The whole chapter can be seen on the Iowa History site. Below is just a small section of the Chapter. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ THE IOWAS We first hear of the Iowa Indians in 1690 when they were found in the vicinity of the great lakes. Their noted chief, Man-haw-gaw, was then at the head of the tribe and under his leadership they migrated westward. They crossed the Mississippi and occupied the country about the lower valley of the Iowa River, giving to that stream its present name, although it was for a long time called the Ayouas by the earliest French explorers. Lewis and Clark in the journal of their explorations, in 1804, refer to this tribe of Indians as the Ayouways. In later years the orthography became changed to Ioway and finally the y was dropped and we have the beautiful name Iowa, with the accent on the I. Antoine Le Claire, a half-breed of French and Indian parentage, who was familiar with several of the Indian languages, defines the word Iowa as "This is the place." Theodore S. Parvin, a high authority, relates an Indian legend as follows: "This tribe separated from the sacs and Foxes and wandered off westward in search of a new home. Crossing the Mississippi River they turned southward, reaching a high bluff near the mouth of the Iowa River. Looking off over the beautiful valley spread out before them they halted, exclaiming 'Ioway!' or 'This is the place!' " ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ As far back as the history of the Iowa nation has been traced by Schoolcraft and other, it is found that this tribe migrated fifteen times. It appears to have moved in about 1693 from the vicinity of the great lakes to near the mouth of Rock River and some years later to the Iowa. The next move was to the Des Moines Valley in the vicinity of Van Buren, Wapello and Davis counties. Many years later the Iowas journeyed through southern and western Iowa, up the Missouri Valley, into Dakota. For several years they lived near the red pipestone quarries in the valley of the Big Sioux River, roaming over into northwestern Iowa as far as Spirit Lake and the upper valleys of the Little Sioux and Des Moines rivers. Leaving these regions they descended the Missouri into southeastern Nebraska in the Platte Valley. They next wandered into northern Missouri and from there into southern Iowa in the region of the Chariton and Grand rivers. They engaged in frequent wars with the Sioux an dOsages. In 1807 they had a battle with Osages. After a fierce conflict they captured the village, destroying thirty lodges and massacring all the inhabitants. A few years later the smallpox ravaged their settlement, destroying more than a hundred of their warriors and nearly two hundred women and children. Twelve years later they lost nearly two hundred more of the tribe by the same disease. In 1819 they were attacked by a superior force of Sioux and a desperate battle was fought. In the end the Iowas were defeated, losing scores of their best warriors. The Sioux captured and carried into captivity many of their women and children. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ One of the most noted chiefs after the death of Man-haw-yaw was his son Ma-has-kah. His home was in the Des Moines Valley, near where the town Eldon now stands, at the old village of Iowaville. He had seven wives; the favorite one was a beautiful woman named Rant-che-wai-me (Female Flying Pigeon). In 1824, when Ma-has-kah, with a party of warriors, went to Washington to have an interview with President Monroe, this favorite wife joined the party the third day after their departure and announced her intention to accompany her husband and shake hands with the President. She was permitted to go with him and attracted marked attention in Washington from her great beauty and intelligence. Her portrait was painted by an artist at the Capital and for a long time adorned his studio. She was a kind and generous woman, devoting much of her time to ministering to the sick and unfortunate. General Huges, the Indian agent, who was well acquainted with her, spoke in the highest terms of her excellent qualities. She returned from Washington with new views of life and tried to impress upon the young women of her race useful lessons from her observations of civilized people. Ma-has-kah was deeply attached to her and was greatly depressed at her tragic death, which was the result of a fall from a horse soon after her return from Washington. He never ceased to extol her many virtues and beautiful character. 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/