History of Linn County Iowa: From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time [1911]Brewer, Luther Albertus
History
History of Linn County Iowa: From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time [1911]
Brewer, Luther Albertus
Linn County (Iowa) -- Biography; Linn County (Iowa) -- History; Registers of births, etc. -- Iowa -- Linn County
"In 1799, a trading post was established on the Mississippi
within the present territory of Iowa. This settlement and
the one at Dubuque were abandoned, so that Iowa was
practically an unknown and undesired country at the time
when it came under the control of the United States in 1803.
It was at that time Indian territory, occupied by the Sacs,
Foxes, and Iowas, with the still more warlike Sioux on the
north and east.
"On the 31st of October, 1803, a temporary government was
authorized for the recently acquired territory. By Act of
Congress, approved March 26, 1803, Louisiana was erected
into two Territories and provision made for the
administration of each. The upper part was known as the
District of Louisiana and included Arkansas, Missouri, and
Iowa. This was placed temporarily under the jurisdiction of
the Territory of Indiana. On July 4, 1805, all this northern
district became the Territory of Louisiana, with a separate
Territorial government. The legislative power was vested in
the governor and three judges to be appointed by the
President and Senate. This condition continued until
December 7, 1812, when the Territory of Louisiana became the
Territory of Missouri. In 1821, Missouri was admitted into
the Union, and this admission of Missouri carried with it
the abolition of the government of Missouri Territory, so
that for a time Iowa was without any government. It is a
question how much law remained in force in Iowa after the
admission of Missouri. It is probable that the only civil
law in force was the proviso of the Missouri bill, which
prohibited slavery north of thirty-six degrees thirty
minutes north latitude. No provision was made for that
portion of the Territory of Missouri until June 28, 1834,
when Congress attached the present State of Iowa, together
with other territory, to the Territory of Michigan.
"On July 3, 1836, it was included in the newly organized
Territory of Wisconsin. On June 12, 1838, the Territory of
Iowa was constituted by Act of Congress. This Territory
included 'all that part of the present Territory of
Wisconsin which lies west of Mississippi River and west of a
line due north from the sources or headwaters of the
Mississippi to the territorial line.'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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