Accidentally Historic

Author: 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 states 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 wasnt 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.
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Genres: History

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From the Bahnsen Burner to the Don Chandler Rule
Episode 38
Saturday, 21 March, 2026

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.