Arizona republican., 1909-02-08
HIS CENTENARY RECALLS
 NEW FACTS OF LINCOLN
COUNCIL BLUFFS, THE MOST WESTERLY POINT HE EVER
 VISITED.
The War Presidents Brief Experience as Railroad Lawyer and Real Estate SpecuIator.

New York, Feb. 2.-(Special Corre- spondence of The Republican )-The one hundredth anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, which is to be observed on February F, has brought to light some facts regard ing his career which were little known before, notwithstanding the many vol tunes that have been written about him. Two of these comparatively ob- scure features of his career are brought out by Appelton's Magazine in an article in which it is shown that Lincoln was once a corporation law yer and that he never saw more than third of the territory of the United states. never having penetrated west of the Missouri river
 According to General Grenville NJ. Dodge, one of the few men still liv- ing who was closely associated with Lincoln before the war between the states, as well as during that strug- gle. Lincoln's visit to Council Bluffs, the westernmost point in the country that he ever visited, was made in 1859, just fifty years ago. At that time General Dodge was an engineer in the service of the Chicago and Rock Is- land railroad, engaged in work on its line west from Chicago to Council Bluffs. MT. Lincoln had been one of the legal representative of the road in some of its litigation. and through this connection was induced to pur- chase some lots at the western term mus of the line. The fact that Lincoln was at one stage of his career a rail- road lawyer is not generally known If he had had to do with the politics of the present day no doubt greater publicity would have been given to the fact and it might have been used against him, but at that time it was not considered anything against a man to serve a corporation.
 Lncoln's visit to Council Bluffs was made to inspect the property that he had bought, and in this>connection an interesting coincidence is brought out by the Appleton writer.
 About this same time" he says, "Clement L. Vallandingham bought property adjoining the lots owned by Mir. Lincoln The fact that they had neighborly interests in Council Bluffs does not seem to have brought them any closer in their political views, for. as is known to all, MT. Vallandingham in his public speeches during the civil war denounced MT. Lincoln and the government, was arrested. tried by court martial and sentenced to close nconfinement. The president obeying the generous instincts of his big heart commuted the sentence into banish- ment into the Confederate lines. MT. Vallandingham, however, was disap- pointed with his reception by the Con- federates. and sought refuge in Can ada, so that the affairs of the two men apparently never met again.
 MT Lincoln came from Chicago to St. Joseph, Mo. by rail, and then pro- ceeded up the Missouri river by steamboat to Council Bluffs.S These steambOats were stern wheelers and so rigged that they could lift them selves by spars over the shallow places and sand bars in the river We may feel certain that the voyage was of great interest to the traveller. for he himself devised an apparatus for that purpose. Having planned a mechan- ism of bellows. ropes and pulleys. he made a model of it, sent it to Wash
 
 though it is not recorded that the in- vention was ever utilized.
 During Lincoln's visit, some of the citizens of Council Bluffs took him to a hig' bluff known as Cemetery Hill, just nlI'h of the town. From this poi t cSdld be had a view of the coun- try ,aI miles north and ten miles south. up and down the great Missouri river valley, and across the Missouri river five miles west. He was greatly impressed with the outlook, and the bluff from that time has been known as Lincoln's Hill. It is now in con temptation to place upon the spot where he stood, as a memento of his visit to Council Bluffs, suitable monument or tablet bearing a proper inscription and recognizing the his torical fact that from here he looked down upon the place where by his order, four years later. the terminus of the finest transcontinental railway was established.
 Tt is a singular fact that while the United States had spent a great deal of money in exploration for a feasible line for the Pacific railroad, the gov ernment never had examined the nat ural route along the forty second parallel of latitude All the surveys had been made and all the data ob- tained Coy private citizens connected with the Rock Island railroad, at the head of which was Henry Farnam of Connecticut. President Lincoln, after going over all the facts that could be presented to him, and from his own knowledge, finally fixed the eastern