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Iowa Timeline History

Steamboat in Iowa City, 1868

1673: French explorers, Jolliet and Marquette explored the area for the King of France

1682: LaSalle explored Mississippi River, claimed the river and land for King of France

1762: King of France transferred claim to the land to the King of Spain during Seven Years' War

1788: Julien Dubuque became first white settler in Iowa

1800: Spain transferred land back to France during Napoleonic Wars in Europe

1803: United States acquired Iowa in Louisiana Purchase

1804: Lewis and Clark expedition arrived; only death on the expedition occurred

1808: U.S. Army built Fort Madison

1811: New Madrid fault caused earthquakes in central Iowa

1813: Troops abandoned and burned Fort Madison

1820: Missouri Compromise made Iowa non-slave territory

1832: Black Hawk War ended; Sauk tribe forced to cede land west of Mississippi River

1833: Iowa Territory opened for settlement

1834: Patrick O'Connor first person hung in Iowa

1846: Nearly 20,000 Mormons crossed Iowa; Iowa admitted to Union as 29th state

1847: Dutch immigrants arrived at Pella

1856: First train from Chicago arrived Iowa City; band of Sioux indians massacred settlers at Spirit Lake

1857: State capital moved to Des Moines from Iowa City

1858: First legislative session held in Des Moines

1867: Grasshopper invasion occurred, crops damaged; first railroad completed through Iowa

1890: Huge meteor struck ground 11 miles northwest of Forest City

1893: Pomeroy tornado struck Calhoun County, destroyed 80% of homes, killed 71 and injured 200

1901: Record temperature of 113 degrees set in Sigourney

1907: Last lynching occurred

1909: Earthquake felt in eastern Iowa

1912: Record low temperature of -47 degrees set in Washta

1913: Keokuk Dam completed; Martin Block Coal Co. produced largest single piece of coal - 2,445 pounds

1916: Prohobition closed Iowa breweries

1920: Devil's Backbone designated Iowa's first state park

1928: Herbert Hoover elected president of U.S.

1935: First Heisman Trophy presented to Iowan, Jay Berwanger

1940: Henry Agard Wallace elected vice president of U.S.

1942: Five Sullivan brothers killed in World War II

1949: Effigy Mounds National Monument designated

1954: Governor William S. Beardsley killed in automobile accident

1965: Herbert Hoover National Historic Site established

1983: Last Maytag wringer washer produced

1991: Riverboat gambling legalized

1993: Flooding caused more than $2 billion in damages

1998: Derecho in Washington, Iowa caused wind gusts of 123 mph

1999: New state slogan "Fields of Opportunites" selected