Iowa Almanac
Iowa Almanac -- Tuesday, November 12, 2024
The first legislature. More from the Iowa Almanac in a moment. It wouldn't be Christmas without Camp Courageous Fruit Cakes, and they're now available in stores across Iowa and at Camp Courageous.org/fruitcakes. Camp Courageous Fruit Cakes are generously filled with cherries, nuts, pineapple, coconut, and just the right amount of cake batter to hold it all together. Best of all, proceeds go to support Camp Courageous near Monticello, Iowa. For a list of stores or to order online, go to Camp Courageous.org/fruitcakes. The land west of the Mississippi River, including what is now Iowa, was part of the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. Iowa was originally part of the Wisconsin Territory, but ultimately the parcel was divided. Some wanted to call the new territory Washington after our first President. Others wanted to name it Jefferson after the President who bought the land. Imagine, instead of our state being Iowa, we were actually fairly close to living in the state of Washington or in the state of Jefferson, but instead the name given the area by Albert M. Lee was used, Iowa. On June 12, 1838, President Martin Van Buren signed the bill which created the Iowa Territory. It went into effect on July 4th, Independence Day. The President appointed Robert Lucas as Governor. He had previous experience as Governor of Ohio. The President also appointed three justices for a territorial Supreme Court. The people of the new territory were to elect their own legislature, and on November 12, 1838, the first Iowa territorial legislature began meeting, two months after the first election. Governor Lucas decided Burlington would be the capital of the new territory until the legislature selected another location. That first legislature settled various orders of business, but one of the first was to establish a new city in Johnson County, named Iowa City, to be the capital. The cornerstone for the Capitol building was set in 1840, but it took a long time for the stone capital to be built. The legislature did meet in Iowa City in 1841, but in a temporary frame building. They moved into the stone capital of the next year. Today, our legislature meets annually, from January until typically April or May. But the first legislative session for the Iowa Territory was on this date in 1838. And that's Iowa Almanac for November 12th. Follow us on Twitter @IowaAlmanac. Until tomorrow, I'm Jeff Stein.