Welcome to the Council Bluffs
Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American
Revolution (NSDAR or DAR). The chapter comprises the
area of Cass, Harrison, and Pottawattamie Counties.
The chapter was organized on June 26, 1897, in Council
Bluffs. We celebrated our 125th anniversary on June
18, 2022.
The Council Bluffs Chapter,
NSDAR, promotes historic preservation, patriotic
education, and veterans.
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Morman Trail Marker in Bayliss Park,
Council Bluffs, Iowa, June 14, 1918
The ending of the pioneer trail across
Iowa is now officially marked with a boulder
that was transplanted to Bayliss Park from
its original location. It bears a bronze
tablet commemorating the achievements of the
men and women who passed through to the
Golden West, silently symbolizing an epoch
in American history that will live in our
memories forever.
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Morman Trail Marker in Lewis, 1923
On the site of the old Pottawattamie Indian
village of Indiantown, a mile west of the town
of Lewis, a marker was erected in 1923.
Marking the location of the Old Morman Trail
that went through there, was a combined effort
of the Iowa Society of the Daughters of the
American Revolution together with the Atlantic
Deborah Franklin Chapter, NSDAR, and the Iowa
State Historical Society. At some point, the
granite bolder with the bronze plaque was
moved to the city park in the center of the
town of Lewis. Today it stands by the World
Wars Memorial and a picnic shelter. |
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First House in Atlantic
In 1931, through the efforts of the
Deborah Franklin Chapter, NSDAR, chapter
regent, a marker was placed on the site of
the first house in Atlantic, Iowa. On
September 24, 2018, the Council Bluffs
Chapter, NSDAR, re-dedicated the
original marker and placed a smaller bronze
plaque next to it.
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The Lincoln Monument
Two members of the Council Bluffs Chapter,
NSDAR, originated the plan of erecting a
memorial that would defy time and be to
future generations a lesson in patriotism.
Largely through their efforts, the plan was
successfully carried out and on October 19,
1911, the beautiful granite shaft, the gift
of the chapter to the city of Council
Bluffs, was unveiled.
It was singularly fitting that the
impressive ceremony took place in the
presence of the surviving members of the
Army of the Tennessee, the men who fought
that the Union might be maintained,
supporting President Lincoln during the dark
struggles of the Rebellion. Before the
unveiling, General Dodge spoke briefly,
giving the circumstances that had brought
the gift of the monument.
The Vice-President General from Iowa of the
Daughters of the American Revolution made
the presentation speech. She said in part:
“Council Bluffs has been the most generous
of the Iowa chapters in its gifts and
contributions to the beautiful Memorial Hall
of the Daughters in Washington. But always
in their hearts has been the wish to do
something for their own community. Today,
that desire is fulfilled in a larger way
than they had dared to hope, by the
completion of this splendid monument, which
crowns this memorial as the life of Abraham
Lincoln crowned the period in which he
lived."
(Google Books, Daughters of the American
Revolution Magazine, Volume XL111, page 387,
July-December 1913)
Photographs have been provided by members
of the Council Bluffs Chapter, NSDAR.
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