Civil Bend, Iowa

Hickson sold whiskey to the natives and settlers and the wild times that ensued were the origin of the place's name, Devil's Bend.

[4] Ira Blanchard and George Gaston also settled nearby and shared Platt's sentiment and commitments about freedom seekers.

[13] Another account mentioned 75 slave-catchers hunting the 35 armed men protecting and escorting freedom seekers fleeing their enslaver, Stephen F. Nuckolls, as they moved from Civil Bend to Tabor.

[16] The following year, one of the men whose home he illegally ransacked in a vain search for the seekers was awarded $8000 (the equivalent of nearly $300,000 in 2024) in punitive damages from Nuckolls.

[21] Today, the site of Civil Bend is owned by the United States Army Corps of Engineers and is open to the public for outdoor activities.