
map of the Iowa Territory
'Iowa Territory' was an
organized territory of the
United States from
July 4,
1838 until
December 28,
1846 when the southeastern portion of it was separated to become
Iowa, the 29th state.
History
Most of the area comprising the territory was originally part of the
Louisiana Purchase and was a part of the
Missouri Territory. When
Missouri became a state in
1821, this area (along with
the Dakotas) effectively became
unorganized territory. The area was closed to white settlers until the 1830s, after the
Black Hawk War ended. It was attached to the
Michigan Territory on
June 28,
1834, and was split off with the
Wisconsin Territory in
1836 when
Michigan became a state.
The Iowa Territory was the "Iowa District" of western
Wisconsin Territory--the region west of the
Mississippi River. The original boundaries of the territory, as established in 1838, included
Minnesota and parts of
the Dakotas, covering about 194,000 square miles of land.
Burlington was the stop-gap capital;
Iowa City was designated as the official territorial capital in 1841.
Governance
Governors of Iowa Territory
★
Robert Lucas appointed 1838.
★
John Chambers (Iowa) appointed 1841.
★
James Clarke (Iowa) appointed November, 1845.
Secretaries of Iowa Territory
★
William B. Conway, appointed 1838; died in office, November, 1839.
★
James Clarke, appointed 1839.
★
O.H. W. Stull, appointed 1841.
★
Samuel J. Burr, appointed 1843.
★
Jesse Williams, appointed 1845.
Congressional Delegates
★
William Williams Chapman 25th and
26th Congresses
★
Francis Gehon, elected in
1839, but apparently never served as Delegate
★
Augustus C. Dodge, in the
27th,
28th and
29th Congresses.