Encyclopedia Dubuque
"Encyclopedia Dubuque is the online authority for all things Dubuque, written by the people who know the city best.”
Marshall Cohen—researcher and producer, CNN
Affiliated with the Local History Network of the State Historical Society of Iowa, and the Iowa Museum Association.
TERRITORIES
TERRITORIES. Territories are large tracts of land under the jurisdiction of a nation and generally with its own legislature. Congress divided the vast LOUISIANA PURCHASE into the Territory of Orleans (basically the same size as the present state of Louisiana) and an area north of the present state of Louisiana known as the District of Louisiana. This region, including the present state of Iowa, was renamed the Territory of Louisiana in 1805. The area including Iowa was renamed the Territory of Missouri in 1812. When Missouri gained statehood in 1821, Iowa remained part of the unorganized territory of the United States.
In 1836 Congress created the Territory of Wisconsin, including the Black Hawk Purchase in present-day Iowa. Land west of the MISSISSIPPI RIVER was separated from the Wisconsin Territory on June 12, 1838. On July 4, 1838, Iowa Territory, including present-day Iowa, two-thirds of the Dakotas, and most of Minnesota, were created. The first territorial governor was Robert Lucas, and the capital was at Burlington. The capital was moved to Iowa City in 1841.