Accidentally Historic

Historical Society of Pottawattamie County

Council Bluffs’ location has put the town into contact with a lot of history. Lewis and Clark and the Mormon pilgrims came through, as did the westbound pioneers on the Oregon and California Trails. Abraham Lincoln designated the town as milepost zero for the transcontinental railroad. The first coast-to-coast automobile trip passed through and later the first transcontinental highway. Council Bluffs was the birthplace of Omaha and first war-time mobile hospital. It also boasted the state’s first nursing school and FM radio station as well as the largest rotary cell jail ever built. This all created a lot of what we call history-- but at the time it wasn’t intended that way at all. It was just normal people finding innovative ways to solve problems, inventing the future one day at a time. And that has made for some really interesting tales that we intend to explore in this podcast series.

  1. From the Bahnsen Burner to the Don Chandler Rule

    Mar 21

    From the Bahnsen Burner to the Don Chandler Rule

    The Iowa West Foundation recently launched a program to celebrate some of the athletes from Council Bluffs and Pottawattamie County who have achieved national recognition in various sports.  Twenty-four athletes were recognized as inaugural members of the new Council Bluffs Professional Sports Roster.  Each honoree is recognized with a banner that will be permanently displayed at the Iowa West Field House in Council Bluffs.  Writer and researcher Brian Mainwaring contributed much of the material used during the induction ceremony and now shares those insights and career highlights in the latest episode of our podcast. The episode highlights the sixteen Professional Sports Roster inductees whose careers included baseball and football, with additional sports to be featured in a future installment.   Features in this episode: Stan Bahnsen, Jon Leiber, Chris Hatcher, Brian Poldberg, Marti Wolever, Bill Fischer, Bill Drummond, David Wolfe, Ann Kmezich Fatovich, Max Duggan, Caleb Shudak, Brian Ratigan, Thomas Fidone, II, Jake Waters, Al Coupee, Don Chandler.

    35 min
  2. Invisible Excellence- WWI Armistice Signed, Unit K/Mobile One Returns Home

    Jan 17

    Invisible Excellence- WWI Armistice Signed, Unit K/Mobile One Returns Home

    The sixth and final episode of our “Invisible Excellence” podcast series sees Council Bluffs Unit K’s remarkable wartime experience finally reaching its end.  Titled “The WWI Armistice Signed, Unit K/Mobile One Returns Home,” this installment follows the nurses, officers, and enlisted personnel as they  first ever battlefield hospital to move along the front lines undertake the protracted journey back to the U.S. and to their respective post-war lives.

    36 min
  3. Some Council Bluffs Mysteries

    10/23/2025

    Some Council Bluffs Mysteries

    This episode looks at some Council Bluffs mysteries that have lingered through the years, yet remain unexplained.  Included are the 1977 UFO Crash at Big Lake Park, the gruesome 1926 Keeline murders at the site of today's St. Paul's Lutheran Church, the 1970 Cadillac S&S Medic Mark 1 ambulance in which 495 people died, the librarians' perpetual sitings of Julia Officer at the Carnegie Building and the unsupported staircase, and the legends surrounding the Ruth Anne Dodge Memorial, better known locally as the Black Angel. For a comprehensive review of the Ruth Anne Dodge Memorial, from its planning and construction to the scandal that led to the aborted dedication ceremony we recommend the podcast "The Black Angel's Secret" https://accidentally-historic.simplecast.com/episodes/the-black-angels-secret Questions, comments and suggestions for podcast guests or topics are always welcome!  You can contact us at information@TheHistoricalSociety.org.  The Society also has a YouTube channel you may enjoy: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2BijwKxeirRtL7QLnyfMzg

    19 min
  4. Fright for a Fee- Fifty Years of Omaha Council Bluffs Haunted Houses

    10/14/2025

    Fright for a Fee- Fifty Years of Omaha Council Bluffs Haunted Houses

    Seasonal haunted houses appeared on the local scene about fifty years ago, initially fund raisers for a variety of groups and causes.  Youth For Christ, Campus Life, March of Dimes, the Jaycees, and the Historical Society were early participants.  From church basements and abandoned buildings to semi truck trailers in parking lots, haunted houses proliferated by the 1980s.  Generally staffed by youthful volunteers intent on making their particular character and their venue as scary as possible, the endeavor brought together imagination, creativity and theatrics to become something of an art form in its own right. Safety standards imposed following a 1980s tragedy in New Jersey escalated costs, forcing some small players out of the business, to be replaced by commercial operators.  The better financial position of the latter allowed for investment in more elaborate displays and equipment.  This, coupled with technology developments of the past decade, have made the modern haunted houses in many ways quite different from their predecessors, but some tried-and-true techniques can always be counted on for a scare. Haunted House historians Doug Kabourek and Brian Corey reminisce about Council Bluffs and Omaha’s early haunted houses, describe what makes a haunted house work, and discuss the allure they have had for young people and why that age demographic is expanding.   Doug Kabourek also maintains a website the chronicles the haunted houses of Council Bluffs and Omaha at www.WickedPlaza.com Brian Corey hosts a horror movie, paranormal, and spooky podcast call Necronomicast at www.necronomicast.com

    26 min
  5. Invisible Excellence- A Difficult and Dangerous Drive Toward the Front

    09/24/2025

    Invisible Excellence- A Difficult and Dangerous Drive Toward the Front

    This installment finds Unit K/Mobile One being stationed ever closer to the perilous European front, with its attendant danger and devastation.   For example, during this episode, in two different postings, Mobile One narrowly avoided being shelled.  In a third, the hospital was situated so close to a gas-shell dump that an attack would have required personnel to don their gas masks in just seconds to escape serious harm.  Along the way, this innovative group devised methods for performing operations safely during the approaching colder weather; and for doing surgeries at night, while still maintaining the cover of darkness.  They also reconfigured a set of train cars to function essentially as a rolling hospital, capable of rapidly transporting large numbers of recovering soldiers further from the front.  And on November 12, 1918, as Mobile One began arriving at the final French station covered in this installment, its personnel learned that the WWI armistice had become effective the day before.

    30 min
  6. Philosophy of the American West

    08/10/2025

    Philosophy of the American West

    Is the American West a physical place or the concept of interacting with the wilderness and taming the land?  Better represented by John Wayne winning the West and settling down living happily ever after, or the later Clint Eastwood version of the West as a place of drunkards and violence?  Or perhaps it was as captured by Blazing Saddles and City Slickers as a wildly bigoted and backwards place that is nothing to fondly be looked back upon?  And how does the Council Bluffs/Omaha Metro fit into all of this?  In this episode Ardennes Stolp provides some thought-provoking reflections on how to interpret the American West.

    30 min
  7. Invisible Excellence-Heightened Intensity: More Postings, More Patients

    07/14/2025

    Invisible Excellence-Heightened Intensity: More Postings, More Patients

    This is episode Four of the Invisible Excellence podcast series.  It takes the listener right into the operating tents of the Army’s first ever battlefield hospital that actually moved long the front lines with the action– Council Bluffs’ Unit K/Mobile #1. The group’s leader, surgeon and former Council Bluffs mayor Donald Macrae, Jr., set the tone in his notes: “The shelling was begun about midnight, and the whine and explosion of the projectiles continued until after daylight.”  This episode focusses on the unit’s first camps in France, the challenges they  aced, and the dogged persistence and courage they employed that redefined battlefield medicine.  Guest is writer/researcher Brian Mainwaring.

    31 min
  8. Invisible Excellence- Mobile 1 Logistics, staffing and 1st Wartime Experience

    03/04/2025

    Invisible Excellence- Mobile 1 Logistics, staffing and 1st Wartime Experience

    The tale of the Army’s first functional MASH unit, Council Bluffs’ Mobile 1 (aka Unit K) continues in this episode as writer/researcher Brian Mainwaring delves into the details of how the camps were set up, how they moved from battle to battle near the front lines, and some of the day-to-day challenges they endured including shortages of equipment, manpower, fuel, and safe drinking water. If you have any questions or comments please email information@TheHistoricalSociety.org

    28 min
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5
out of 5
13 Ratings

About

Council Bluffs’ location has put the town into contact with a lot of history. Lewis and Clark and the Mormon pilgrims came through, as did the westbound pioneers on the Oregon and California Trails. Abraham Lincoln designated the town as milepost zero for the transcontinental railroad. The first coast-to-coast automobile trip passed through and later the first transcontinental highway. Council Bluffs was the birthplace of Omaha and first war-time mobile hospital. It also boasted the state’s first nursing school and FM radio station as well as the largest rotary cell jail ever built. This all created a lot of what we call history-- but at the time it wasn’t intended that way at all. It was just normal people finding innovative ways to solve problems, inventing the future one day at a time. And that has made for some really interesting tales that we intend to explore in this podcast series.

Information

  • Creator
    Historical Society of Pottawattamie County
  • Years Active
    2019 - 2026
  • Episodes
    36
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2019 Historical Society of Pottawattamie County
  • Show Website
    Accidentally Historic

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