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.
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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…