250 Years of The United States: Early Settlement of Iowa by G.C. Stevens

 

Photo from the inside cover of Broad Axe and Bayonet

The Role of the United States Army in the Development of 

the Northwest, 1815-1860 by Francis Paul Prucha photo taken

by the Author G.C. Stevens

Moving far west beyond the banks of the mighty Mississippi River, pioneers headed west for large tracts of land where a new territory had been opened in 1833. They came on foot, on horseback, in prairie schooners or in covered wagons. With no roads, no bridges and no infrastructure to rely on, they followed Native American trails in their search for a place to settle. They negotiated, traded with and fought Native American Indians as they pushed into the deep interior of the continent. This expansion resulted in both conflict and settlement. But nothing could have ever changed what was coming. Following hot on the heels of that expansion was the creation of the technology of the railroads and telegraph. New technologies which would the pave the way for future settlement.

G.C. Stevens

Introduction: 

Over the next year the CSL&OH.A. will bring you articles and stories about the history of our nation and American culture. This is the first of these articles and was drawn from a publication produced by the Iowa Department of Transportation, entitled "Discovering historic Iowa Transportation Milestone".

Early Exploration

When French explorers Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet traveled down the Mississippi River in 1673, the land the surveyed, which would become Iowa was “Pays Inconnu,” the unknown land west of the great river. These explorers paddled their canoes on the west bank of the Mississippi on June 25, 1673, and they became the first Europeans to set foot on Iowa land, claiming it for France. The landing was near the mouth of the Iowa River in what is now Louisa County. On April 30, 1803, the land we now know as Iowa became part of the territory of the United States. It was included in the $15 million Louisiana Purchase transaction made with Napoleon Bonaparte in the Treaty of Paris. The average price per acre was approximately three cents. After the purchase, President Thomas Jefferson selected Captains Meriwether Lewis and William Clark to lead a great expedition of exploration and inventory to the head waters of the Missouri River and their objective was to identify an overland route to the Pacific Ocean by way of the Columbia River. Their expedition (1804-06) passed along the western border of Iowa.

The grave of Father Jacques Marquette SJ. located in St. Ignace MI.

Photo taken by the Author.

They explored this region and made observations about its geography and studied it's plant and animal life. A monument erected in 1935 on a bluff north of Council Bluffs marks the site where Lewis and Clark held council with the chiefs of the Oto and Missouri Native American tribes. Further north, at Sioux City, a 100-foot tall monument marks the burial   place of the only person to die on the historic journey. Expedition member Sergeant Charles Floyd became ill probably with appendicitis and died suddenly near present-day Sioux City. He was buried on Aug. 20, 1804, on a hill on the Iowa side of the Missouri River. 

In 1805 the famed and controversial, Lieutenant Zebulon M. Pike pushed his keelboats up the Mississippi and passed the Iowa shore during the famous Pike Expedition which set out to discover the source of the Mississippi River. Settling Along the Banks of the Mississippi Iowa’s oldest cities are found along the Mississippi River. These bustling river towns were the commercial hubs of pioneer Iowa. Many early settlers who established these economic centers arrived by flatboat, raft or keelboat. Settlers usually built boats large enough to carry their families and all their possessions, including hogs, chickens and cows. Until the arrival of steamboats, keelboats were the primary means of transporting people and freight up and down the rivers. More streamlined than flatboats, keelboats had long rudders that extended from the rear of the boat; sometimes they had masts and sails.

                                          Early Pioneers

Moving far west beyond the banks of the mighty Mississippi River, pioneers headed west for large tracts of land where a new territory had been opened in 1833. They came on foot, on horseback, in prairie schooners or in covered wagons. With no roads, no bridges and no infrastructure to rely on, they followed Native American trails in their search for a place to call home. They negotiated, traded with and fought Native American Indians as they pushed into the deep interior of the continent. This expansion resulted in both conflict and settlement. But nothing could have ever changed what was coming. Following hot on the heels of that expansion was the creation of the technology of the railroads and telegraph. New technologies which would the pave the way for future settlement.

G.C. Stevens

Reference The Iowa Dept of Transportation "Discovering historic Iowa Transportation Milestone"