Iowa History
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Originally home to Indian tribes of the Great Plains, the Iowa region was first visited by
Europeans when French explorers camped along the Mississippi River in 1673. But this land
remained largely undiscovered until the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804-06 following the
Louisiana Purchase, which included present-day Iowa, by President Thomas Jefferson. The
U.S. Army built Fort Madison -- the first fort in Iowa -- in 1808. While fur companies
established trading posts on the Des Moines, Mississippi and Missouri rivers, the region
remained Indian land, officially closed to permanent settlement.
As part of the treaty that ended the Black Hawk War in 1832, the United States
purchased the eastern portion of Iowa from the Sauk and Fox Indians and pioneers began
moving into the region. Dubuque, the oldest city in Iowa, was settled the following year.
Congress created the Territory of Iowa in 1838. It became the 29th state in 1846 with a
population of 102,000 after voters adopted its final geographic boundaries. In 1853,
New York publisher Horace Greeley advised Josiah Grinnell, "Go West, young man, go West
and grow up with the country!" Grinnell, a Congregationalist minister, heeded this advice
and settled in Iowa where he established the town of Grinnell.
The state's present Constitution was adopted and the capitol was moved
from  Iowa City to Des Moines in 1857. A band of Sioux Indians massacred settlers at Spirit Lake in western Iowa that year. Despite these hostilities, settlers continued coming to Iowa in large numbers. Iowa was created as a free state and became part of the route of the Underground Railroad, which transported escaped slaves from the South. During the Civil War, Iowa was a Union state and supported the Northern cause. In 1895, George Washington Carver -- the first African-American student to attend the school -- earned a Master of Agriculture degree at Iowa State University.
By the time it became a state, Iowa already was a leading agricultural producer, and the giant steamboat industry on the Mississippi River between 1850 and 1870 created new markets for Iowa farmers. Logs barged downriver from timber harvests in Minnesota and Wisconsin provided a ready supply of lumber, which transformed housing in the region from log cabins and sod houses to frame homes. The first Transcontinental Railroad crossed Iowa from the Mississippi River to Council Bluffs in 1867, and four railroad lines crossed the state by 1870. But farmers felt the railroads charged unfair rates for freight. A decade-long struggle by farmers ended with a state commission setting rates acceptable to both sides.
Iowa farmland sold at record high prices during the economic boom that followed World War I and many farmers lost their land during the early years of the Great Depression. Beginning in 1936, farm cooperatives and state legislation helped other farmers stay in business. World War II increased the demand for American farm products and the income of Iowa farmers rose rapidly. In the early 1980s, Iowa farmers -- and the state's economy -- were hit hard by low agricultural prices. This farm slump seriously affected small towns and rural regions in the state.
The industrialization of eastern Iowa started in the late 19th century, and the role of technology in the state increased in the 20th century. In 1939, physics professor John Atanasoff built the first computer at Iowa State University. Between 1945 and 1970, hundreds of new industries -- primarily food or metal processors and machine manufacturers -- shifted the state from a farm economy to an industrial-agricultural economy. In the 1960 Census, residents of Iowa cities outnumber the state's rural population for the first time.
Since the late 1980s, agribusiness, agricultural technology, biotechnology and high tech activity have diversified the economic base, but Iowa remains largely dependent on agriculture.
Related Resources:
Photo Credit: Iowa Division of Tourism.
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