Below is part of Chapter 5. You can read the whole chapter on the Iowa History Site. STORIES OF IOWA FOR BOYS AND GIRLS CHAPTER V LOUIS HONORE TESSON AND HIS APPLE ORCHARD In 1799, just eleven years after Julien Dubuque came to the lead mine region, a French-Canadian named Louis Honore Tesson bought a farm in what is now Iowa. At that time all the land west of the Mississippi River was still owned by the King of Spain, and Tesson had to buy his land from the Spanish governor. If you bought a farm in Iowa at the present time, you would probably have to pay from one hundred to three hundred dollars an acre, but Tesson did not have to pay any money at all. You see, the Spanish governor was afraid some English traders would come into the northern part of the Mississippi Valley and buy up all the furs. So he told Tesson he might have 7056 arpents of land if he would help him keep the English from coming into the Spanish territory. This was about 6073 acres. He was also to buy the furs which the Indians had to sell, to teach them to be Christians, and to show them how to raise wheat, corn, and vegetables. The Indians had plenty of game, such as deer, for meat, but they often did not have any bread, potatoes, corn, beans, or pumpkins, things they liked very much. Tesson also promised to plant some trees, for at that time there were very few trees in Iowa except along the streams. Debbie Clough Gerischer Iowa Gen Web, Assistant CC, Scott County http://www.celticcousins.net/scott/ IAGENWEB: Special History Project: http://iagenweb.org/history/index.htm Gerischer Family Web Site: http://gerischer.rootsweb.com/