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Mills County, in the southwest corner of the state
with an area of 441 square miles, is one of 99 counties in the "Hawkeye
State."
(Map Source: USGS/GNIS)
Topography
The western one-fourth of the county follows the
irregular course of the Missouri River and is at the level of the
flood plain about three to seven miles wide. This belt of bottom land
ends on the east in a range of bluffs with valleys and ravines. The
uplands are high and rolling. Several streams course through the
county: West Nishnabotna, Silver Creek, Wahabonsie and Keg Creek.
The county is bisected from northeast to southwest by the West
Nishnabotna River. It is fed by three smaller tributaries: Indian Creek, Silver
Creek, Mud Creek and some smaller streams.
The county is bounded by the Missouri River (Sarpy, Nebraska) to
the west, Fremont County on the south; Pottawattamie county on the
north and Montgomery county to the east. Visit our Neighbors
Mills County Population
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1860 - 4,481
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1870 - 8,738
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1880 -14,137
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1890 -14,548
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1900 -16,764
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~ source: Historical Trends of the Population in Iowa Counties
1850-1990, Sandra Charvat Burke and Willis Goudy - Iowa State
University
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Mills County of
Days Past
The history of Mills County includes the:
organization of
the county, early settlers,
organization of
townships and early transportation of the
county.
Organization of Mills
County
The Mormons who left Nauvoo, Illinois in 1846,
established a settlement, Rushville, along Keg Creek southwest of
present day Glenwood. Rushville died almost as soon as it was born.
When the Mormons moved westward, Rushville became known as
Coonsville, in honor of the first physician of the community, Dr.
Liberius T. Coon, who settled there in 1848 but later moved to
Harrison County.
Mills County was named in honor of Lt. Frederick Mills, a young
officer from Burlington, IA who was killed in the Mexican War. The
county was originally attached to Pottawattamie County but the
general election of 1851 started the process for forming the county.
The first District Court was held Oct. 1851 in Coonsville (now
Glenwood); James Sloan, a Mormon from Pottawattamie County, presided.
The county officers elected in the 1851 general election included
William Smith, county judge; W.W. Noyes, clerk of district court; and
James Hardy, sheriff.
The name of the county seat was changed in 1853 from Coonsville to
Glenwood. The first courthouse was a small building originally in the
center of the Public Square in Glenwood, now the west side of the
Glenwood Square. In 1857 a new courthouse was built. The old building
was used as: a general store, a wagon makers and carpenters shop, an
opera house, a public hall, an ice cream parlor, a harness shop and
finally a barber shop before being torn down in 1895 to make way for
the new Burlington Bank Building. The new courthouse was built in the
center of the town square. This building served the county for over
100 years before the present courthouse was built in 1957.
(Source: Andreas Atlas
County History, p. 490-1; The History of Mills County, 1985)
See
Organization of
Townships
Earliest Settlers
The earliest settlers were probably the Earth Lodge
Indians about. 900 A.D. The Pottawattamies were well established in
Mills and Fremont Counties until the Federal Government ordered them
to move to Kansas in 1842. Chief Waubonsie refused to leave and
remained on his land until his death.
Another man who became identified with the county's earlier
history was a missionary to the Pawnees, Henry Allis/Alice. He was
known to have been in Trader's Point in 1836.
Col. Peter A. Sarpy was the first who remained in the area for any
length of time before 1846. In 1836 he was trading with the Indians
on both the Iowa and Nebraska sides of the river. He laid out the
town of St. Mary on the Missouri bottom below the mouth of Mosquito
Creek. His French Catholic heritage and that of his followers is
reflected in the name of the town. The original St. Mary was washed
away by the currents of the Missouri River.
1846 Mormon Influx
The Mormon exodus from Nauvoo, Illinois, lead them
across Mills County where they established a settlement, Rushville,
along Keg Creek southwest of Glenwood. They also stopped at
Kanesville (now Council Bluffs), Silver Creek, and Traders Point.
The first child born in Oct. 1846 was Andrew J. Stuart/Stewart,
the son of A.J. and Eunice Stuart who moved on to Salt Lake City. The
first death in the area was also a Mormon. A limestone slab records
"J. Eastman, died April 10, 1847, aged 60 years" near the ruins of
Rushville.
William Britain/Brittain has been identified as the oldest and
first settler in the county. Later in the same year others came to
present day Lyons Twp. Joseph Harker and George Gates built log
cabins in the southwest part of the county, near where Egypt was, and
these are supposed to be the oldest houses erected. Caroline L.
Brittain, born 12 January 1847, was the first child born in the
county to parents who became permanent settlers.
Another party of Mormon
travelers stopped at Silver Creek Grove
in the Fall of 1847 and made a temporary settlement in Cutler's Camp
between Malvern and Silver City where Alpheus Cutler built a grist
mill that supported the travelers.
(Source: Illustrated
Historical Atlas of the State of Iowa, 1875; History of Mills
County, 1895; The History of Mills County, 1985)
Organization of
Townships
The first records indicate that by March 1853, five
townships had been established: Council Bluffs, Plattville,
Rawles, Silver Creek and West Liberty. A county court
order March 18,1853, established Montgomery Township,
territory east of Nishnabotna River. On February 27 1855, Silver
Creek was divided to create Ingraham Township but the order was
rescinded March 14, 1855.
On January 21, 1856 White Cloud was created in township 72,
range 41. Nishnabotna was established March 7, 1856 in
township 73, range 40 plus three tiers of sections from the east side
of township 43, range 41.
All townships were reorganized February 16, 1857.
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Township and Location |
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Lyons -Twp 71, range 43
Plattville - Twp 72, range 43
St. Marys, in place of Council Bluff - Twp 73, range 44 & part of 43
Rawles - Twp 71, range 42
Glenwood, replacing West Liberty - Twp 72, range 42
(west half) plus Twp 72, range 43
Oak - Twp 43 & west half of 73, range 42
Silver Creek - Twp 72, range 41 (west half) plus Twp 72,
range 42 (east half)
Ingraham - Twp 73, range 41 (east half) & Twp 73, range 42
(east half)
Indian Creek, replacing Montgomery - Twp 72, range 40 & Twp 72, range 41
(east half except sections 34-36)
Mud Creek, replacing Nishnabotna Twp 73, range 40 & Twp 73,
range 41
(east half)
White Cloud - Twp 71, range
44 & 41 plus section
In January 1861 Mud Creek was
changed to Union Twp. but amended to be Anderson Township.
Center Township, Twp
72, range 42, was created January 9, 1879.
The last change was made July 6, 1880
when Silver Creek was divided into Silver Creek and Malvern (city of Malvern).
~ source: History of
Mills County, 1895 |
Transportation
Stagecoach
The Indian trails gave way to paths for the Mormon
travellers and land seekers. During the 1840's and 1850's, the trail
through Coonsville supported the Western Stage Line from Kanesville
(now Council Bluffs) to the Plumer Inn east of Silver City, on to the
Hoyt House enroute to St. Joseph, Missouri and points south. Later
this would be a route that the railroads took to cross the plains
into other territories.
During the Civil War the Underground Railway was active. Covered
wagons with runaway slaves stopped at the Hoyt House, east of
Hastings, to rest before proceeding to the home of the Widow Shinn,
east of Macedonia.
Ferries
One of the earliest ferries in Mills County was at
White Cloud, across the Nishnabotna River, operated by a Mr. Hill.
In 1846, Col. Peter Sarpy established the first ferry over the
Missouri River at Trader's Point which was used by the Mormon
travelers. In 1853 he ran the first steam ferry at Trader's Point.
Samuel Martin operated a ferry in 1852 at Plattsville, near the mouth
of the Platte River. In 1854 Col. J.L. Sharpe established a ferry at
Bethlehem, sometimes called East Plattsmouth. Modern bridges made
ferries a thing of the past.
Some ferries depended on the river current and frequently landed
downstream from the intended point. Passengers may have helped pole
or push them across the river. Other ferries used a long cable
stretched across the river with pulleys attached to the flatboat.
Rates were set by the courts. Typical ferry rates were wagon and
two horses-$1.00; wagon and four horses-$1.50; footman-$0.10;
horseman-$0.50; sheep/head-$0.05; cattle/head-$.010.
Trains
The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad built
lines across the county in 1867 running east and west. Branch lines
for this railroad included the Tabor and Northern, the Sidney-Carson
Branch with headquarters at Hastings, and the Wabash route to St.
Louis. The Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs Railroad ran
north and south. Gradually branch lines died out. Today the C.B.
& Q. has become the Burlington Northern Line and the Tabor and
Northern Railroad is called the Colorado and Eastern.
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