Genealogy Trails
Pottawattamie County, Iowa

Mr. Shinn lived in the Carson/Macedonia area of Pottawattamie County, Iowa. He was a lawyer by occupation and a relative of Moses Shinn.

The roads from the east line of Pottawattamie County to Council Bluffs followed the ridges in order to avoid the sloughs and hills. The only bridges along the old stage road were constructed over Jordan, Graybill, Mud, Silver, Keg, Pony and Mosquito Creeks. Also across the Nishnabotna River. Graybill Creek appears upon all of the old maps of the state and now appears upon the map of this county as Graybill Creek. At Wheeler's Grove and Macedonia and vicinity, it has always been called Second Creek. Where there are now bridges from ten to forty feet in length, there was water running through the grass and these places were called sloughs. After the prairie sod would become broken in these road crossing, worn by the wagon travel, it made it difficult to haul heavy loads through; oxen could take loads though and across these sloughs much easier than horses; mules with their small hoofs would mire down and were of but little service in taking loads to market.

The bridges across the creeks before named were built and maintained by the Western Stage Co. and the settlers, except across Mosquito Creek and “Lousy” as Indian Creek running through the city of Council Bluffs was called. The county judge seemed to apply all the bridge fund in building bridges in the vicinity of the city. The farmers would go into the timber and cut the tallest slender trees from twenty five to thirty feet long and would put them across the creek, the longer one would be put down stream and the shorter one up; the upper log would be placed near the water and the lower log be two feet above the water; they would then fasten heavy poles with wooden pegs to these stringers or logs, cover them with light brush and finish them up with a covering of prairie sod. When the water would rise it would run over the bridge as the bridge had more the appearance of a dam than a bridge. The banks would be graded down, but were always very steep and when the farmers would take their heavy loads of produce to Council Bluffs they would go in pairs in order that they might be able to "double team" where the pulls were the hardest, it being almost impossible for a single team to pull a load up the banks and through the sloughs. The farmers frequently had to pull the stage coaches out of these sloughs when they became mired down, the passengers would have to get out of the vehicle when they pulled across the creeks and bridges and sloughs and walk.

The bridges were maintained by the Western Stage Co. and the settlers until the fall of 1858 when John Sherman, then county judge, let contracts to build bridges across all the creeks from Pony to Jordan Creek. County warrants on all of the various funds of the county were selling at forty cents on the dollar. In letting the contract and paying for the work he issued warrants sufficient to cover the contract price, plus the discount. In other words, it took $1,000 worth of warrants to pay for a $400 job. But by that means securing bridges that were above the highwater mark, there was no complaint upon the part of the residents of the county about the issuing of warrants at a 60 percent discount.

The Western Stage Co. first ran their coaches over the south road, crossing the line of the county six miles northwest of Lewis, running on to Soper's, now Whipple, to Wheeler's Grove, Stutsman Mill out to Silver Creek past what has for many years been known as the old John Van Kirk farm and past the old farm owned by Wiliam Taylor, then on to Council Bluffs.

After the Beebe bridges were burned as stated in the first article, the settlers and J.H. Stutsman built a bridge across the Botna, just above the dam of Stutsman's Mill and kept it in repair until the year 1881, after which time the county took charge of it. S.M.B. Wheeler kept the stage station at Wheeler's Grove while the stages ran on the south road, the north road having been opened from Soper's Station to Big Grove, now Oakland, and from Big Grove to Keg Creek, where Dick Hardin kept the station. In the fall of 1857 the stages were taken off of the south road and restored to the north road January 1, 1858, and continued to run over the road until the fall of 1866, when they were brought back to the south road and Mrs. Dorcas Ostler and her sons, who had become the owners of the Wheeler farm, kept the station, which line continued on the south road until the Northwestern Railroad was built into Council Bluffs.

These stages were called Concord coaches. The bed rested upon leather springs. The body of the coach was strapped down so as to hold the body on these leather springs and in going over rough ground the couch would rock like a cradle and were often called "rock-aways." The coach was hauled by four horses and the drivers would run the rounds as they were called starting from Lewis in Cass County. The first team would drive from Lewis to Soper's Station, now Whipple, where they would change horses and driver. The new driver would drive to Wheeler's station, where the stage would then be taken in charge by still another driver, who would drive to Silver Creek Station. At Silver Creek Station the stage connected with the special line from Council Bluffs to Silver Creek, which part of the line was the best equipped in regard to horses and stages and made only the round trip between the Bluffs and Silver Creek. Each driver at the various stations, except in times of rush of travel, would drive one station, lay over there until the next stage came in, then drive that stage on to the next station, where he would lay off until the next stage going the same way came along, which he would drive to the next station, waiting off again and so on until he had driven between all the stations. This was known as "running the rounds."

The names of the passengers, their starting point and destination were written on what was called a way bill, and placed in a leather pocket fastened to the side of the coach. The keeper of the station was the agent of the stage company, and the stage driver was subject to his orders. He received the cash fare from passengers and wrote their names on the way bill.

When a coach rolled into the station, the station agent would examine the way bill and count the passengers alighting from the coach to see that the driver was not carrying deadheads. But this did not prevent the driver from carrying passengers free. A driver could be tipped with money, but a flask of good copper distilled whisky manufactured in Bourbon County, Kentucky, would procure a free passage from Lewis to Council Bluffs. The passenger would start out of Lewis with his flask of whisky on foot, the stage would overtake him within a mile out and he would climb into the boot of the stage, give the driver a drink, ride within a half mile of Soper's Station, get off of the stage walk past the station while the driver would change horses and driver, then the next driver would pick him up on overtaking him and would imbibe freely of the contents of the flask and he would then walk past Wheelers Grove Station and be picked up by the next driver, and so on until he reached Mosquito Creek bridge, when he would get off and walk into Council Bluffs. The flask of whisky would cost twenty five cents, but lasted for the whole trip.

The coach would carry nine passengers inside and one with the driver in the front boot, three passengers could roll up in buffalo robes or blankets and lie on top of the coach through the night, the stage thus accommodating thirteen passengers. The mail and baggage was carried in the rear boot, a platform extending out to the rear of the coach hung on leather straps.

The company had what was called a road agent, who traveled on the coaches from Des Moines to Council Bluffs. He employed the drivers and blacksmiths, bought the necessary harness, looked after keeping the stages in repair, made contracts with the station agents for keeping such stations, audited all of the accounts and paid them for the company. A Mr. Hooker was the first agent who had charge of the line, and he in turn was succeeded by a Mr. Crider, who continued in charge of the line until the railroads superseded the stage lines.

The fare charged was 10 cents per mile up until 1863, when a competing company got the contract to carry the mail for the government, put on two horse coaches, but the Western Stage Co. reduced the passenger fare and put the competing two horse "jerky" out of business in about three months, and the mail was again carried by the Western Stage Company.

The Skunk River bottom east of Des Moines was in the spring of the year almost impassable. The passengers, when the stage reached this river bottom, would be compelled to get out and walk through the mud and water across the Skunk bottom and it was a saying that the driver would ask the passengers to carry a rail to pry the stage out of the mud when it would settle or mire down, but this was not true, at least the writer never had occasion to carry a rail when crossing the Skunk River bottom on March 1863, but did get out of the coach and wade through he mud and water.

During the year 1857, Thomas Wales kept the Silver Creek Station. About 1 o'clock in the afternoon of a December day of that year the stage rolled into the stable yard in the midst of a drifting snow storm. Wales looked at the way bill and read the name of Franklin Pierce. Three passengers had alighted from the coach. Wales told the driver who was to take the coach to Council Bluffs that he need not bring his team out and that in this storm he could not find his way to the Bluffs. Pierce became very indignant and insisted that he must be taken into the city at once. Wales told him that they would be lost and perish in the storm if they attempted to go. This man, Pierce, proved to be the ex-president of the United States, who had on the preceding March 4, vacated the presidential chair to James Buchanan. The ex-president finally became reconciled to his fate and accepted better accommodations than Abraham Lincoln enjoyed for many years in Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois. That night he slept on a straw tick covered with a buffalo robe. The storm cleared away by 10 o'clock the next morning and a long sled was provided with an ordinary wagon box upon it into which a supply of prairie hay was put, together with buffalo robes and a scoop shovel to shovel snow. The ex-president, rolled up in a buffalo robe and laid down upon the prairie hay in the wagon box while four horses were hitched to the sled and they started out over an unbroken road to the terminus of the Western Stage Company line, Council Bluffs. When the drive returned to Silver Creek Station he reported to Wales that he reached the old Pacific House at 5 o'clock in the afternoon, taking seven hours to drive the fifteen miles. That on arrival there the ex-president procured a livery to take him across the river to Omaha, a rival village of Saratoga and Florence.

There are many persons who think that the old stage road followed the old Mormon trail, in this they are mistaken. The Mormons started from Montrose, Iowa, opposite Nauvoo, passed through Lee, Van Buren, Davis, Appanoose, Wayne and to Garden Grove in Decatur County. From this point to the line of Pottawattamie County. I have no reliable information as to where it entered this county, but the trail passed through Grove Township and crossed the Nishnabotna about one-half mile southwest of the present town of Macedonia, crossed Silver Creek in the southeast quarter of Section 31, township 74, range 41, near the old farm long owned by William Taylor. This, and at Macedonia, was as close as this trail ever got to the old stage line. The stage ran from Iowa City to Marengo, Newton, Des Moines, Adel, Dalmanutha, Lonsdale's, Morrison, Grove City, Lewis, Wheelers Grove, Stutsman's Mill, Silver Creek, and a two horse coach line from Des Moines to Winterset, Fontanelle and Lewis.

Council Bluffs was the western terminus of the Western Stage Company’s line, United States mail was taken by omnibus to Omaha, across the river. I do not know the exact time the stage crossed the river to Omaha, but think it was about the time of the discovery of gold in Colorado and Denver was established as the metropolis of Colorado.

Gold was discovered at Cherry Creek, Colorado, in the fall of 1858, and the roads through this country were lined with covered wagons going to the new El Dorado in the spring of 1859 and three or four weeks later these same wagons were seen returning back over the same road, having met, out at old Fort Kearney, pilgrims who had been to Cherry Creek and reported to them that there was very little gold to be found in that region, that it was a scheme of the ferry companies owning ferries across the Missouri and the Platte River and the merchants of Council Bluffs and Omaha to induce immigration to that country so that the merchants could sell them outfits at a profit and the ferry companies could reap a harvest in passing them over the rivers. At one point on the Military Road, about one hundred miles west of Omaha, these returners gathered together and pledged themselves to compel the merchants of Omaha and Council Bluffs, and the various ferrymen to refund the money that they had paid for outfits and ferriage. A messenger learning of their intentions hurried into Omaha in advance of the returners and advised the ferrymen and merchants of this danger. They made preparation to meet the emigrants, with arms if necessary, but when the emigrants reached Omaha they made no demonstration of hostility, but crossed the river paying their ferriage and moved on east to their former homes.

In the year 1870, the covered wagon and the stage coach disappeared from the prairie roads never to appear again as a fixture, the iron horse having superseded the faithful but slow animals, which for so many years had been the only means of transportation across the broad prairies of Iowa.

[Written by Frank Shinn, Nonpareil, Published on September 7, 1915]
Submitted by Darlene Vergamini