Big Pigeon - Pottawattamie County, Iowa
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Picture
1853 Grenville Dodge Railroad Survey near Crescent
1853 Dodge Survey Party near Crescent
Resources
bigpigeon.us webpage Home > Resources > Web Resources, updated by RAC 5 Dec 2020.
Below you'll find a collection of links to web resources that I use in my research. From here you can also:
  • Access my useful ancestry.com databases.
  • Access print resources I use.
  • Visit the Danish Links collection in danishheritage.org, the website I previously created and managed.
Links to my own historical reports are distributed in different pages in this website.

Parts: 
  1. Pottawattamie County, Iowa on the Web
  2. Iowa History on the Web
  3. United States History on the Web
  4. Additional Big Pigeon Links Information

==> Part 1 -  Pottawattamie County, Iowa on the Web
​
​Pottawattamie County historical and genealogical research sites:
  • Historical Society of Pottawattamie County -  http://www.thehistoricalsociety.org
  • Pottawattamie County Genealogical Society - http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~iapcgs
  • Iowa Gen Web project for Pottawattamie County - http://iagenweb.org/pottawattamie
  • Pottawattamie County Genealogy Trails Project - http://genealogytrails.com/iowa/pottawattamie
  • Council Bluffs Public Library - https://www.councilbluffslibrary.org

Pottawattamie County historical locations and museums:
Council Bluffs Historic Locations:
  • Commemorative Air Force - http://greatplainswingcaf.org/Great_Plains_Wing/Home.html
  • General Grenville Dodge House - www.dodgehouse.org
  • Kanesville Tabernacle Replica - lds.org/locations/kanesville-tabernacle
  • Rails West Railroad Museum - http://www.thehistoricalsociety.org/museums/index.html
  • Squirrel Cage Jail - http://www.thehistoricalsociety.org/museums/index.html
  • Union Pacific Railroad Museum - www.uprrmuseum.org
Some Greater Omaha Area Historic Locations (all are a few miles west of the Big Pigeon area):
  • Fort Atkinson State Historical Park - http://outdoornebraska.gov/fortatkinson/
  • Steamboat Bertrand Museum - https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Desoto/wildlife_and_habitat/steamboat_bertrand.html
  • Winter Quarters visitor center - https://www.lds.org/locations/mormon-trail-center-at-historic-winter-quarters?lang=eng&_r=1
Avoca Area Websites:
  • City of Avoca Website - http://www.cityofavoca.com/index.php
  • Sweet Vale of Avoca Museum - no known website
  • Farmall Tractor Museum (in Avoca near I-80) - http://www.farmall-land-usa.com/index.html
  • in Oakland - https://www.facebook.com/Nishnamuseum
  • near Shelby - carstensfarm.com
​
Pottawattamie County historical and biographical books:
  • Bushnell - History of Council Bluffs and Pottawattamie County from Bushnell's 1869 Directory, http://iagenweb.org/pottawattamie/history/hist-CB-Bushnell-1869-002.htm
  • Giles - 1882 History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa by W. T. Giles, Chapters 1-6 transcribed by Joyce Hickman http://iagenweb.org/pottawattamie/history/1882/index.htm
  • Baskin - 1883 Baskin History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa - https://books.google.com/books/about/History_of_Pottawattamie_County_Iowa.html?id=I4YUAAAAYAAJ
  • Lewis - 1891 Lewis Biographical History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa - https://books.google.com/books/about/Biographical_History_of_Pottawattamie_Co.html?id=W1M0AQAAMAAJ
  • Field - 1907 History of Pottawattamie County, Iowa from the Earliest Historic Times to 1907 - https://books.google.com/books/about/History_of_Pottawattamie_County_Iowa.html?id=f1Q0AQAAMAAJ
  • 1978 Pottawattamie County, Iowa, A Collection of Historical Sketches and Family Histories, Taylor Publishing Co., Dallas, TX (not available on-line)
Commentary: 
  • Some on-line books at books.google.com are not available in their entirety.
  • The Field book consists of two volumes - Vol. 1 pp 1-562; vol. 2 pp. 566-1200, with an index at the end.There is also an on-line index to the Field books at https://dcms.lds.org/delivery/DeliveryManagerServlet?dps_pid=IE951186
  • Some excerpts from the above books are on the websites listed in the previous paragraph.

Directories for Pottawattamie County or for portions thereof:
  • 1966 Council Bluffs, Iowa directory index - http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~iapcgs/ (click on City Directory Index - 1866)
  • 1869 Bushnell's Directory for Council Bluffs, Iowa - partial transcript at http://iagenweb.org/pottawattamie/history/hist-CB-Bushnell-1869-002.htm
  • 1880-1881 Hawley & Co. City and County Directory of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, transcript at http://genealogytrails.com/iowa/pottawattamie/80cdbios.htm​
  • 1910 Iowa State Gazetteer and Business Directory for Pottawattamie County: http://iagenweb.org/pottawattamie/dir/dir1910.html
  • The 1919 Anderson Atlas of Pottawattamie County mentioned below lists most rural residents by township.
  • The 1929 Council Bluffs directory was on-line at distantcousin.com but no longer is accessible.
  • The 1967 Pottawattamie County Atlas by Midwest Atlas Co. lists the majority of rural residents. However, as far as I know it is not available on-line.
Commentary:
  • Some early Council Bluffs city directories also included a section for outlying areas. At a minimum this section gave for each rural family the head of household and post office. Many of these directories are available through the search feature at ancestry.com.
  • The 1929 Council Bluffs directory was on-line at distantcousin.com but no longer is accessible.

Pottawattamie County map from 1875 Andreas Historical Atlas of Iowa: 
  • http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/atlases/id/2280/rec/1
Commentary:
  • Scroll down the thumbnail column on right-hand side to access Map of Pottawattamie County.

Current Pottawattamie County Maps:
  • Pottawattamie County index map - http://iagenweb.org/pottawattamie/map/map-townships.htm
  • Current Pottawattamie County road map - 
  • http://www.iowadot.gov/maps/msp/pdf/pottawattamie-bwco.pdf
Commentary:
  • Thanks to Dennis Weeks for producing the index map, which shows all townships and incorporated towns. A copy is in the page heading for the Local History page.

Other Sources:
  • Council Bluffs Nonpareil from selected years in 1940s & 1950s - http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=8290
  • Neola, Iowa Centennial Book - https://www.donquigley.net/documents/0623_REF.pdf
  • Neola, Iowa cemetery index (both parts) - neolaiowacemetery.com
  • Minden, Iowa cemetery index - http://mindeniowa.com/Minden_Cemetery.html
  • Perhaps the same content as in the later bullet: http://www.iowaghosttowns.com/pottawattamie_county.html
  • Pottawattamie County abandoned towns , villages and post offices - http://genealogytrails.com/iowa/pottawattamie/abandoned_settlements.htm#Harrison
Commentary:
  • Neola was founded in 1869 but the Neola centennial book may cover the years 1882 -1982.
  • The Neola cemetery has two parts: The township cemetery and the St. Patrick’s cemetery, but both parts are treated together.

​Major On-line Pottawattamie County Vital Records Databases:
Below are major on-line databases containing information specific to past Pottawattamie County residents.  The sites listed elsewhere may have additional information.  This list is a summary and reflects my own interests, namely the early history of rural northwestern Pottawattamie County, Iowa. 
By vital records I include data such as the following:
  • birth, christening and confirmation records
  • marriage and divorce records
  • death, obituary and cemetery records
Commentary:
  • Most on-line vital records are indices containing only basic information.
  • findagrave often has more information such as obituaries, names of parents and spouses, or partial lists of siblings and children.
Indices courtesy of the Pottawattamie County Genealogy Society - rootsweb.ancestry.com/~iapcgs
  • Marriage Record Index - rootsweb.ancestry.com/~iapcgs
  • Obituary Index - rootsweb.ancestry.com/~iapcgs
Commentary:
  • Find the index you’re looking for in the Quick Links portion of the landing page.
  • The Marriage Record Index contains Pottawattamie County Marriages recorded at Council Bluffs 1902-1940 and at Avoca 1885-1921.
  • The Marriage Record index is meant to be used in conjunction with the printed marriage indices mentioned in the following section. 
  • The Obituary Index covers years 1857 - 2014 and contains 236,392 listings. Unfortunately it does not include dates.
Indices courtesy of http://iagenweb.org/pottawattamie
  • Death Certificate Index 1920-1937 - http://iagenweb.org/pottawattamie/vitals/deaths-1920-1937-001-A.htm
  • Death Certificate Index 1938 - http://iagenweb.org/pottawattamie/vitals/deaths-1938-A-G.htm
Commentary:
  • The above links take you to the first part of each index.

==> Part 2  - Iowa History on the Web

Iowa History and Genealogical Sites:
  • Iowa State Historical Society Research Centers (Des Moines & Iowa City) - https://iowaculture.gov/about-us/visit/research-centers
  • Iowa Genealogical Society (Des Moines) - http://iowagenealogy.org
Iowa Maps and Directories:
  • 1865 Iowa State Gazetteer, Bailey & Hair - https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=chi.18966337;view=1up;seq=7
  • Iowa county maps from 1875 Andreas Historical Atlas of Iowa - http://digital.lib.uiowa.edu/cdm/compoundobject/collection/atlases/id/2280/rec/1
  • Iowa Gazetteer and Business Directory, 1884-1885 -  http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=7669
Commentary:
  • Pottawattamie County information is mostly in Volume 3 of the Gazetteer.
Iowa Indices:
  • Iowa, Births and Christenings Index, 1800-1999 - http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=2547
  • Iowa, Select Marriages Index, 1758-1996 - http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=60284
  • Iowa, Marriage Records, 1880-1937 - http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=8823
  • Iowa, Deaths and Burials, 1850-1990 - http://search.ancestry.com/search/db.aspx?dbid=60283
Other Iowa Sources:
  • Iowa Gravestones Photo Project - iowagravestones.org
Commentary: 
  • iowagravestones.org has photos of over a miliion gravestones in Iowa.

==> Part 3  - United States History on the Web

Free nation-wide historical data:
  • Selected newspapers from the Library of Congress, including the Omaha Bee (1872-1916) and Missouri Valley Times (1899-1920) - chroniclingamerica.loc.gov​

​Free nation-wide burial data:
  • findagrave.com - https://findagrave.com
  • billiongraves.com - https://billiongraves.com
Commentary:
  • Findagrave currently contains about 130 million burial records, often with some biographical information and gravestone photos.
  • Billiongraves is free, but requires registration.

​==> Part 4 - Additional Big Pigeon Links Information

Miscellaneous Notes:
  • Despite the page name of Big Pigeon Links, this page can help those  doing historical or genealogical research for any area of Pottawattamie County, Iowa.  
  • This page focuses on Internet resources. There is a shorter Printed Resources companion page. 
  • Please notify me of broken links.
  • Aside from google.com, I believe that ancestry.com is the most-useful on-line research tool. Thus I have added a companion page, Ancestry.com Use, which contains links to the ancestry.com databases that I frequently use. There is a link to this companion page at the beginning of this page.


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