Iowa History Timeline: Text Version
B.C.E. = Before Common Era
C.E. = Common Era
C.E. = Common Era
- 1800:
Iowa Event
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Basil Giard Buys Land Near Present Marquette
Basil Giard received a land grant from the Spanish government for a tract of land near the present town of Marquette. Giard's land claim was where the town of Marquette was later built, and was mostly for fur trading purposes.
Find out more about Iowa's earliest settlement. - 1800:
Iowa Event
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France Reclaims Future Iowa Land
Claims to land that would become Iowa were transferred from Spain to France. During the Napoleonic wars in Europe, Spain became a satellite of France, and the Mississippi River area was transferred back to France under pressure from Napoleon. Spain had exerted very little control or contact with the area north of St. Louis.
Find out more about Iowa's earliest settlement. - Early 1800s:
Iowa Event
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Iowa's Landscape
In the early 1800s almost 19 percent of Iowa's land was covered in forest. Seventy percent was prairie. Eleven percent was wetlands.
Find out more about Iowa's landscape. - 1803:
Iowa Event
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Louisiana Purchase
France sells Louisiana Territory, including land that will become Iowa, to United States. President Thomas Jefferson wished to purchase trading rights at New Orleans so that American products would have free navigation of the Mississippi River to ocean-going ships. When the opportunity arose to purchase the whole tract of land, he took advantage of it, but not without opposition from Congress and other people who felt that it was unconstitutional to add territory to the United States. Jefferson established a precedent with the Louisiana Purchase which led to later acquisition of other land which was added to the United States.
- 1803:
Iowa Event
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Iowa Becomes Part of Upper District of Louisiana
Iowa becomes part of Upper District of Louisiana with the capital at St. Louis. For administration, the Louisiana Purchase was divided into the Upper and Lower Districts of Louisiana, with capitals at St. Louis and New Orleans respectively. This was mostly a paper transaction, because there were no legal permanent residents in the area except Native American Indians, and this administration did not apply to them.
Find out more about Iowa's path to statehood. - 1804:
Iowa Event
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District of Louisiana Administered by Indiana Territory
Iowa is part of District of Louisiana, but is now administered by the Territory of Indiana for practical purposes.
Find out more about Iowa's path to statehood. - 1804:
Iowa Event
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Sac Indians Give Up Iowa Land
Members of the Sauk tribe signed over tribal lands to the U.S. government. These tribe members were not tribal leaders and not authorized to do this. This treaty should have had no legal standing, but the United States government later based land claims on it. The land became the state of Iowa. This is also the beginning of the U.S. government's mistake in referring to the "Sac and Fox" as one tribe, even though the Sauk were a distinct tribe and the other tribe is properly called Mesquakie, not Fox.
Find out more about Indian removal in Iowa. - 1804:
Iowa Event
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Sergeant Charles Floyd Dies
Sergeant Floyd died of appendicitis while camped just south of present Sioux City. He was buried there, and later a tall obelisk was constructed and designated a National Historic Landmark. He is the first white American known to have been buried in what would become Iowa, and he is the only soldier to die on the Lewis and Clark expedition.
Find out more about Iowa's early European explorers. - 1804:
Iowa Event
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Lewis and Clark Cross Iowa
Captain Meriwether Lewis and Lieutenant William Clark crossed Iowa on their expedition to explore Louisiana Territory. The Lewis and Clark explorations were to make contact with the Native American Indians, chart flora and fauna, and investigate the economic resources. The party went up the Missouri River in 1804, camping on the "Iowa" side of the river several times. They held a council with the Indians on the west side of the river, providing the source of the name for the city of Council Bluffs.
Find out more about Iowa's early European explorers. - 1804:
World Event
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Napoleon Rules
- 1804:
U.S. Event
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Lewis and Clark Expedition
President Thomas Jefferson asked William Clark and Meriwether Lewis to explore and chart the Louisiana Purchase. They explored for two years and published an account of their findings. This helped open the area to settlement by European immigrants.
Find out more about early explorers. - 1805:
Iowa Event
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Pike Explores Upper Mississippi River Valley
Lieutenant Zebulon Montgomery Pike's expedition was ordered to investigate the Mississippi River above St. Louis, noting especially the rivers, prairies, islands, mines, quarries, timber, and Indian villages and settlements. He also designated two sites for future forts, but no fort was built in either place. He designated what is now Crapo Park in Burlington, and what is now Pike's Peak State Park near McGregor. Pike later explored in the Rocky Mountain west where a peak in Colorado is named for him.
Find out more about Iowa's early European explorers. - 1805:
Iowa Event
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Iowa Becomes Part of Territory of Louisiana
The upper Mississippi valley, including the land that would become Iowa, was named the Territory of Louisiana with its capital at St. Louis. As a part of this designation, the Spanish land grants to Dubuque, Tesson, and Giard were confirmed.
Find out more about Iowa's path to statehood. - 1806:
Iowa Event
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Lewis and Clark Return Down Missouri River
On their trip back down the Missouri River, the Lewis and Clark expedition again camped on the "Iowa" side but made no further impact on the future state.
Find out more about Iowa's early European explorers. - 1808:
Iowa Event
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Fort Madison Constructed
Fort Bellevue (later called Fort Madison) was constructed in what became Lee County. Fort Madison was the first federal facility to be built in Iowa. When Fort Madison was constructed the army officer in charge used poor judgment in selecting its location. The fort had the Mississippi River on one side, a high bluff on another side, and a ravine on a third side. It would be very difficult to defend.
Find out more about troubles at Fort Madison. - 1808:
Iowa Event
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Fort Madison Established
Fort Madison was built by the federal government and used as a fort and trading post.
Find out more about Iowa communities.
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