Hello fellow researchers! Thanks again for all the responses I've gotten for links to Iowa resources. I think I have enough to explore now. :-) I do have another question, however... Does anyone know how they used to conduct "land rushes" for homesteading? Supposedly my great grandfather participated in one that set out from Mt Pleasant to Nebraska, where he staked a claim in Gosper County. How would I go about finding out more about this event so I can accurately describe it in the family history? Thanks again! Tonja Hetrick stitchinfits@ivillage.com -- Join the most exciting community of women on the web! iVillage.com's FREE membership gets you private email, your own home page, special discounts and sweepstakes, and dozens of problem-solving tools. http://www.ivillage.com/frame/join_email.html