodgett, a Methodist minister, in the railroad depot building. The first school was taught by B. L. Bunnell. The town has a handsome location between two branches of the Nishnabotany River about two miles above their junction. There are groves of timber convenient, and a rich and beautiful farming region extends in every direction. It has about 1,500 inhabitants, with the various advantages of a first class town, including mercantile and other business facilities, and good educational and religious privileges. There are few more promising points in Western Iowa. The business of the town comprises many good stores, and all the principal branches of mercantile trade are represented. The Avoca Bank is a substantial institution controlled by E. W. Davis. Its shipping business is important, and two or more grain elevators are in active operation. It has also a good flouring mill propelled by steam. The Methodist Episcopal, Congregational, Presbyterian, and Catholics have good churches. A substantial brick school house, well furnished is one of the ornaments of the place in which its youth are regularly instructed by excellent teachers. A move was made a short time since to have a new county created out of the eastern part of Pottawattamie with Avoca as the county seat, but from some cause it failed. WALNUT. This is a thriving town on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, about six and a half miles east of Avoca, situated on a beautiful, high rolling prairie. It has a rich, extensive farming region all around it, and for its size does a surprising amount of business. It has several stores, two grain elevators, a steam flouring mill, and a very neat school house. Mr. Hinkley, one of the first settlers, has lately opened a banking office. NEOLA is a town on the Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific Railroad, eighteen miles from Council Bluffs. MINDEN is a new town recently laid out on the railroad five miles east of Neola. WESTON is a station on the railroad in section 36, township 76, range 43, but no town is yet laid out. The other villages and post offices in the county are, Big Grove, Crescent City, Downsville, Honey Creek, Loveland, Macedonia, Parma, Taylor's Station, Waveland, Wheeler's Grove and Living Spring. COUNTY OFFICERS, 1875. JOHN BENNETT, Auditor. PERRY REEL, Treasurer. REUBEN T. BRYANT, Clerk of Courts. MICHAEL FLAMMANT, Recorder. GEORGE DOUGHTY, Sheriff. G. S. Jacobs, Superintendent. A. M. BATTELLE, Chairman Board of Supervisors.