The area of Iowa is 145,754 square miles. It’s inland water area is 1,039 square miles.

Black Hawk was born in 1767, he was a Sauk war chief. The nickname of Iowa “The Hawkeye State “ came from his name.

Corn is Iowa’s most popular crop. Henry A. Wallace invented a new type of corn called hybrid.

Des Moines is Iowa’s capitol. It’s Iowa’s biggest city. Des Moines is a French word.

The Eastern Goldfinch is Iowa’s state bird. The male’s colors are yellow, black, and white. The females are a brownish-yellowish color.

A femaleA male

The Fenelon Place Elevator is a railway in Iowa. It’s considered as America’s shortest and steepest railways. It is located in Dubuque.

Grant Wood was a famous artist born in Anamosa. He is known for his famous painting called “American Gothic”.

“American Gothic”

Herbert Hoover was the 31st president. He was born in West Branch.

Indians were the first humans in Iowa. Iowa was named after the Ioway tribe.

John Wayne was born in Winterset. He was a famous actor in many western movies. Some of his movies are Cowboys, The Sons of Kate Elder, and The War Wagon.

The Keokuk Dam is one of the largest electrical dams in the Midwest. It crosses the Mississippi river from Keokuk, IA to Hamilton, IL.

The Loess hills are actually piles of dust. Three million years ago fierce wind blew dust in to piles and they became the Loess hills.

The Mesquakie Indians lived near the Mississippi River. Mesquakie means “red earth” or “red earth people.”

The Norwegian Immigrants settled in the northeast of Iowa. They built a museum around Decorah and called it Vesterham or Western Home.

The oak tree is Iowa’s state tree. It became the state tree in 1961 because of its abundance and importance to many animals.

Pig farms in Iowa produce more than a quarter of America’s pork. It has twice as many pigs than any other state.

Quaker oats was started in Cedar Rapids in 1873. People thought it was for farm animals, but Stuart and Douglas convinced them it was healthy for humans so people started to buy it.

Rivers are on both sides of Iowa, the Mississippi and the Missouri. Iowa is the only state with bordering rivers.

The Sioux tribe was the last to sell their land in Iowa and leave. The Sioux tribe’s chief , War Eagle, picked a spot for a trading post and later became Sioux City right next to the post.

The Threshing machine was a machine that separated the oats from the plant. When families couldn’t afford one they created a threshing ring with friends. They all got together to do all their oats.

Railroads are one of Iowa’s transportations. In 1836 Council Bluffs was chosen as the Union Pacific Railroad’s Eastern Terminus.

James Van Allen was an astronomer at University of Iowa. He directed early explorations of the outer reaches of the earth’s atmosphere.

Wallace, Henry invented a new corn called hybrid. He also was selected by president Roosevelt for secretary of agriculture.

William Roentgen discovered the x-ray. Now his studies are at Iowa State University.

Brigham Young was a Mormon leader. He led Mormons across Iowa.

Zebulon Pike raised the first U.S. flag in Burlington. He died during the attack against the British in Canada.