You will find the whole chapter on the Iowa History Site. Below is just a part of the chapter. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ STORIES OF IOWA FOR BOYS AND GIRLS CHAPTER IV JULIEN DUBUQUE AND THE MINES OF SPAIN Although the two Frenchmen, Marquette and Joliet, reached the country that is now Iowa in 1673, it was more than a hundred years later before any white man came here to live. During this time France had transferred the country west of th Mississippi and south of Canada to Spain. Thus when Julien Dubuque, the first white settler, came to the Iowa country in 1788, the land was under the control of Spain. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Dubuque soon gained great control over the Indians. They looked upon him as a magician. He could handle snakes without fear, it is said, and had a medicine that was a certain cure for snake bites. Once when the Indians refused to do something he wanted, they story is told that he threatened to set Catfish Creek on fire. He had some of his white helpers pour some oil on the water upstream and when it floated past he set fire to it. The terrified Indians agreed to do what he wanted. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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/