THE
MAKING OF IOWA
CHAPTER XXXIV
IN CLOSING
The course of the great commonwealth of Iowa has now been traced through all stages of our history until, as a State among States, the day came when she set forth 80,000 of her sons to do battle for the Nation. The story of her heroism is yet to be told. The State thought no sacrifice too great, whether of blood or treasure, in defense of the flag, and in maintaining the integrity of the Nation. Iowa has every reason to be proud of her record during the War of the Rebellion. There remains much to be told of her career from the beginning of the Civil War to the present time. But it is the purpose of this volume merely to sketch the awakening of Iowa and her swift rousing to lusty strength.
Tempered and welded by the flame of battle, she emerged from the Civil War period to take her place among the foremost independencies forming the United States. She has been tried and not found wanting. Her progress, rapid, sure and unfaltering from the little Zion Church at Burlington to the magnificent $3,000,000 capitol at Des Moines, is typical of the growth of the State.
The future of Iowa is largely in the hands of the children who read this book. The character of the citizenship which they attain will be also the character of the State. On the stone which Iowa contributed to the Washington Monument, and on the face of the soldiers' monument at Des Moines is this inscription. May it be as true at the close of the 20th century as it is to-day. "Iowa-her affections, like the rivers of her borders, flow to an inseparable union."
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