This 1934 map created by Iowa artist Mildred Pelzer for the State Historical Society of Iowa, “Iowa – Prairie Chronicles in Picture,” tells the early story of Iowa politically, industrially and agriculturally. Photo courtesy of State Historical Society of Iowa
Nov/Dec 2026 (Volume 18, Issue 6)
By Jeff Stein
The United States was celebrating the 70th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 1846 as a still-relatively new nation, rapidly adding new states; in fact, a dozen new states alone had been approved since 1800.
President James K. Polk signed legislation formally admitting Iowa as the 29th state to the union on Dec. 28, 1846; so as the nation celebrates America 250 this year, the state marks Iowa 180—but in keeping with Iowa’s independent nature, it was not an easy path politically.
The land that is now the state of Iowa was sold to the United States by the French in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase, doubling the size of the still-new country with the stroke of a pen. And while the move solidified U.S. control over the continent versus European nations, President Thomas Jefferson was not initially convinced he had the power to make the deal, since purchasing territory was not specifically listed in the Constitution as a presidential power. An act of Congress on Oct. 3, 1803, authorized the president to take possession of the “Territory of Louisiana” and set up a temporary government.
The transaction included some 530 million acres of territory, which ultimately made up parts of 15 states, including all of Iowa.
The price was $15 million, which translated to less than four cents per acre. The U.S. financed the purchase using bonds sold in London and Amsterdam, making the total payment with interest closer to $27 million. (The total would be nearly $600 million today.)
The Black Hawk Purchase, which followed the Black Hawk War in 1832, officially began on June 1, 1833, giving settlers legal access to six million acres of land west of the Mississippi River. On June 28, 1834, the U.S. Congress passed a bill that combined the lands of Iowa, Minnesota and the Dakotas into the Michigan Territory. At left is an 1832 portrait of Black Hawk, the Sauk war chief and namesake of the Black Hawk War, painted by George Catlin. At right is a map showing the new area of land opened up for homesteading. Photo courtesy of Our Iowa Heritage
In order to assess just how large the territory was, the federal government established two expeditions to explore the upper Mississippi and Missouri rivers and the regions through which each flowed. Capt. Meriwether Lewis and Capt. William Clark were chosen for the Missouri River expedition, which included 43 other men; at the time, Lewis was the private secretary of Jefferson.
As noted historian Benjamin Gue wrote in his 1903 multi-volume work, “History of Iowa,” “As they passed up along the west shore of Iowa they describe the country as a vast prairie, the great valley of the Missouri broadening out on the Iowa side into immense meadows, many miles in width, and level as a floor, covered with a dense growth of tall waving grass. Beyond could be seen a high range of steep bluffs, often treeless, broken into sharp points and deep ravines,” along with large herds of buffalo, elk and deer.
As westward migration continued, the first settlers were officially allowed into the region in 1833, and the “land between two rivers” slowly took shape. Iowa was first part of the Michigan Territory, then the Wisconsin Territory.
The first newspaper in what is now Iowa, The Du Buque Visitor, took a political stand in its first issue on May 11, 1836, declaring itself to be printed in the “Du Buque Lead Mines, Wisconsin Territory”—which had yet to be approved by Congress.
The western part of the Michigan Territory was split off into the separate Wisconsin Territory soon after, with its capitol in Burlington in what is now southeast Iowa.
This 1868 oil on canvas portrait of Robert Lucas hangs in the Ohio Statehouse. Lucas was the governor of Ohio (1832-1836) before being named as the first governor of the Iowa Territory from 1838 to 1841. Of note, William B. Conway arrived in Iowa six weeks before Lucas and served briefly as acting governor after being appointed by Martin Van Buren. Lucas was often at odds with Conway and the territorial legislature and spent most of his years in Burlington and Muscatine (then known as Bloomington). But Lucas was instrumental in transitioning Iowa from a territory to a state. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia
The first act regulating the sale of liquor in what is now Iowa was passed in 1836. Gue noted that a county could grant permission to a person to sell “spirituous liquors, provided he should pay in to the county treasury nine dollars a month for one year. Any person selling such liquors without a license was liable to a fine of ten dollars for each offense.”
Momentum quickly began to establish another territory split off from the Wisconsin Territory—this one to be named Iowa. Another newspaper of the era, The Fort Madison Patriot, offered a suggestion on the issue.
“If a division of the Territory is effected, we propose that Iowans take the cognomen of ‘Hawkeyes’; our etymology can thus be more definitely traced than that of the ‘Wolverines,’ ‘Suckers’ and “Hoosiers,’ and we can rescue from oblivion a memento at least of the old chief,” referring to the Sauk leader Chief Black Hawk.
The Iowa Territory was approved effective July 3, 1838, containing a vastly larger area than the state we know today—all of what is now Iowa, most of Minnesota and a portion of “Dakota.” President Martin Van Buren selected Robert Lucas as first governor of the new Iowa Territory. Lucas had experience, having been elected as governor of the state of Ohio.
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