Omaha daily bee., 1909-08-14
Council Bluffs
LINCOLN PARK DEDICATED
Former President Whose Name it
Bears Once Visited Spot.
TABLET TO MARK THE PLACE
ConEressmgp smith Presides and
Charles VI. HnrIe Delivers the
Principal Address OF the
Occasion.

on August l3. 1863, Abraham Lincoln paid
his memorable visit to Council Bluffs, and
during his stroll about the then frontier
town stood to view the surrounding coun-
try from the bluff at the head of what Is
now Oakland avenue. The place where
President LinCOl stood and looked across
towards the Missouri river, winding its
tortuous way, came to be known as Lin
coin Lookout Point" Last evening the olti-
gems Of Council Bluffs gathered in the I'M
mediate vicinity Of this historic spot to
commemorate the fiftieth anniversary Of
the martyred presidents visit to this city
in conjunction with the formal dedication
Of the new park, which, in honor Of the
great emancipation, will be known as Lin
coin park.
The exercises were held from a platform
erected on the slope Of the hill just below
the point Of the bluff where Lincoln had
stood fifty years before. Here the people
gathered around the platform, while those
who drove to the park in carriages and
automobiles occupied positions Of vantage
along the driveway. Strings Of electric
lights added brilliancy to the scene, while
music by Covalt's orchestra enllvened the
proceedings.
Congressman Walter l. Smith, who pre-
sided, opened the exercises with a brief but
eloquent eulogy on the martyred president.
Falrer seems this olden city,
And its sunshine seems more fair;
That he once trod it's pavements,
And that he once breathed Its air.
These were the words Judge Smith used
in opening his tribute to Lincoln.
The address by Hon. Charles M. Harl
was in the main an eloquent tribute to the
life and character of the martyred presi-
dent.
Abraham Lincoln has come to represent
and symbolic the highest attributes OF
American character and the foremost
principles Of liberty and government upon
which American institutions are based. He
belongs, not to America, but to humanity.
Referring to President Lincoln's visit to
Council Bluffs, Mr.. Harl said:
1t is the good fortune OF Council Bluffs
that its life was touched by this remark
able man. Although he was a child of the
great west, this city marks the farthest
western point to which he ever journeyed.
Fifty years ago today, when Abraham
Lincoln had become a central figure of the
political life of the nation by his debates
with Judge Douglass and when he was
looked upon as the probable candidate of a
great party for the presidency OF the United
States, he was n guest within the limits
of our city. He stood upon this lookout
and Eazed out upon the valley that is to-
day teaming with wealth and prosperity.
and. with prophetic eyes, looked Oward
the great west and fcreFaw the line Of rail-
way that should link 1t to the Atlantic
and the great empire which within a
generation was to grow up beyond the
Missouri.
When, a few years later, It became his
duty to fix the eastern terminus OF the
Union Pacific railway, his mind reverted
to the picture placed upon the tablets OF
his memory as he gazed from the lookout
and, through that memory and the advice
OF our own General Dodge, he fixed that
terminus In the township in Iowa opposite
to the city of Omaha. the place that hal
enraptured his vision on that August DAY
in Council Bluffs. 1t is indeed fitting thai
this spot. hallowed by his memory and
forever linked with one of the historic
events Of the nation, should be commemor.
ated by our citizens and should be devoted
to the pleasures and uplifting of the
common people, so dear to his heart and
of whom he was the noblest representa-.
tive. 1t is a duty which we owe TO tho
memory of Lincoln, TO our city and our
selves, that upon this lookout there should
he placed an enduring monument to hil
memory and that the coming generation,
Of our citizens and visitors should here read
a tablet marking the historic fact of the
presence of Lincoln and Of It's connection
with the terminal of the great line a
railway that became a potent factor IL
the preservation OF the union and is today
an essential element of the material anC
moral development OF the great empir,
Of which 1t is the chief highway.
DR.. Charlotte McCuskey, representing tn,
Council Bluffs chapter of the Daughters o
the American Revolution, who intend erect
, ing a monument to Abraham Lincoln a
, this historic point, delivered a short ad
h dress, in which she said it was a source o
e qualification to the member OF the chapte
e TO be invited TO participate In the exercises
> Like the preceding speakers, DR.. McCusac.
. paid a beautifully worded tribute to Abra
u ham Lincoln.
The formal presentation of the new park
a the land for which was generously donate
by former Mayor NJ. F.. Roher and Leonar,
Everett, was made by Mayor Thoma