Council Bluffs: Where the East Ended

Everyone in Council Bluffs knows something of the Abraham Lincoln/General Dodge story, but how did that meeting happen to occur?  If Council Bluffs is milepost zero of the Transcontinental Railroad, why were the tracks laid out of Omaha and the UP headquarters built there?  And why didn't the town become the size of Chicago as some predicted?  A Historical Society leader once counseled, "If you want to understand the history of Council Bluffs, then study the history of the railroads... because the two are the same thing.”  Given that, consider this video Council Bluffs History 101.  In this program Brenda Mainwaring succinctly summarizes the tale of those events that shaped the future of the metro area more than anything ever has. During her 23 years with Union Pacific Ms. Mainwaring was involved in the creation of Council Bluffs' Union Pacific Railroad Museum.  She is currently president and CEO of the Iowa West Foundation.