Accidentally Historic

We would like to acknowledge the contributions of the following:Historical Society of Pottawattamie CountyJim McMullen and Kandis Kole-Skank of the Pottawattamie County Genealogical SocietyDr. David Holcomb Dr. James KnottThe reference department at the Council Bluffs Public Library References for more information:"Hospital No. 1 Won War Cross," Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil, July 26, 1936"Glimpsing Modernity: Military Medicine in WWI," Chapter Five, by WIlliam Montgomery, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2016"Unit K the First MASH Unit," Council Bluffs Daily Nonpareil, May 20, 2016"Iowa Hospital Corps Moved with WWI," Omaha World Herald, July 2, 2017"Brief Hospital of Mobile Hospital No. 1," Journal of the Iowa State Medical Association, April 1920"One Hundred Years of Iowa Medicine," Iowa State Medical Association, 1950"The Great War: One Medic's Diary," Bob Reilly, Creighton University Magazine, Summer, 2001"Joseph Marshall Flint," Samuel Clark Harvey, Yale Journal of Biology and Medicine , March, 1945

In this episode podcast host Richard Warner looks at the distribution of Council Bluffs' squirrel population, why they are black, how rare they are, some of the local traditions and laws regarding them, and how the Pottawattamie County jail ended up with that name.

Questions and comments are always welcome.  Here's link: https://www.thehistoricalsociety.org/contact-us.html 

Things out of history aren't always what they appear. Historic figures that seem good or bad were actually every bit as complicated as we are. Even statues and monuments may have been designed to send messages other than what seems apparent. Historic General Dodge House director Tom Emmett tackles these complicated issues head on by using an incident from the Civil War that seemingly plagued General Dodge the rest of his life.

This episode was recorded March 5, 2023 at Prairie Crossing Winery https://www.prairiecrossingwine.com.  The winery is located near Treynor, Iowa, just south of state highway 92.In the episode Mr. Gray makes reference to the Grape Growers Association and its role in making southwest Iowa a strong force in in the grape industry.  You can find some photos of Prairie Crossing Winery and a brief history of the Association at https://sites.google.com/thehistoricalsociety.org/grape-growers/home.

Comments and questions are always welcome.  Contact the Historical Society at information@TheHistoricalSociety.org.  If you are interested in Council Bluffs history be sure to check our our local history videos.  Search for Council Bluffs Revealed in the YouTube search bar.  The Society also hosts a Facebook page called Council Bluffs Revealed.

Kat Slaughter is Museums Director for the Historical Society of Pottawattamie County.  She studied at the University of Wyoming, graduating in 2016 with a Bachelor's degree of History and Anthropology with an emphasis in museum studies.   Troy Stolp holds a BA from Iowa State University in Anthropology and Religious Studies, a BA from Buena Vista University in History, and an MA from UNO in History.  Troy is a teacher at Lewis Central.

The book "Lost Restaurants of Omaha" is available at The Bookworm at 2501 S. 90th in Omaha as well as Barnes & Noble at Oak View.Stay up-to-date on restaurants and things to do in the area by following Kim Reiner:Founder and owner of Oh My! Omaha - Exploring Omaha & Beyond and Let's Go IowaFollow me on Facebook, Twitter and see the pretty pictures on InstagramLet's pin stuff we'll never do! Follow me on Pinterest

Kanesville Kollectibles is located at 530 South 4th Street in Council Bluffs, Iowa.Website: kanesvillekollectibles.com

If getting there is good, getting there faster is even better, right? That seems to be the conventional wisdom, as machines are pushed to and nudged beyond their limits. It takes some brave people to test those machines, and at least on a couple of occasions Council Bluffs men were ready to accept the challenge. This podcast tells the tale of O.J. Mitchell and James Bernard Verdin, two locals that set world speed records, one on land, the other in the air.

Patrick Toscano grew up in Council Bluffs and made law enforcement his career.  In this podcast he explains how things have changed during his decades of police work and shares some of the interesting incidents he encountered.

In this episode Kelli Bello, production manager of Council Bluffs' Firehouse Letterpress, explains how Omaha became the center of movie marketing and distribution, how film advertising and the technology used to create it changed over time, and how a good amount of the printing and cinematic archival material found its way to Council Bluffs.  Firehouse Letterpress owner Larry Richling describes the collection and how he got interested in putting it together.To view some examples of the items mentioned in the podcast and the 1950 documentary about the printing process: https://www.thehistoricalsociety.org/movies.htmlQuestions, comments and suggestions for podcast guests or topics are always welcome!  You can contact us at information@TheHistoricalSociety.org.  The Society also has a YouTube channel you may enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2BijwKxeirRtL7QLnyfMzg 

John G. Woodward wasn't the first to use little people in advertising, but may well have contributed to what became a popular trend for the next couple of decades.  Buster Brown shoes had adopted a comic strip character as their advertising image a few years earlier and hired little people to play Buster in tours around the country.  This came at the time when the trend was to introduce novelty into advertising to attract consumer attention in what was becoming the highly competitive world of marketing.  Woodward's approach was different in that the company treated the Bregants with respect.  What the company called "the lightest weight and best proportioned couple in the world" were photographed in adult poses and portrayed as sophisticated, unlike Little Oscar the Chef of the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile or Sunshine Bakers promoting "the cutest midgets you ever saw." The Bregant's custom-made home was restored by Preserve Council Bluffs and is open for tours.  Find more information about the house: https://sites.google.com/thehistoricalsociety.org/pcb/home/bregant-house 

This episode looks at some Council Bluffs mysteries that have lingered through the years, yet remain unexplained.  Included are the 1977 UFO Crash at Big Lake Park, the gruesome 1926 Keeline murders at the site of today's St. Paul's Lutheran Church, the 1970 Cadillac S&S Medic Mark 1 ambulance in which 495 people died, the librarians' perpetual sitings of Julia Officer at the Carnegie Building and the unsupported staircase, and the legends surrounding the Ruth Anne Dodge Memorial, better known locally as the Black Angel.For a comprehensive review of the Ruth Anne Dodge Memorial, from its planning and construction to the scandal that led to the aborted dedication ceremony we recommend the podcast "The Black Angel's Secret" https://accidentally-historic.simplecast.com/episodes/the-black-angels-secret

This episode was shared from the On First podcast series, which details the plans and progress of the FIRST AVE project by talking with planners, historians, and civic leaders.  Other episodes include information about the Great American Rail Trail and how the corridor will once again be part of a transcontinental route, the railroad history of First Avenue, the planning processes involved, what the corridor will mean to Council Bluffs, and comments from Mayor Walsh.  To hear these podcasts search "On First" in your favorite podcast app, go to OnFirstCB.com, or at this link: https://www.councilbluffs-ia.gov/2416/On-FIRST-Podcast

Those living near the Missouri River are accustomed to periodic devastating floods, but neighbors to the normally docile Nishnabotna River were caught unawares in 1958.  One woman was swept away in her front yard, but was able to grab onto a tree trunk being swept down with her. She passed to two more trees, and ended up nearly forty miles away from her home. Another group was known as the Lucky 13. Thirteen people clung to an oil tanker truck as they held two children out of the water and pushed away debris with a rake so that it didn't tip the truck. In this podcast Iowa historian and author joins Accidentally Historic host Dr. Richard Warner to tell the truly amazing story of this largely forgotten Southwest Iowa tragedy. Find more stories, books and podcasts by Mr. Brassard at www.johnbrassardjr.com 

When General Grenville Dodge passed away, tens of thousands braved a blustery winter day to turn out and pay their respects.  When Ruth Anne Dodge died a couple of years later the Dodge daughters wanted their mother to be remembered at that same level, so nationally known sculptor Daniel Chester French was commissioned to create a memorial.  The planned dedication was to be grand affair, with prominent dignitaries from around the country and a city-wide celebration.  But when the piece was finally done, there was no public ceremony at all.  The reason for the dramatic change of plans has long been unknown, until discovered by Dodge researcher Robert Svacina.  In this podcast Svacina explains the motivation for the memorial, how it was built, and why the Dodge family became embarrassed by it when it was all done.

Men may have done the survey work and laid the track, but there's a lot more to a railroad than steel rails and flanged wheels.  In this episode, author and western researcher Chris Enss describes the role women have played in railroading, dating from the industry's earliest times. Women were among the first telegraphers, as well as inventors of game-changing devices like the crossing gate and refrigerator car, plus creators of a myriad of inventions and means to make travel more safe and comfortable. Some worked to create a mystic allure of the West as a destination, building an interest in vacation train travel, even serving as railroad-employed tour guides at the destination. Not all women involved with the trains were on the railroad payroll, but the robbers and ladies of negotiable virtue all fit into the story as well. Chris Enss is a New York Times best selling author who has written over fifty books about women of the West, and was the recipient of the Will Rogers Medallion Award for best nonfiction Western for 2015.  Chris Enss book on this subject is called "Iron Women" and is available on Amazon.

The West intrigued many artists.  The challenge for those seeking to use their work as a historical record 150 years later is differentiating between what was artistic license versus reality.  Thanks to the cook hired for the railroad surveying party of Grenville Dodge, Council Bluffs and Omaha are extremely fortunate.  George Simons was a self-taught artist, thus not influenced by the artist methods directed by the art schools of the day.  As a folk artist, his style was to document things as he saw them, remarkably free of embellishments.  Simons provided the earliest pictorial record of Council Bluffs and Omaha, and one that is apparently quite accurate.  In the episode Council Bluffs artist Andrew Peters and Historic General Dodge House director Tom Emmett discuss the style, significance and legacy of George Simons work, as well as the man himself.  Mr. Peters severs on the board of directors of PACE (Pottawattamie Arts, Culture & Entertainment); Mr. Emmett severs on the board of directors of Preserve Council Bluffs.  A short video overview of this presentation can be found on the Historical Society of Pottawattamie County's YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2BijwKxeirRtL7QLnyfMzg.  Photographs of many of the sketches and paintings mentioned are in the collection of the Council Bluffs Public Library and can be viewed online at https://www.flickr.com/photos/cbpl/albums/72157625464657773.

Seeking a safer occupation following an rail yard accident that cost him the tip of a finger, John G. Woodward began work at a Council Bluffs candy store. He eventually bought it, and grew the company into the largest candy manufacturing operation in the West.  In this podcast, Richard Warner of the Historical Society of Pottawattamie County, traces the history of the company, including the claim they were the inventors of the Butter Brickle flavor and that Omaha's Blackstone Hotel was the first to use this to make Butter Brickle ice cream.  The podcast also explores possible reasons such a successful company would close so suddenly, what happened to their recipes, and their advertising icons, Jean and Inze Bregant, Council Bluffs "little people."   Read more and see some photos with the Historical Society's History Online story: https://sites.google.com/thehistoricalsociety.org/woodward-candy/ufo

Seasonal haunted houses appeared on the local scene about fifty years ago, initially fund raisers for a variety of groups and causes.  Youth For Christ, Campus Life, March of Dimes, the Jaycees, and the Historical Society were early participants.  From church basements and abandoned buildings to semi truck trailers in parking lots, haunted houses proliferated by the 1980s.  Generally staffed by youthful volunteers intent on making their particular character and their venue as scary as possible, the endeavor brought together imagination, creativity and theatrics to become something of an art form in its own right.Safety standards imposed following a 1980s tragedy in New Jersey escalated costs, forcing some small players out of the business, to be replaced by commercial operators.  The better financial position of the latter allowed for investment in more elaborate displays and equipment.  This, coupled with technology developments of the past decade, have made the modern haunted houses in many ways quite different from their predecessors, but some tried-and-true techniques can always be counted on for a scare.Haunted House historians Doug Kabourek and Brian Corey reminisce about Council Bluffs and Omaha’s early haunted houses, describe what makes a haunted house work, and discuss the allure they have had for young people and why that age demographic is expanding.  Doug has used what he has learned over the years to create a haunted house in his basement.  Designed to simulate the experience of the houses of the 1980s, it is called “Sunday Bloody Sunday.”  Find more information at https://www.facebook.com/sundaybloodysunday.Doug Kabourek also maintains a website the chronicles the haunted houses of Council Bluffs and Omaha at www.WickedPlaza.comBrian Corey hosts a horror movie, paranormal, and spooky podcast call Necronomicast at www.necronomicast.comPLEASE NOTE: DUE TO COVID MANY HAUNTED HOUSE ATTRACTIONS DID NOT OPEN FOR THE 2020 SEASON.

Perched atop one of the highest hills, Council Bluffs' first high school building in 1870 reflected the city’s optimism as much as it did society’s expectations of education. The towering building had a chapel, but no facilities for practical training; there was no sports equipment, yet ample rifles and live ammunition to arm all students. In this episode Historical Society member Michael Winchester explores the city's first high school building and why it quickly fell out of use, the struggle over where to rebuild, how Abraham Lincoln High School’s first principal, Gerald W. Kirn, came to define the school he ruled for over a quarter century plus how changing societal expectations influenced design and remodeling of the new building while along the way creating a new stage in life called adolescence.  Intriguing bits of trivia pop up along the way, including a football field that wasn’t quite long or wide enough, why the ROTC drill room was left with a dirt floor, the district's lack of concerned over a fifty percent dropout rate, and a system of secret tunnels discovered by students but unknown to the administration.Michael Winchester has served as vice-president of the Council Bluffs school board.  He and fellow school board member Michael O'Bradovich were subjects of a story on the television program “60 Minutes” in 1976 when host Mike Wallace interviewed them about their status as the youngest elected public officials in the United States and their interest in preserving the city’s old school buildings.  A graduate of Creighton University’s law school, Mr. Winchester served nearly thirty years as an Omaha city prosecutor and is now semi-retired.  He has been inducted into Abraham Lincoln High School’s Hall of Fame.Comments, questions and suggestions are welcome at information@TheHistoricalSociety.org.

The “squirrel cage” jail in Council Bluffs, Iowa is unique in many ways. The largest of a rare 19th century design that featured a cell block that rotated, the 1885 former Pottawattamie County jail has increasingly come under scrutiny as a site of robust paranormal activity. Occurrences that were difficult to explain date to its early days as a jail.  In modern times, teams of paranormal investigators have conducted tests with positive results.  The building was featured on Travel Channel's Ghost Adventures, Serial Killer Spiritsmini series in 2019.In this episode, host Richard Warner talks with Historical Society vice-president J.W. LeMaster, Society Museums Director Kat Slaughter, and Sarah Stream, member of the Paranormal Research Institute and investigative team Paranormania.  The trio discuss why the history of this building makes it particularly likely as site of activity, what types of evidence are being found, how investigations are undertaken, equipment needed, and tips for those new to the field that might want to participate in a paranormal event or investigation.  For more information or to contact the Historical Society go to the website www.TheHistoricalSociety.org. You can view the jail’s segment of the Travel Channel’s Ghost Adventures, Serial Killer Spiritsmini series on the Travel Channel’s page  https://www.travelchannel.com/shows/ghost-adventures/episodes/serial-killer-spirits-axe-killer-jail or on IMDb at https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10938858/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2

As one of the earliest and largest railroad centers of the Midwest, it’s not surprising Council Bluffs would right at at the forefront of train robberies as well. The first moving train to ever be robbed left from Council Bluffs. Another train robbery in a Bluffs rail yard netted over $3,500,000; a tidy sum in 1920, and triggered copycat deeds all across the country. Not all local robbers fared well; another’s bullet-ridden body was put on display, becoming quite a popular public curiosity. This episode, written by historian Ryan Roenfeld, tells the tales of these three robberies that had ties to Council Bluffs.

It has to be one of the Omaha area’s greatest “rags-to-riches” stories. Radio station Sweet 98 (KQKQ-FM) became hugely popular, for 25 years dominating the Omaha metro ratings as the area’s first personality-driven FM music station, kicking off with “Breakfast Flakes” Mark Evans and Dick Warner in the summer of 1980. Known for its nonstop promotions, high dollar giveaways, and colorful, opulent studio appearing somewhat like a spaceship, its origin was considerably more humble. The station was in poor economic shape when owner John Mitchell came up with a plan to completely reinvent it, switching the progressive, album-oriented format to popular Top 40 music. The transformation was extensive and involved an almost complete staff turnover. Just three people were retained from the old station to become part of the new Sweet 98, which started in a converted apartment building at 36th and West Broadway in Council Bluffs. This podcast brings those three together. Kevin Kassera (“Special K”), Dick Warner, and Bob Warner talk and reminisce about the conditions leading up to the format change and the beginning of Sweet 98.FInd photos at: https://www.facebook.com/pg/Council-Bluffs-Revealed-281093015390863/photos/?tab=album&album_id=1429948487171971

Young ladies find love at Lake Manawa— an upscale resort with dance pavilions, an amusement park, galas and entertainment.  It's a romantic and beautiful place; but how much of that setting for the Lake Manawa series novels actually ever existed?  Author Lorna Seilstad explains her characters and their adventures may be fiction, but the setting for the adventures is very much real.  Making Waves,  A Great Catch, and The Ride of Her Life take place in the "glory years" of Lake Manawa's days as a resort, the late 1800s and early 20th Century.  Learn more about the books and other works by Lorna Seilstad at her website, www.lornaseilstad.com.  If you want to explore Lake Manawa yourself you can download a brochure that uses GPS coordinates to take you where the various attractions of the past were located at http://www.thehistoricalsociety.org/history-online/lake-manawa.html 

    Buildings that revolve or that have portions that do have been a dream for centuries, but generally never moved past the design stage.  The rotary cell jail was very real.  Touted as cost effective, modern, and escape-proof the concept spread quickly throughout the Midwest. Mechanization was coming of age; invention of the telephone and building of the transcontinental railroad fostered the notion man could solve any problem with his innovations.     Nationally the enthusiasm for the rotary jails waned almost as quickly as it had spread. Decried as inhumane and dangerous, most were rapidly dismantled or converted to more traditional cells.  Perhaps the most unique thing about the rotary cell jail in Council Bluffs is how long is lasted.  Despite repeated efforts to close it, the “Squirrel Cage” remained the Pottawattamie County jail for 84 years.   Learn more about Council Bluffs' unique jail at www.TheHistoricalSociety.org and join us on Facebook at Squirrel Cage Jail of Pottawattamie County, Iowa.

Find more information about Council Bluffs and Pottawattamie County history on our website at www.TheHistoricalSociety.org and on our Facebook page, Council Bluffs Revealed.