Council Bluffs....West edge of Iowa, by Missouri river. The rails and trails are a fascinating part of the Council Bluffs history. As four railroads raced across Iowa to the river in 1856 (1. Chicago, Burlington & Quincy, 2. Chicago, Rock Island & Pacific, 3. Chicago & North Western and 4. Illinois Central Iowa Division), The Chicago & North Western Railroad won the race to the Missouri River and Council Bluffs, in January 1867, when Abraham Lincoln designated Council Bluffs as the eastern terminus of the trans-continental railroad. Mills county...also west edge The Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad built lines across the county in 1867 running east and west. Branch lines for this railroad included the Tabor and Northern, the Sidney-Carson Branch with headquarters at Hastings, and the Wabash route to St. Louis. The Kansas City, St. Joseph & Council Bluffs Railroad ran north and south. Gradually branch lines died out. Today the C.B. & Q. has become the Burlington Northern Line and the Tabor and Northern Railroad is called the Colorado and Eastern. Clarke county..Mid-southern edge Early transportation was by stage with the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad coming to Clarke County in 1868. In 1881 a north-south narrow gauge railroad began running from Des Moines, through Osceola, to Missouri. It was abandoned many years ago. Today, Osceola is situated at the junctions of Interstate 35, Highway 34, and the Burlington railroad.