Over the next six years Dodge distinguished himself as a general in the Civil War and in the Indian Wars, before beingappointed to oversee the construction of the railroad he described to Lincoln.A leading citizen of Council Bluffs, Dodge served as an advisor to Presidents' Lincoln, Grant, Johnson, Hayes, McKinley, Roosevelt and Taft.

Although he never technically ran for office, Dodge was elected to Congress. His elegant Victorian-style home, where five presidents were overnight guests, is now open to the public for tours. (See Council Bluffs attractions in our Travel section.)

The first railroad reached Council Bluffs in 1862, the beginning of a long and prosperous relationship that resulted in the city’s central role in railroad history. Eventually, the city would be served by seven railroads, including the great Union Pacific Railroad, and become a major mail-handling terminal for the American West. In fact, in 1954, one quarter of the city's population was supported by railroading, and Council Bluffs ranked the fifth largest railroad center in the nation.

The Union Pacific headquarters is now located in nearby Omaha, and the railroad industry is only a shell of itself. However, several attractions, including the comprehensive Union Pacific Museum, are located here, and today rail fans spur the local economy with their visits to local train-related attractions.

Early day Kanesville, home to thousands of Mormon pioneers.
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Council Bluffs was little more than a bump on the road west in 1848, a village called Kanesville, when Mormon pioneers, following Brigham Young to Salt Lake City, made it a layover town, a place where weary travelers could delay their journey, rest their bodies and raise their spirits.

And so it would be for the next 100 years, playing a role as a stopover point for millions of travelers: pioneers, prospectors, and travelers on the nation’s first transcontinental railroad. But before any of that happened, the area, situated along the bluffs of the Loess Hills, was a place where Native Americans gathered to sell furs to French traders and, later, to meet with explorers Lewis and Clark as they headed west to survey the Louisiana Purchase at the request of President Thomas Jefferson.

Council Bluffs was first known as Hart’s Bluff, named for a white man of unknown origin, who, legend says, traded in the region prior to 1824. Francis Guittar was the first permanent settler when he established residency here as an agent for the Hart’s Bluff Post of the American Fur Company.
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Council Bluffs travel hub for 150 years
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When the Potowatami Indians were moved into the area in 1837, federal troops established a temporary camp to protect them from other tribes. The Rev. Pierre Jean DeSmet, a Roman Catholic priest and missionary, established a mission here in 1838 and stayed for three years, evangelizing in a small log cabin.

Shortly thereafter, the city was renamed Miller’s Hollow, but became Kanesville in honor Thomas L. Kane in April, 1848. The Mormons who passed through never intended it to become a permanent residence for them, instead it was described as a fitting-out place, a layover town where those too poor, tired, discouraged, or unprepared could delay their journey, plant and sow crops, procure teams and outfits, an make necessary preparations," according to the first newspaper, The Guardian.

In the winter of 1856, Kanesville provided shelter for more than 30,000 Mormons en route from Nauvoo, Ill., to Salt Lake City. Kanesville Boulevard, a main thoroughfare through the eastern part of the city, memorializes the city of Kanesville, During that time, it was also a stopover for miners heading west in search of gold. Kanesville became Council Bluffs in 1853.

In 1859, Abraham Lincoln, preparing for his run for the presidency, stopped in the city. While here, he met withrailroad surveyor Grenville M. Dodge and heard a pitch to make Council Bluffs the eastern terminus of the Transcontinental Railroad.