Directory of the city of Council Bluffs and emigrants' guide to the gold regions of the west, 1866, Part 1

Author: Burke, W. S; State Historical Society of Iowa
Publication date: 1866
Publisher: Council Bluffs, Iowa : Nonpareil Print Co.
Number of Pages: 80

USA > Iowa > Pottawattamie County > Council Bluffs > Directory of the city of Council Bluffs and emigrants' guide to the gold regions of the west, 1866 > Part 1

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DIRECTORY

OF THE

CITY OF COUNCIL BLUFFS

AND

EMIGRANTS' GUIDE

TO THE

GOLD REGIONS OF THE WEST.

W. S. BURKE.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, IOWA: NONPAREIL PRINTING COMPANY. 1866.

LIBRARY

VEN alhe

COUNCIL BLUFFS.

Council Bluffs, in Pottawattamie County, is the largest town on the Western slope of Iowa, and is situated on the Missouri River, about eight hundred miles above St- Louis. The first permanent white settlement on the site of the present town, was made by the Mormons in 1846, after they left Nauvoo, Ill., and many of the log huts which were then built by the "Saints," are still to be seen.

Very soon after its settlement, "Kanesville," as the town was originally called, came to be a place of consid- erable importance as an outfitting point for California emigrants. The favorable location of the town upon the great thoroughfare between the Eastern States and the Pacific, and the fact that it was the farthest point on this line that could be reached by steamboats, very naturally attracted to "Kanesville" the attention of capitalists, and those in search of a "location ;" and as a consequence, there was soon a large influx cf strangers-"Gentiles"- whom the "Saints" regarded with considerable jealousy.

In the Spring of 1852, the Mormons left "Kanesville" and started across the plains for Utah. They sold off their property-buildings, lands, house hold furniture, (those who were fortunate enough to possess any,) at what ever prices buyers might offer, and with a six 2550

iv.

Council Bluffs.

months' supply of provisions, they loaded their ox-wagons and hand-carts, and the church started for "Zion."

From the time of the Mormon exodus may be dated the solid growth of the town.

The name of "Kanesville" was dropped, and the place was incorporated by special Act of the Legislature, as the city of "Council Bluffs." The Mormon claims had been purchased by energetic men, who at once set to work tear- ing down the rude temporary habitations of the "Saints," and erected good buildings in their stead. From this time forward, the population and trade of the city have steadily and rapidly increased, until Council Bluffs now ranks, in point of business and wealth, as one of the first-class cities of Iowa.

The population of the town, by the census of 1860, was a little over two thousand, and at this time, December, 1865, is estimated at four thousand. This rate of increase during the prevalence of a great war, is the strongest argu- ment in favor of Council Bluffs that could be adduced .- The aggregate of the business of 1864 is estimated at three millions of dollars. The great bulk of this trade is with the mining districts of the West. Thousands of emi- grants for Colorado, Nevada, Idaho, Oregon and Montana fit out at this point every spring, for their journey across the plains. Aside from the trade with the passing "pilgrims," freighters' trains leave almost daily during the spring and summer, with large cargoes of groceries, flour, bacon and other supplies for the Western market. Large numbers of horses, mules and oxen are also annually sold in the same direction. The pork trade is just beginning to attract attention, and promises fair to become, at an early day, an important branch of business. Two large packing establishments have recently been erected, and will com-

Council Bluffs.

pare favorably, in point of completeness and capacity, with any like establishment in the State. During the year ending December 31st, 1864, about twenty thousand hogs were slaughtered and packed, worth, in round figures, two hundred thousand dollars. A part of this pork finds a market in the South, by the Missouri River, and the remainder is transported to the West. Bacon, grain, and in fact the great bulk of all the surplus products of this section seek a market in the West, and as long as the mines of the great Rocky Mountain country continue to yield the precious metals in quantities sufficient to remu- nerate the laborer for his toil, the non-producing thousands of those regions must be fed from the bountiful harvests that never fail upon the fertile plains of Iowa.

It is generally conceded that the demands of trade will' ultimately build up a great commercial centre on the Mis - souri River, somewhere near this point. Many facts, which it is not necessary here to enumerate, point unmis- takably to this. If the reader will take the map of the United States he will observe that there are two chains of great cities, about equal distances apart, stretching across the country from east to west ; St. Louis is at present the pioneer city on the south line, and Chicago on the north. By continuing the line westward from Chicago it will be seen that one more uniform stride of the giant Progress will leave a foot-print upon the bank of the Missouri River. Admitting that we are the proper dis- tance westward from Chicago for the building up of a great city, many will inquire what there is in our location north and south, to point to this place as a future trade center. In reply to this, we would merely point to the Platte Valley and the Pacific Railroad-the two great highways, of nature and art, from the Missouri River to

vi.

Council Bluffs.

the Rocky Mountains, and the connecting links between the eastern and western slopes of the Continent - both immediately west of this point. Where the Pacific Rail- road, and the valley of the Platte, strike the Missouri River, the laws of trade will demand and build up a city which will become a commercial center to all the region of country for hundreds of miles around, and at this junction the town of Council Bluffs is located.

But many persons, after examining these facts, and admitting that natural advantages and the laws of trade must inevitably build up a great city at this point on the Missouri, will tell us "your town is on the wrong side of the river - big cities are always built on the west bank of great streams." That big cities are, generally, built upon the west banks of great streams we are ready to admit, but will any of those who would cite this obstacle in the way of the future growth of Council Bluffs, inform them- selves why the fact exists as stated ? It must be the effect of some controlling cause, for a city will not grow faster and larger on one side of the river than on the other side, unless there is some commercial reason for it, and if those who make use of this argument will inform themselves what those reasons and causes are, and will bear in mind, at the same time, that the surplus products of this region seek a market west instead of east, they will see that the rules which regulate the growth of cities on the Missis- sippi, and east of that stream, are here reversed.

We can not better illustrate this point, than in borrow- ing the language of a writer in the Nonpareil :

" As I view the matter, all the causes which serve to build up the cities on the west bank of the Mississippi River, are here, on the Missouri, reversed. Let us see : There, the producing country from which they derive

vii.

Council Bluffs.

their support, is west of them, and their markets east. The railroads receive their freights from the country west of the river -their tonnage eastward being many times that of the westward bound. To secure these freights, the railroad companies make their receiving depots on the west side, establish their own ferries, and assume the labor and risk of transferring the property. The river is a barrier to the producer on the west side, who may desire to offer his load in the streets of the town on the east side. Trade, and the competition attending it, is therefore thrown into the streets of the cities on the west side. Granaries, elevators, store-houses and packing- houses must be, and are, built to receive, and hundreds of men employed to handle, the grain, pork, &c. Merchants and manufacturers here find sale for their goods and wares, and the artizan a demand for the exercise of his skill. As those railroads have extended westward, those cities have increased. How will it be with Council Bluffs ? Here the producing country is east of the Missouri River, and the market west of it - and will remain so for many years. As the prices of grain, flour, pork and produce increase with the distance eastward of the Mississippi, so do they increase, but in a greater ratio, with the distance westward from this.

"For many years to come, the production of food west of the Missouri River will be altogether inadequate to the supply. Indeed, almost the entire demand must be supplied from the rich agricultural districts east of the Missouri, for an indefinite time to come. It is hardly possible that the entire productions of the whole State of Iowa will be sufficient to supply this demand, and we therefore confidently predict, that the day will come when flour and pork will be transported from Illinois to the

viii.

Council Bluffs.

States of Colorado and Idaho. Do the pork-packers and millers of Council Bluffs even now look to the eastward for a market? Certainly not. At least nine-tenths of the pork, bacon, hams and lard, from the thirty or forty thousand hogs slaughtered here during the present season, will go to the west. Why is it that the prices of flour and pork are never lower, and frequently higher, here, than in Chicago? Because already the market for the surplus productions of Western Iowa is west of the Missouri River.

" While, from the railroad points on the Mississippi, the great preponderance of freight is to the eastward, there is yet a large amount of merchandise brought westward; but here, at the great centralizing point on the Missouri - right here at Council Bluffs, the point of connection with the Pacific Railroad - all the freights, produce and mer- chandise, will come from the east, and be carried west- ward.

"Thus it will be seen that all the causes, and more, which operate to build up large cities on the west bank of the Mississippi River, are combined to stimulate the growth of towns on the east bank of the Missouri. By a law of trade, as immutable as any law of nature, cities built upon great streams, will be built upon the side from which the surplus products of the country are received."

This view of the case not only holds good theoretically, but is supported by the logic of facts and figures - argu- ments that can not be controverted. The reader is not asked to rely upon our predictions of what is to come, any further than is supported by existing facts: Council Bluffs is now growing in wealth and population at a rate only excelled by the miraculous growth of Chicago, and the construction of buildings for stores, work-shops, man-

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Council Bluffs.

ufactories and residences, is only followed by a greater demand for more. During the year which is now closing, all of our mechanics have been taxed to the utmost of their energies to keep pace with the demands upon their labor and skill, and, though more work has been done during the year than in any other town of equal popula- tion in the West, the demand for all kinds of buildings was never before as great as it is to-day. Already arrangements have been made, and contracts let, for the construction of more buildings, during the coming year, than our present force of mechanics can possibly com- plete; by this fact it will be seen that our greatest difficulty is the scarcity of labor. The money is here, and our capitalists are ready and anxious to put it into build- ings - they are only waiting for men to do the work. Therefore, we say to artisans, of all trades, you may be assured of abundant work, and at the best wages, by coming here. In the past year our mechanical force has increased about twenty-five per cent., but during the same time the demand for labor has increased nearly one bun- dred per cent. Thus, it will be seen, there is no danger of over-stocking the market - Ict every body come who will - there is plenty for all -if our force of mechanics and laborers should be doubled in the next three months, there would not be a man more than will be needed.

The Railroad prospects of Council Bluffs are better at this time than those of any other town in the West. As is well known to every person in the country, the eastern terminus of the central branch of the great Pacific Rail- road was located by President Lincoln on the western border of Iowa, at Council Bluffs, and the importance of connecting with this great thoroughfare across the conti- nent is drawing to this point all the railroads building 2

Council Bluffs.

across the State of Iowa; in fact, nearly all the roads projected to the Missouri River, through this State, have already changed their proposed lines to make their west- crn termini at Council Bluffs. Some of these roads are being pushed forward as rapidly as capital and labor can build them, and but a short time will elapse before trains will arrive and depart, to and from this point, by two or more of our eastern railroads. The Chicago and North Western Railroad, owned and managed by one of the heaviest companies in the United States, which was pro- jected on an air-line from Chicago to the. Missouri River, striking at a point opposite De Soto, N. T., has run a new survey, within the past three months, and changed the point of its western terminus to Council Bluffs. This road is now built and running to the Des Moines River, one hundred and thirty miles from Council Bluffs - a large amount of the work of grading, bridging, &c., has been done west of the Des Moines, and the entire road will be completed and in running order to Council Bluffs in time for the spring business of 1867.

The Council Bluffs and St. Joseph Road, running up and down the river, which has been projected for a num- ber of years, has had new life infused into it by the commencement of work on the Pacific Road. A contract for completing the line to this city by the 1st of January, 1867, has recently been let to responsible parties, and there is now a lively contest between this road and the one above mentioned, for the honor and profit of being the first to reach Council Bluffs. There is no doubt the con- tractors on this road will have it completed before the expiration of their contract.

The Mississippi and Missouri Road, connecting. at Davenport with the Chicago and Rock Island Road, and

xi.

Council Bluffs.

running thence directly across the State of Iowa to Council Bluffs, has recently been transferred to another company, of ample capital ; and as a large land grant has been made by the United States to this road, contingent upon its early completion, it will now be pushed forward with energy.

A company has recently been organized at Des Moines, representing all the capital of that city, for the purpose of building a read from that point to Council Bluffs. This road will be built without delay, for every interest of Des Moines imperatively demands a connection with the Pacific and other roads centering at this place.

The Burlington and Missouri River Road, crossing the State on the tier of counties south of this, and tapped by two other important roads - the Keokuk and Minnesota, and North Missouri -has its terminus, ostensibly, at a point eighteen miles south of this place; but, of course, its interests will not permit it to halt at that short distance from a connection with the west; hence, the fact that it will come immediately to Council Bluffs, admits of no more doubt than that it will be built across the State.

Here, then, we have six railroads centering at Council Bluffs: one on the west -the Union Pacific; one on the south -the Council Bluffs and St. Joseph; and four on the east-the North Western, the Des Moines and Council Bluffs, the Mississippi and Missouri, and' Burlington and Missouri. These roads will not all be completed imme- diately ; but within a year, or eighteen months at farthest, three of them will be in running order, carrying freight and passengers to and from the Metropolis of the Mis- souri Valley.

xii.

Council Bluffs.

Not upon idle speculation, or imaginable contingencies, but upon facts, such as we have here enumerated, do we base our predictions of the future growth, prosperity, wealth and greatness of COUNCIL BLUFFS.

CHAPTER II.

INDUCEMENTS TO SETTLERS.

We not only need mechanics, laborere, tradesmen, and men of all occupations, to supply the rapidly increasing demands of our town, but we need farmers to fill up our country. Pottawattamie is one of the largest counties in the West, and contains at this time about as much vacant land, if thrown together in one body, as would make a- district as large as the State of Rhode Island. And this is not refused or worthless land - there is none such in the county - but it is all as rich as can be found on the continent; it is just such land, as the records of our fairs show, can be made to yield, by proper cultivation, ninety bushels of wheat, or one hundred and ten bushels of corn, to the acre. Such lands can be purchased, within a con- venient distance of the town, at prices ranging from two to ten dollars per acre, and the wild lands of the prairie can be turned into farms by one year's work. If a man should have an opportunity to purchase a farm within ten miles of Chicago, at five dollars an acre, he would not eat nor sleep until he had secured it-he would regard it as a chance to secure a fortune to himself and children; yet such bargains can be had in this county by the thousand, and any man who will take the trouble to consider the matter for half an hour, will see that Council Bluffs is

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Directory of the city of Council Bluffs and emigrants' guide to the gold regions of the west, 1866, Part 1

Author: Burke, W. S; State Historical Society of Iowa Publication date: 1866 Publisher: Council Bluffs, Iowa : Nonpareil Print Co. Number of Pages: 80

Author: Burke, W. S; State Historical Society of Iowa
Publication date: 1866
Publisher: Council Bluffs, Iowa : Nonpareil Print Co.
Number of Pages: 80