The first Europeans to visit the area
were the French explorers Jacques Marquette and
Louis Joliet in 1673. The U.S. obtained control of
the area in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase,
and during the first half of the 19th century, there
was heavy fighting between white settlers and
Indians. Lands were taken from the Indians after the
Black Hawk War in 1832 and again in 1836 and 1837.
When Iowa became a state in 1846, its capital was
Iowa City; the more centrally located Des Moines
became the new capital in 1857. At that time, the
state's present boundaries were also drawn.
Although Iowa produces a tenth of the nation's food
supply, the value of Iowa's manufactured products is
twice that of its agriculture. Major industries are
food and associated products, non-electrical
machinery, electrical equipment, printing and
publishing, and fabricated products.
Iowa stands in a class by itself as an agricultural
state. Its farms sell over $10 billion worth of
crops and livestock annually. Iowa leads the nation
in all corn, soybean, and hog marketings, and comes
in third in total livestock sales. Iowa's forests
produce hardwood lumber, particularly walnut, and
its mineral products include cement, limestone,
sand, gravel, gypsum, and coal.
Tourist attractions include the Herbert Hoover
birthplace and library near West Branch; the Amana
Colonies; Fort Dodge Historical Museum, Fort, and
Stockade; the Iowa State Fair at Des Moines in
August; and the Effigy Mounds National Monument, a
prehistoric Indian burial site at Marquette. |
