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ILLUSTRATIVE MAPS
OF THE
BOUNDARY HISTORY OF IOWA
BY
BENJAMIN F. SHAMBAUGH
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MAPS ILLUSTRATIVE OF THE BOUNDARY HISTORY OF IOWA
The following maps were complied to illustrate certain leading facts in
what may be termed the boundary history of Iowa. It is not, however,
intended to discuss in this connection the history of boundary changes.
And yet a general review of some of the main points in that history is
necessary to the people understanding of the boundaries illustrated by the
maps which are here published for the first time.
It is of course well understood that Iowa was carved out of what was
earlier known as the Province of Louisiana. In 1808 this province was
acquired by the United States. Its boundaries were at that time not
definitely
described; but it certainly included all of what came to be known later
on as the Iowa country. Before and at the time of its purchase by the
United States, the Province of Louisiana was divided for administrative
purposes into Upper Louisiana and Lower Louisiana. The former was turned
over to the United States in December, 1806, while the latter was not
formally taken possession of until March, 1804 .
By the act of March 26, 1804, Congress divided the whole Province of
Louisiana into the Territory of Orleans and the District of
Louisiana.1 The
Territory of Orleans comprised the county which was afterwards erected
into the State of Louisiana. The District of Louisiana was more extensive
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| 1
U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol. II, p. 286 |
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| and included all of the remaining parts of the newly
acquired country. The former was constituted a separate and independent
Territory; but the latter was placed under the jurisdiction of the
Governor and Judges of the Territory of Indiana. (See Map I for the
boundaries of the Territory of Indiana at this time). It should be
remembered that the area of the future Iowa was a part of the District of
Louisiana. By the act of March 3, 1805, Congress changed the name of the
District of Louisiana to the Territory of Louisiana, and provided for the
organization of the same as a separate Territiory.1
No changes, however, were made in the boundaries. Again in
1812, by the act of June 4, Congress reorganized the Territory of
Louisiana under the name of the Territory of Missouri.2
The boundaries of the Territory of Missouri were the same as those of the
Territory of Louisiana. In 1819 the Territory of Arkansas was carved out of
the Territory of Missouri.3
But the area out of which Iowa was in time to be carved remained a part of
the Territory of Missouri until the State of Missouri was admitted into
the Union in 1821. Then all of the Missouri country not included in the
new State was left without a local constitutional status until 1834.4
Congress, by the act of June 28, 1834, provided for the enlargement of
the Territory of Michigan as follows: ---
All that part of the territory of the United States bounded on the east
by the Mississippi river, on the south by the state of Missouri,-- |
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1 U. S.
Statutes at Large, Vol. II, p. 331
2 U. S.
Statutes at Large, Vol. II, p. 743
3 U. S.
Statutes at Large, Vol. III, p. 490
4
Shambaugh's Documentary Material Relating to the History of Iowa, Vol. I,
p. 45 |
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| add a line drawn due west from the north-west corner of
said state to the Missouri river; on the south-west corner of said state
to the Missouri river; on the south-west and west by the Missouri river
and the White Earth river, falling into the same; and on the north, by the
northern boundary of the United States, shall be, and hereby is, for the
purpose of temporary government, attached to, and made a part , the
territory of Michigan, and the inhabitants therein shall be entitled to
the same privileges and immunities, and be subject to the same laws,
rules, and regulations, in all respects , as the other citizens of
Michigan territory.1
(See Map I for the Territory of Michigan as
enlarged by this act of Congress).
Steps having been taken for the admission of the State of Michigan into
the Union, Congress, by the act of April 20, 1836, established the
original Territory of Wisconsin with the following boundaries: --
Bounded on the east, by a line drawn from the north-east corner of the
State of Illinois, through the middle of the Lake Michigan, to a point in
the middle of said lake, and opposite the main channel of Green Bay, and
through said channel and Green Bay to the mouth of the Menomonie river;
thence through the middle of the main channel of said river, so that head
of said river nearest to the Lake of the Desert; thence in a direct line,
to the middle of said lake; thence through the middle of the main channel
of the Montreal river, to its mouth; thence with a direct line across Lake
Superior, to where the territorial line of the United States last touches
said lake north-west; thence on the north, with the said territorial line,
to the White-earth river; on the west, by a line from the said boundary
line following down the middle of the main channel of White-river, to the
Missouri river, and down the middle of the main channel of the Missouri
river to a point due west from the northwest corner of the State of
Missouri, and on the south, from |
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| said point, due east to the northwest corner of the State
of Missouri; and thence with the boundaries of the States of Missouri and
Illinois, as already fixed by acts of Congress.1
(See Map II for the boundaries of the Territory of
Wisconsin from 1836 to 1838.)
Owing to the rapid increase in the population of that part of the
Territory of Wisconsin which lay west of the Mississippi, the separate
territory of Iowa was established by the act of Congress of June 12, 1838,
with boundaries as follows: --
All that part of the present Territory of Wisconsin which lies west of
the Mississippi river, and west of a line drawn due north from the head
waters or sources of the Mississippi to the territorial line shall, for
the purposes of temporary government, be and constitute a separate
Territorial Government by the name of Iowa.2
Probably the most interesting phase of the boundary history of Iowa is
that connected with the definition of boundaries for the State at the time
of its admission into the Union. The boundaries first proposed have come
to be known as the Lucas Boundaries. They were adopted by the
Constitutional Convention of 1844 and incorporated into the Constitution
of 1844. They were originally suggested by Robert Lucas, the first
Governor of the Territory of Iowa,3
and were generally acceptable to the people. Their
definition in the Constitution of 1844 is as follows: --
Beginning in the middle of the main channel of the Mississippi river
opposite the month of the Des Moines river; thence up the said river Des
Moines in the middle of the main channel thereof, to... |
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1 U. S.
Statutes at Large, Vol. V, p. 1o
2 U. S. Statutes at Large, Vol.
V, 235
3 Shambaugh's History of the
Constitution of Iowa, p. 235 |
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