History of Iowa

Iowa’s Early History--Indians Saux and Fox Two most powerful tribes in this area They hunted and established villages along the Mississippi and Rock Rivers (Quad Cities) Blackhawk War Chief Blackhawk fought a war against the white people in Illinois (LOST) Mesquaki Only tribe living in Iowa today Tama County

Iowa’s first settlers Natural Resources Wood (Timber in the East) Good land (prairie/tall grass) Lots of rivers Coal (southern Iowa) Mormon Trail Across the Southern Part of Iowa (US 34)

Road to Statehood 1803—Iowa was part of Louisiana Purchase Ft. Madison was created, first fort on the Mississippi River Iowa becomes a US Territory Iowa becomes the 29 th State Capitals –Burlington Territorial Capital of Iowa –Iowa City: Iowa’s first state capital –Des Moines Became state capital in 1857

Transportation Rivers The Mississippi River gave easy access for shipping goods to New Orleans All large cities were located on rivers Railroad By 1860 Chicago had over a dozen RR lines that went to Iowa RR’s began to stretch across the state Burlington, Davenport, Clinton, Dubuque had own lines Better than water b/c it was year round way to transport

Civil War Iowa was in the Union 75,000 served from Iowa –13,001 died –Served most in the battles of the west (Shiloh)

Politics Republicans Dominant party early in Iowa’s History Found more in Rural Areas Scandinavian Democrats More popular later in Iowa’s History Found more in Urban Areas Initially Germans and Irish

Immigrants Iowa’s population grew dramatically from , ,194,020 Iowa: Home of Immigrants Book that recruited immigrants to come to Iowa. Germans and Scandinavians were the immigrant groups with the highest percentage of people moving into Iowa

Germans Settled in a variety of areas NE Iowa (Farming) Along the Mississippi River (Industry and Farming) Germans kept a lot of their same German culture until WWI. They were primarily Methodist and Baptists They were the most popular immigrant group

German Ancestry

Scandinavians Scandinavians: –Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Netherlands Very Isolated Norwegians (Northeast Iowa) Swedes (Boone Co) Danes (Southwest Iowa) Dutch (Story City and Pella)

Norwegian Ancestry

Dutch Ancestry

African Americans After the Civil War, the number of African Americans in Iowa increased considerably. WWII Extremely high migration of African Americans to cities within the North Waterloo and Des Moines saw a significant increase Worked in major factories (John Deere in Waterloo) Today Highest number of minorities are found in cities Des Moines, Cedar Rapids, Davenport, Waterloo

Farming Obviously a very important profession in Iowa –Was very profitable during WWI and WWII –Not profitable during Great Depression and the 1980s Farm Holiday Association Withheld supplies from market. Farming continued to suffer until the start of WWII when they were forced to grow food to supply troops. New Ideas Iowa farmers have been important in developing many new agricultural ideas

Large In-State Universities University of Iowa Located in Iowa City Established as a liberal arts university in 1847 Iowa State University Located in Ames Established under the Morrill Act in 1862 University of Northern Iowa Located in Cedar Falls Established as a teacher college in 1876

Negative News about Iowa Clear Lake Tragedy 1959 Plane Crash involving Richie Valens, Big Bopper, and other famous Musicians Postville Raid Raid on illegal immigrants at numerous plants within Postville University of Iowa Shooting Shooter opened fire in the Van Allen building (1989), killed 5 One of the first mass shootings

New laws within Iowa Rural Free Delivery Made it easier for farmers to get their news, mail, Iowa’s Gay Marriage Law April of 2009, made Iowa one of the handful of states to allow gay marriages No Smoking Ban In 2008, became one of a handful of states to ban smoking in public buildings

Attractions Iowa State Fair RAGBRAI—bike ride across Iowa Field of Dreams—Dyersville, Iowa Snake Alley Athletics College Athletics (DI, DII, DIII, NAIA, JUCO) High School Athletics Knoxville Nationals

Natural Disasters Disasters –Tornado’s –Parkersburg –Pomerory –Camanche –Blizzards –Floods –1965 –1993 –2008