| IOWA | Ī´o-wah. "Hawkeye State." |
Name is of Indian origin, and means "The Beautiful land."
Part of the Louisiana purchase; merged into Missouri Territory, 1812; into Michigan, 1834; into Wisconsin, 1836. First white settlement at Dubuque, 1788. Admitted as a State, 1846.
Area, 56,025 square miles, about that of Illinois; extent north and south, 208 miles; east and west, about 300 miles. Principal rivers within State: Des Moines, Iowa and Little Sioux. Number counties, 99. Temperature at Davenport: winter, 21° to 37°; summer, 70° to 76°. Rainfall at Mascutine, 43 inches.
Des Moines, metropolis and capital: pop., 32,469. Pop. of Dubuque, 26,330; of Davenport, 23,830; of Burlington, 23,459; of Council Bluffs, 21,557. Keokuk, Burlington and Dubuque are United States ports of delivery.
Number farms, 185,351; average value per acre, cleared land, $27.36; woodland, $39.36. Corn crop, 1884, 252,600,000 bu.; wheat, 31,270,000 bu.; oats, 78,650,000 bu.; potatoes, 1883, 13,216,868 bu.; barley, 4,638,348 bu.; sorgham syrup, 2,640,000 gals.
Dairy interest growing in importance, creamery and factory products bringing high prices. There were 60,940,553 lbs. of butter and 3,378,924 lbs. cheese made in 1880.