Iowa Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===U.S. settlement and statehood, 1832–1860=== {{Main|Michigan Territory|Wisconsin Territory|Organic act#List of organic acts|Iowa Territory|Admission to the Union|List of U.S. states by date of admission to the Union}} [[File:Iowa territorial seal.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Iowa [[Seal of Iowa#Iowa territorial seal|Territorial Seal]]]] [[File:Bellevue, Iowa in 1848.png|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Bellevue, Iowa|Bellevue]] along the Mississippi, 1848]] The first American settlers officially moved to Iowa in June 1833.<ref name="Settlers">{{cite web|url=http://publications.iowa.gov/135/1/history/7-1.html|title=History of Iowa|publisher=Iowa State University|author=Schwieder, Dorothy|access-date=June 6, 2009|archive-date=September 3, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090903191039/http://publications.iowa.gov/135/1/history/7-1.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Primarily, they were families from [[Ohio]], [[Pennsylvania]], [[New York (state)|New York]], [[Indiana]], [[Kentucky]], and [[Virginia]] who settled along the western banks of the [[Mississippi River]], founding the modern day cities of [[Dubuque, Iowa|Dubuque]] and [[Bellevue, Iowa|Bellevue]].<ref name="Settlers" /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://co.jackson.ia.us/history.htm|title=Jackson County, Iowa History Information|publisher=Jackson County, Iowa|access-date=November 3, 2019|archive-date=November 4, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191104000006/https://co.jackson.ia.us/history.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> On July 4, 1838, the [[U.S. Congress]] established the [[Territory of Iowa]]. President [[Martin Van Buren]] appointed [[Robert Lucas (governor)|Robert Lucas]] governor of the territory, which at the time had 22 counties and a population of 23,242.<ref>''Iowa Official Register'', Volume Number 60, page 314</ref> Almost immediately after achieving territorial status, a clamor arose for statehood. On December 28, 1846, Iowa became the 29th state in the Union when President [[James K. Polk]] signed Iowa's admission bill into law. Once admitted to the Union, the state's boundary issues resolved, and most of its land purchased from Natives, Iowa set its direction to development and organized campaigns for settlers and investors, boasting the young frontier state's rich farmlands, fine citizens, free and open society, and good government.<ref>"Official Encouragement of Immigration to Iowa", Marcus L. Hansen, ''IJHP'', 19 (April 1921):159–95</ref> Iowa has a long tradition of state and county fairs. The first and second [[Iowa State Fair]]s were held in the more developed eastern part of the state at [[Fairfield, Iowa|Fairfield]]. The first fair was held October 25–27, 1854, at a cost of around $323. Thereafter, the fair moved to locations closer to the center of the state and in 1886 found a permanent home in Des Moines. The State Fair has been held annually since then, except for a few exceptions: 1898 due to the [[Spanish–American War]] and the [[World's Fair]] being held in nearby [[Omaha, Nebraska]]; from 1942 to 1945, due to [[World War II]], as the fairgrounds were being used as an army supply depot; and in 2020 due to the [[COVID-19 pandemic in the United States]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://iowastatefair.com/about/trivia.php |title=Iowa State Fair |publisher=Trivia |access-date=December 12, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101130160719/http://iowastatefair.com/about/trivia.php |archive-date=November 30, 2010 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Safety|url=http://www.iowastatefair.org/safety/|access-date=October 13, 2020|website=Iowa State Fair|archive-date=October 16, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016165113/https://www.iowastatefair.org/safety/|url-status=live}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page