This Random City in Iowa Was Founded By… Pilgrims?
I know what you're thinking. The Pilgrims (the ones you learned about in grade school) weren't anywhere close to Iowa when they set up shop in what would one day become the United States, right? And that's absolutely correct. But... those weren't the only pilgrims in history in search for a better life.
These pilgrims came a few centuries later, and they were also looking for a better life, but just so happened to be passing through the state of Iowa along the way. In doing so, some of them set up shop in the far-western part of the state and founded a small town of Kanesville.
The town of Kanesville no longer exists because it would later change its name to Council Bluffs. And those who call that area "home" can thank the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints for the town's existence.
Welcome to Council Bluffs, Iowa
That's right, the city of Council Bluffs was founded by Pilgrims. Sure, maybe not the pilgrims you're familiar with, but pilgrims nonetheless. By the mid-1840s, the LDS Church was on the move. Their leader, Joseph Smith was killed by a mob in Illinois a few years before and the church was not welcome in any of the Midwest states they had tried to set roots in.
Eventually, the church set their sites on Salt Lake City, in, what is now, the state of Utah. But they set up shop in several temporary towns along the way.
Kanesville was the first of these towns, founded in 1846. In fact, it was in the town of Kanesville where Brigham Young was elected as the new leader of the LDS Church.
Kanesville, a part of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was a major Latter-day settlement built up to support the thousands of Saints driven from their homes in Nauvoo, Illinois. The first pioneer wagons left Nauvoo, Illinois, in February 1846, and were greeted with constant rainfall which turned the roads to deep, nearly impassable mud. As the first pioneers reached the Missouri River on June 14, 1846, they began to establish camps. These camps grew as more people made their way across Iowa and the area became known as the Grand Encampment.
-Church of Jesus Christ Website
While the majority of the members of the Mormon Church eventually continued westward toward their permanent home in Salt Lake City, Utah, the LDS Church still has ties to the community to this very day.
These days, there is a memorial dedicated to the town's founding by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints called the Kanesville Memorial. You can see a short video on the memorial in the video clip below.
Story Sources: Church of Jesus Christ Website
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