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Hospitality de la Hawaii
Capital: Honolulu (on Oahu)
State abbreviation/Postal
code: Hawaii/HI
Governor: Linda Lingle, R (to Dec. 2010)
Lieut. Governor: James “Duke” Aiona, R (to Dec.
2010)
Organized as territory: 1900
Entered Union (rank): Aug. 21, 1959 (50)
Motto: Ua Mau Ke Ea O Ka Aina I Ka Pono
(The life of the land is perpetuated in righteousness)
State symbols:
flower hibiscus (yellow) (1988)
song
“Hawaii Ponoi” (1967)
bird nene (Hawaiian goose) (1957)
tree kukui (candlenut) (1959)
Nickname: Aloha
State (1959)
Origin of name: Uncertain. The islands may have been named by Hawaii Loa, their traditional discoverer. Or
they may have been named after Hawaii or Hawaiki, the traditional home of the Polynesians.
Number of counties: 5 (Kalawao
non-functioning)
Largest county by population and area: Honolulu, 905,266 (2005); Hawaii, 4,028 sq mi.
State forests:
19 natural area reserves (over 109,000 ac.)
State park: 52 (25,000 ac.)
Residents: Hawaiian, also kamaaina (native-born
nonethnic Hawaiian), malihini (newcomer)
2005 resident population est.: 1,275,194
History
Early Settlers and Explorers
The first known
settlers of the Hawaiian Islands were Polynesian voyagers (the date of final migration is believed to be c.750). The islands
were first visited by Europeans in 1778 by the English explorer Captain James Cook, who named them the Sandwich Islands for
the English Earl of Sandwich. At that time the islands were under the rule of warring native kings.
The Rule of Kamehameha
I
In 1810 Kamehameha I (see under Kamehameha became the sole sovereign of all the islands, and, in the peace that followed,
agriculture and commerce were promoted. As a result of Kamehameha's hospitality, American traders were able to exploit the
islands' sandalwood, which was much valued in China at the time. Trade with China reached its height during this period. However,
the period of Kamehameha's rule was also one of decline. Europeans and Americans brought with them devastating infectious
diseases, and over the years the native population was greatly reduced. The adoption of Western ways—trading for profit,
using firearms, and drinking liquor—contributed to the decline of native cultural tradition. This period also marked
the breakdown of the traditional Hawaiian religion, with its belief in idols and human sacrifice; years of religious unrest
followed.
Influence of the Missionaries
When missionaries arrived in 1820 they found a less idyllic Hawaii than the
one Captain Cook had discovered. Kamehameha III, who ruled from 1825 until his death in 1854, relied on the missionaries for
advice and allowed them to preach Christianity. The missionaries established schools, developed the Hawaiian alphabet, and
used it for translating the Bible into Hawaiian. In 1839, Kamehameha III issued a guarantee of religious freedom, and the
following year a constitutional monarchy was established. From 1842 to 1854 an American, G. P. Judd, held the post of prime
minister, and under his influence many reforms were carried out. In the following decades commercial ties between Hawaii and
the United States increased.
Development of the Sugar Industry
In 1848 the islands' feudal land system was abolished,
making private ownership possible and thereby encouraging capital investment in the land. By this time the sugar industry,
which had been introduced in the 1830s, was well established. Hawaiian sugar gained a favored position in U.S. markets under
a reciprocity treaty made with the United States in 1875. The treaty was renewed in 1884 but not ratified. Ratification came
in 1887 when an amendment was added giving the United States exclusive right to establish a naval base at Pearl Harbor. The
amount of sugar exported to the United States increased greatly, and American businessmen began to invest in the Hawaiian
sugar industry. Along with the Hawaiians in the industry, they came to exert powerful influence over the islands' economy
and government, a dominance that was to last until World War II.
In 1900 the islands were made a territory, with
Dole as governor. In this period, Hawaii's pineapple industry expanded as pineapples were first grown for canning purposes.
In 1937 statehood for Hawaii was proposed and refused by the U.S. Congress—the territory's mixed population and distance
from the U.S. mainland were among the obstacles.
World War II and Statehood
On Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese aircraft made
a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, plunging the United States into World War II. During the war the Hawaiian Islands were
the chief Pacific base for U.S. forces and were under martial law (Dec. 7, 1941–Mar., 1943).
The postwar years ushered
in important economic and social developments. There was a dramatic expansion of labor unionism, marked by major strikes in
1946, 1949, and 1958. The International Longshoremen's and Warehousemen's Union organized the waterfront, sugar, and pineapple
workers. The tourist trade, which had grown to major proportions in the 1930s, expanded further with postwar advances in air
travel and with further investment and development. The building boom brought about new construction of luxury hotels and
housing developments; Hawaii is home to one of the world's most expensively built resort, the Hyatt Regency Waikola, which
cost $360 million to construct.
After having sought statehood for many decades, Hawaii was finally admitted to the
union on Aug. 21, 1959; although it was thought at first to be solidly Republican, the state has long been a Democratic stronghold.
Movements for a return of some sort of native sovereignty have been periodically active.
In Sept., 1992, the island
of Kauai was devastated by Hurricane Iniki, the strongest hurricane to hit the islands in the century. Hawaii, which had enjoyed
sustained economic and population growth since the end of World War II, saw both slow in the 1990s, as tourism, the sugar
industry, military spending, and Japanese investment in the islands (particularly important in the 1980s) declined.
The Hawaiian Islands are of volcanic origin and are edged
with coral reefs. Hawaii is the largest and geologically the youngest island of the group, and Oahu, where the capital, Honolulu,
is located, is the most populous and economically important. The other principal islands are Kahoolawe, Kauai, Lanai, Maui,
Molokai, and Niihau. The Northwestern Hawaiian Islands, consisting of uninhabited islets and excluding Midway, stretch more
than 1,100 mi (1,800 km) from Nihoa to Kure. Most of islets are encompassed in the Hawaiian Island National Wildlife Refuge;
the surrounding waters and coral reefs are in the vast 84-million-acre (34-million-hectare) Northwestern Hawaiian Islands
Coral Reef Reserve. Palmyra atoll and Kingman Reef, which were within the boundaries of Hawaii when it was a U.S. territory,
were excluded when statehood was achieved.
The only U.S. state in the tropics, Hawaii is sometimes called “the paradise
of the Pacific” because of its spectacular beauty: abundant sunshine; expanses of lush green plants and gaily colored
flowers; palm-fringed, coral beaches with rolling white surf; and cloud-covered volcanic peaks rising to majestic heights.
Some of the world's largest active and inactive volcanoes are found on Hawaii and Maui; eruptions of the active volcanoes
have provided spectacular displays, but their lava flows have occasionally caused great property damage. Mauna Kea and Mauna
Loa are volcanic mountains on Hawaii island; Haleakala volcano is on Maui in Haleakala National Park.
More ethnic and cultural
groups are represented in Hawaii than in any other state. Chinese laborers, who came to work in the sugar industry, were the
first of the large groups of immigrants to arrive (starting in 1852), and Filipinos and Koreans were the last (after 1900).
Other immigrant groups—including Portuguese, Germans, Japanese, and Puerto Ricans—came in the latter part of the
19th cent. Intermarriage with other races has brought a further decrease in the number of pure-blooded Hawaiians, who comprise
a very small percentage of the population.
For fabulous deals and the trip of a lifetime please visit www.gohawaii.com
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Incredible Idaho
Capital: Boise
State abbreviation/Postal code: Idaho/ID
Governor:
C. L. Butch Otter, R (to Jan. 2010)
Lieut. Governor: Jim Risch, R (to Jan. 2011)
Organized as territory: March 3, 1863
Entered
Union (rank): July 3, 1890 (43)
Present constitution adopted: 1890
Motto: Esto perpetua (It is forever)
Nickname:
Gem State
Origin of name: An invented name whose meaning is unknown.
State symbols:
flower syringa (1931)
tree white
pine (1935)
bird mountain bluebird (1931)
horse Appaloosa (1975)
gem star garnet (1967)
song “Here We
Have Idaho”
folk dance square dance
fish cutthroat trout (1990)
fossil Hagerman horse fossil (1988)
State forests: 881,000 ac.
State parks: 30 (43,000+
ac.)
Residents: Idahoan
2005 resident population est.: 1,429,096
The region was explored by Meriwether Lewis and
William Clark in 1805–1806. It was then a part of the Oregon country, held jointly by the
United States and Great Britain. Boundary disputes with Great Britain were settled by the Oregon
Treaty in 1846, and the first permanent U.S. settlement in Idaho was established by the Mormons
at Franklin in 1860. After gold was discovered at Orofino Creek in 1860, prospectors swarmed
into the territory, but they left little more than a number of ghost towns. In the 1870s,
growing white occupation of Indian lands led to a series of battles between U.S. forces and the
Nez Percé, Bannock, and Sheepeater tribes. Mining and lumbering have been important for
years. Idaho ranks high among the states in silver, antimony, lead, cobalt, garnet, phosphate rock,
vanadium, zinc, and mercury. Agriculture is a major industry: The state produces about one
fourth of the nation's potato crop, as well as wheat, apples, corn, barley, sugar beets, and hops.
The 1990s saw a remarkable growth in the high technology industries, concentrated in the metropolitan
Boise area. With the growth of winter sports, tourism now outranks other industries in revenue.
Idaho's many streams and lakes provide fishing, camping, and boating sites. The nation's largest
elk herds draw hunters from all over the world, and the famed Sun Valley resort attracts thousands
of visitors to its swimming, golfing, and skiing facilities. Points of interest are the Craters
of the Moon National Monument; Nez Percé National Historic Park, which includes many sites visited
by Lewis and Clark; and the State Historical Museum in Boise. Other attractions are the Snake River
Birds of Prey National Conservation Area south of Boise, Hells Canyon on the Idaho-Oregon border,
and the Sawtooth National Recreation Area in south-central Idaho.
History
Early Explorers and Fur Traders
Probably
the first nonnatives to enter the area that is now Idaho were members of the Lewis and Clark expedition
in 1805. They were not far ahead of the fur traders who came to the region shortly thereafter. A
Canadian, David Thompson of the North West Company, established the first trading post in Idaho
in 1809. The next year traders from St. Louis penetrated the mountains, and Andrew Henry of the
Missouri Fur Company established a post near present-day Rexburg, the first American trading post
established in the area. In this period the fortunes of the Idaho region were wrapped up with
those of the Columbia River region, and the area encompassed by what is now the state of Idaho
was part of Oregon country, held jointly by the United States and Great Britain from 1818 to 1846.
Fur traders in an expedition sent out by John Jacob Astor came to the Snake River region to trap
for furs after having established (1811)a trading post at
Astoria on the Columbia River. In 1821 two British
trading companies operating in the Idaho region, the North West Company and the Hudson's Bay Company,
were joined together as the Hudson's Bay Company which, after 1824, came into competition with American
mountain men also trapping in the area. By the 1840s the two groups had severely depleted the region's
fur supply.
Gold, Settlement, and Resistance
In 1846 the
United States gained sole claim to Oregon country south of the 49th parallel by the Oregon Treaty
with Great Britain. The area was established as a territory in 1848. Idaho still had no permanent
settlement when Oregon Territory became a state in 1859 and the eastern part of Idaho was added
to Washington Territory. A Mormon outpost founded at Franklin in 1860 is considered the first permanent
settlement, but it was not until the discovery of gold that settlers poured into Idaho. Gold
was discovered on the Clearwater River in 1860, on the Salmon in 1861, in the Boise River basin
in 1862, and gold and silver were found in the Owyhee River country in 1863. The usual rush of settlers
followed, along with the spectacular but ephemeral growth of towns. Most of these settlements are
only ghost towns now, but the many settlers who poured in during the gold rush—mainly from
Washington, Oregon, and California, with smaller numbers from the east—formed a population
large enough to demand new government administration, and Idaho Territory was set up in 1863.
Native Americans, mostly Kootenai, Nez Percé, Western Shoshone, Bannock, Coeur d'Alene,
and Pend d'Oreille, became upset by the incursion of settlers and some resisted violently. The federal
government had subdued many of these groups by 1858, placing them on reservations. The Bannock were
defeated in 1863 and again in 1878. In 1876–77 the Nez Percé, led by Chief Joseph, made their
heroic but unsuccessful attempt to flee to Canada while being pursued by U.S. troops. A
new mining boom started in 1882 with the discovery of gold in the Coeur d'Alene, and although the
gold strike ended in disappointment, it prefaced the discovery there of some of the richest silver
mines in the world. Coeur d'Alene and Kellogg became notable mining centers, and the Bunker Hill
and Sullivan (a lead mine) became extremely
famous mines. Severe labor troubles in the mines
at the end of the century led to political uprisings. Frank Steunenberg, who as governor had used
federal troops to put down the uprisings, was assassinated in 1905. The trial of William Haywood
and others accused of involvement in the murder drew national attention and marked the beginning
of the long career of William E. Borah (who had prosecuted the mine leaders) as an outstanding Republican
party leader in the state and nation. The late 19th cent. also witnessed the growth of cattle
and sheep ranching, along with the strife that developed between the two groups of ranchers over
grazing areas. The coming of the railroads (notably the Northern Pacific) through Idaho in the 1880s
and 90s brought new settlers and aided in the founding of such cities as Idaho Falls, Pocatello,
and American Falls. Expanding Idaho farming led to private irrigation projects. Some of these
aroused public opposition, which led to establishment of state irrigation districts under the Carey
Land Act of 1894. The Reclamation Act of 1902 brought direct federal aid. Notable among public
reclamation works are the Boise and Minidoka projects. Both public and private, these have also
helped to increase the development of Idaho's enormous hydroelectric potential. Further private
hydroelectric projects along the Snake River were put into operation between 1959 and 1968.
In 1949 the Atomic Energy Commission built the National Reactor Testing Station in SE Idaho. Now
known as the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, the facility in 1955 provided energy for nearby
Arco, the first American town to be lighted by electricity from a nuclear power plant. Idaho
suffered
during the recession of the early 1980s but rebounded
later in the decade by attracting new business, including high technology firms. The growth of the
winter sports industry has helped make Idaho a leading tourist state. These improvements in its
economy made Idaho one of the nation's fastest-growing states in population between 1990
and 2000.
Geography
Much of Idaho has an unspoiled beauty,
with rugged slopes and towering peaks, a vast expanse of timberland, scenic lakes, wild rivers,
cascades, and spectacular gorges. From the northern Panhandle, where Idaho is about 45 mi (72 km)
wide, the state broadens south of the Bitterroot Range to 310 mi (499 km) in width. The Snake River
flows in a great arc across S Idaho; with its tributaries the river has been harnessed to produce
hydroelectric power and to reclaim vast areas of dry but fertile land. To the north of the Snake
River valley, in central and north central Idaho, are the massive Sawtooth Mts. and the Salmon River
Mts., which shelter magnificent wilderness areas, including the Frank Church River of No Return
Wilderness, the Selway Bitterroot Wilderness Area, and the Idaho Primitive Area. In the central
and north central regions and in the Panhandle there are tremendous expanses of national forests
covering approximately two fifths of the state and constituting one of the largest areas of national
forests in the nation. Idaho's jagged granite peaks include Mt. Borah, which is 12,662 ft (3,859
m) high. Hells Canyon, which at one point is 7,900 ft (2408 m) below the mountaintops, is the deepest
gorge in North America. The state also contains Craters of the Moon National Monument and a protected
grove of ancient cedars at Upper Priest Lake. Rushing rivers such as the Salmon and the Clearwater,
and many lakes, notably Lake Pend Oreille, Lake Coeur d'Alene (often described as one of the world's
loveliest), and Priest Lake, as well as the state's mountain areas, make Idaho a superb fish and
game preserve and vacation land. The state is especially inviting to campers, anglers, and hunters
(Idaho has one of the largest elk herds in the nation). The state's climate ranges from hot summers
in the arid southern basins to cold, snowy winters in the high wilderness areas of central and
northern Idaho. For mor information on traveling through Idaho go to... www.visitidaho.org.
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Illinois Insights
Capital: Springfield
State abbreviation/Postal code:
Ill./IL
Governor: Patrick Quinn, D (to Jan. 2011)
Lieut. Governor: Vacant
Organized as territory: Feb. 3, 1809
Entered
Union (rank): Dec. 3, 1818 (21)
Present constitution adopted: 1970
Motto: State sovereignty, national union
Nickname:
Prairie State
Origin of name: Algonquin for “tribe of superior men”
State symbols:
flower violet (1908)
tree white oak
(1973)
bird cardinal (1929)
animal white-tailed deer (1982)
fish bluegill (1987)
insect monarch butterfly
(1975)
song “Illinois” (1925)
mineral fluorite (1965)
Residents: Illinoisan 2005 resident population
est.: 12,763,371
French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet,
in 1673, were the first Europeans of record to visit the region. In 1699 French settlers established the first permanent settlement
at Cahokia, near present-day East St. Louis. Great Britain obtained the
region at the end of the French and Indian Wars in 1763. The area figured prominently in frontier struggles during the Revolutionary
War and in Indian wars during the early 19th century. Significant episodes in the state's early history include the
influx of settlers following the opening of the Erie Canal in 1825; the
Black Hawk War, which virtually ended the Indian troubles in the area; and the rise of Abraham Lincoln from farm laborer to
president. Today, Illinois stands high in manufacturing, coal mining, agriculture, and
oil production. The state's manufactures include food and agricultural products, transportation equipment, chemicals, industrial
machinery, and computer equipment. The sprawling Chicago district (including
a slice of Indiana) is a great iron and steel producer, meat packer, grain exchange, and railroad center. Chicago is also
famous as a Great Lakes port. Illinois is a leading producer of soybeans, corn, and hogs.
Other agricultural commodities include cattle, wheat, oats, sorghum, and hay. Central Illinois is noted for shrines
and memorials associated with the life of Abraham Lincoln. In Springfield are the Lincoln
Home, the Lincoln Tomb, and the restored Old State Capitol. Other points of interest are the home of Mormon leader Joseph
Smith in Nauvoo and, in Chicago: the Art Institute, Field Museum, Museum of Science and Industry, Shedd Aquarium, Adler Planetarium,
Merchandise Mart, and Chicago Portage National Historic Site.
History
Early Inhabitants and European Exploration
At
the end of the 18th cent. the Illinois, Sac, Fox, and other Native American groups were living in the river forests, where
many centuries before them the prehistoric Mound Builders had dwelt. French explorers and missionaries came to the region
early. Father Marquette and Louis Jolliet, on their return from a trip down the Mississippi, paddled up the Illinois River
in 1673, and two years later Marquette returned to establish a mission in the Illinois country. In 1679 the French explorer
Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle, went from Lake Michigan to the Illinois, where
he founded (1680) Fort Creve Coeur and with his lieutenant, Henri de Tonti, completed (1682–83) Fort St. Louis on Starved
Rock cliff. French occupation of the area was sparse, but the settlements of Cahokia and Kaskaskia achieved a minor importance
in the 18th cent., and the area was valued for fur trading.By the Treaty
of Paris of 1763, ending the French and Indian Wars, France ceded all of the Illinois country to Great Britain. However, the
British did not take possession until resistance, led by the Ottawa chief,
Pontiac, was quelled (1766). In the American Revolution, George Rogers Clark and his expedition captured (1778) the British
posts of Cahokia and Kaskaskia before going on to take Vincennes. The Illinois region was an integral part of the Old Northwest
that came within U.S. boundaries by the 1783 Treaty of Paris ending the American Revolution. It was made part of Indiana Territory in 1800, Illinois became a separate territory in 1809.
Statehood and Settlement
The fur trade was still
flourishing throughout most of Illinois when it became a state in 1818, but already settlers were pouring down the Ohio River
by flatboat and barge and across the Genesee wagon road. In 1820 the
capital was moved from Kaskaskia to Vandalia. The Black Hawk War (1832) practically ended the tenure of the Native Americans
in Illinois and drove them W of the Mississippi. In the 1830s there was heavy and uncontrolled land speculation. Mob fury
broke out with the murder (1837) of the abolitionist Elijah P. Lovejoy at Alton and in the lynching (1844) of the Mormon leader
Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum at Carthage.
Industrialization and Abraham Lincoln Industrial
development came with the opening of an agricultural implements factory by Cyrus H. McCormick at Chicago in 1847 and the building
of the railroads in the 1850s. During this period the career of Abraham Lincoln began. In the state legislature, Lincoln and
his colleagues from Sangamon co. had worked hard and successfully to bring the capital to Springfield in 1839. As Illinois
moved toward a wider role in the country's affairs, Lincoln and another Illinois lawyer, Stephen A. Douglas, won national
attention with their debates on the slavery issue in the senatorial race of 1858. In 1861, Lincoln became president and fought
to preserve the Union in the face of the South's secession. During the
Civil War, Illinois supported the Union, but there was much proslavery sentiment in the southern part of the state.
By the 1860s industry was well established, and many immigrants from Europe had already
settled in the state, foreshadowing the influx still to come. Immediately after the Civil War, industry expanded to tremendous
proportions, and the Illinois legislature, by setting aside acreage for
stockyards, prepared the way for the development of the meatpacking Industry. Economic growth had outrun the construction
of facilities, and Chicago was a mass of flimsy wooden structures when
the fire of 1871 destroyed most of the city.
Discontent and the Rise of the Labor Movement
In
the latter part of the 19th cent. farmers in the state revolted against exorbitant freight rates, tariff discrimination, and
the high price of manufactured goods. Illinois farmers enthusiastically joined the Granger movement.
Laborers in factories, railroads, and mines also became restive, and from 1870 to 1900 Illinois was the scene of such violent
labor incidents as the Haymarket Square riot of 1886 and the Pullman strike of 1894. In the 20th cent. labor conditions
improved, but violent labor disputes persisted, notably the massacre at Herrin in 1922 during a coal-miners' strike and the
bloody riot during a steel strike at Chicago in 1937. State politics became divided by the conflicting forces of farmers,
laborers, and corporations, and opposing political machines came into being downstate and upstate.
Diversification and Change
In 1937 new oil fields
were discovered in southern Illinois, further enhancing the state's industrial development. During World War II the nation's
first controlled nuclear reaction was accomplished at the Univ. of Chicago,
paving the way for development of nuclear weapons during the war. The war also spurred the further growth of the Chicago metropolitan
area, and in the postwar period thousands of African Americans from the rural south came seeking industrial work. Adlai
E. Stevenson, governor of Illinois from 1949-1953, achieved national prominence in winning the Democratic presidential nomination
in 1952 and 1956. Also during the 1950s the “gateway amendment”
to the Illinois connstitution simplified the state's constitutional amendment process. In 1970, Illinois adopted a new state
constitution that, among other reforms, banned discrimination in employment and housing. Southern Illinois
experienced population declines in the 1950's and
1960's, as farms in the south became more mechanized, providing fewer jobs in the area. The area was hard hit again in the
1980's as farm prices fell and farm machinery, the major industrial product of southern Illinois, was no longer in high demand.
The northern portion of the state saw a major decline in manufacturing in the 1970's and 1980's, which was partially offset
by an increase in the service and trade industry and Chicago's continued strength as a financial center. Please visit www.enjoyillinois.com to book your next vacation in the Land of Lincoln"
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Wander Indiana
Capital: Indianapolis
State abbreviation/Postal code:
Ind./IN
Governor: Mitchell Daniels, R (to Jan. 2009)
Lieut. Governor: Becky Skillman, R (to Jan. 2009)
Organized
as territory: May 7, 1800
Entered Union (rank): Dec. 11, 1816 (19)
Present constitution adopted: 1851
Motto: The
Crossroads of America
Nickname: Hoosier State
Origin of name: Meaning “land of Indians”
Official language:
English
State symbols:
flower peony (1957)
tree tulip tree (1931)
bird
cardinal (1933)
song “On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away” (1913)
river Wabash
stone limestone
State
parks: 23 (56,409 ac.)
State historic sites: 17 (2,007 ac.)
Residents: Indianan, Indianian, Hoosier
2005 resident
population est.: 6,271,973
First explored for France by Robert Cavelier, Sieur de
la Salle, in 1679–1680, the region
figured importantly in the Franco-British struggle for
North America that culminated with British victory in 1763. George Rogers
Clark led American forces against the British in the area during the
Revolutionary War and, prior to becoming a state, Indiana was the scene
of frequent Indian uprisings until the victories of Gen. Anthony Wayne
at Fallen Timbers in 1794 and Gen. William Henry Harrison at Tippecanoe
in 1811. During the 19th century, Indiana was the site of several
experimental communities, including those established by George
Rapp and Robert Owen at New Harmony. Indiana's 41-mile Lake
Michigan waterfront—one of the world's great industrial centers—turns
out iron, steel, and oil products. Products include automobile
parts and accessories, mobile homes and recreational vehicles,
truck and bus bodies, aircraft engines, farm machinery, and fabricated
structural steel. Wood office furniture and pharmaceuticals are also
manufactured. The state is a leader in agriculture with corn the principal
crop. Hogs, soybeans, wheat, oats, rye, tomatoes, onions, and poultry
also contribute heavily to Indiana's agricultural output. Much of the
building limestone used in the U.S. is quarried in Indiana, which is also
a large producer of coal. Other mineral commodities include crushed stone,
cement, and sand and gravel. Wyandotte Cave, one of the largest in
the U.S., is located in Crawford County in southern Indiana, and West Baden
and French Lick are well known for their mineral springs. Other attractions
include Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, Indianapolis Motor
Speedway, Lincoln Boyhood National Memorial, and the George Rogers
Clark National Historical Park.
History
From the Mound Builders to Tippecanoe
The Mound Builders were Indiana's earliest known inhabitants, and the remains
of their culture have been found along Indiana's rivers and bottomlands. The region was first explored by Europeans, notably
the French, in the late 17th cent. The leading French explorer was Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle, who came to the area
in 1679. At the time of exploration, the area was occupied mainly by Native American groups of the Miami, Delaware, and Potawatamie
descents. Vincennes, the first permanent settlement, was fortified in 1732, but for the first half of the 1700s, most of the
settlers in the area were Jesuit missionaries or fur traders. By the Treaty of Paris of 1763 ending the French and Indian
Wars, Indiana, then part of the area known as the Old Northwest, passed from French to British control. Along with the rest
of the Old Northwest, Indiana was united with Canada under the Quebec Act of 1774 (see Intolerable Acts). During the American
Revolution an expedition led by George Rogers Clark captured, lost, and then recaptured Vincennes from the British. By the
Treaty of Paris of 1783 ending the Revolutionary War, Great Britain ceded the Old Northwest to the United States. Indiana
was still largely unsettled when the Northwest Territory, of which it formed a part, was established in 1787. Native Americans
in the territory resisted settlement, but Gen. Anthony Wayne's victory at Fallen Timbers in 1794 effectively ended Native
American resistance in the Old Northwest. U.S. forces led by Gen. William Henry Harrison also defeated the Native American
forces in the battle of Tippecanoe (1811) in the Wabash country.
Indiana Territory and Statehood
In 1800, Indiana Territory was formed and included the states of Indiana, Illinois,
and Wisconsin, and parts of Michigan and Minnesota. Vincennes was made the capital, which in 1813 was moved to Corydon. A
constitutional convention met in 1816, and Indiana achieved statehood. Jonathan Jennings, an opponent of slavery, was elected
governor. Indianapolis was laid out as the state capital, and the executive moved there in 1824–25. Indiana was
the site of several experimental communities in the early 19th cent., notably the Rappite (1815) and Owenite (1825) settlements
at New Harmony. In the 1840s the Wabash and Erie Canal opened between Lafayette and Toledo, Ohio, giving Indiana a water route
via Lake Erie to eastern markets. Also in the 1840s the state's first railroad line was completed between Indianapolis and
Madison. The Hoosier spirit of simplicity and forthrightness that developed during Indiana's early years of statehood figured
in the writings of Edward Eggleston in The Hoosier Schoolmaster and was represented in much later days by James Whitcomb Riley,
George Ade, Gene Stratton Porter, and also in the nostalgic lyric by Paul Dresser (brother of Indiana-born novelist Theodore
Dreiser) for the song “On the Banks of the Wabash, Far Away.”
The Civil War and Its Aftermath
The Civil War brought great changes in the state. In the elections of 1860, Indiana
voted for Lincoln, who had spent his boyhood in the Hoosier state. Although there was some proslavery sentiment in Indiana,
represented by the Knights of the Golden Circle, Oliver P. Morton, governor during the war, held the state unswervingly to
the Union cause even after constitutional government broke down in 1862. General John Hunt Morgan led a Confederate raid into
Indiana in 1863, but otherwise little action occurred in the state. Manufacturing, which had been stimulated in Indiana
by the needs of the war, developed rapidly after the war. Factories sprang up, and the old rustic pattern was broken. However,
Indiana's farmers continued to be an important force in the state, and in the hard times following the Panic of 1873 indebted
farmers expressed their discontent by supporting the Granger movement and later the Greenback party in 1876 and the Populist
party in the 1890s.
Industrialization and the Labor Movement
Industrial development came to the Calumet region along Indiana's Lake Michigan
shoreline in the late 19th cent. Marshy wastelands were drained and transformed into an area supporting a complex of factories
and oil refineries. As the 19th cent. drew to a close, industry continued to expand and the growing numbers of industrial
workers in the state sought to organize through labor unions. Eugene V. Debs, one of the great early labor leaders, was from
Indiana, and the labor movement at Gary in the Calumet area figured prominently in the nationwide steel strike just after
World War I. Indiana was an early leader in the production of automobiles. Before Detroit took control of the industry in
the 1920s, Indiana boasted over 300 automobile companies. Indiana society in the first half of the 20th cent. has been
described in a number of studies and books. The classic sociological study by Robert S. Lynd and Helen M. Lynd of an American
manufacturing town, Middletown (1929), was based on data from Muncie, Ind. Midwestern life and American boyhood were portrayed
realistically, and often with humor and optimism, in the novels of Booth Tarkington. Another Indiana author, Theodore Dreiser,
wrote more generally of American society in a changing age. In the 1930s and 1940s, Wendell Willkie and Ernie Pyle, both natives
of Indiana, became nationally prominent figures in politics and journalism, respectively. Although Indiana in the latter
half of the 19th cent. was regarded as a “swing state” electorally, it has generally been conservative throughout
the 1900s. Republican J. Danforth “Dan” Quayle, elected to the U.S. Senate in 1980 and 1986, was elected vice
president of the United States in 1988. From the 1980s through the mid-1990s, the northern industrial portion of the state
experienced a period of significant decline, along with the rest of the midwestern “rust belt.” However, the area
around Indianapolis experienced significant growth with a diversified economy. For additional information on wandering
Indiana please visit www.visitindiana.com
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Iowa Visions
Capital: Des Moines
State abbreviation/Postal code: Iowa/IA
Governor: Chet Culver, D (to Jan. 2011)
Lieut. Governor: Patty Judge, D (to Jan. 2011)
Organized as territory: June 12, 1838
Entered Union (rank): Dec. 28, 1846 (29)
Present constitution adopted: 1857
Motto: Our liberties we prize and our rights we will maintain
State symbols:
flower wild rose (1897)
bird eastern goldfinch (1933)
colors red, white, and blue (in state flag)
song "Song of Iowa"
Nickname: Hawkeye State
Origin of name: From the Iowa River which was named after
the Ioway Indian tribe
State forests: 10 (43,917 ac.)
State parks/recreation areas: 84 (53,000 ac.)
Residents: Iowan
2005 resident population est.: 2,966,334
The first Europeans to visit the area were the French explorers
Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet in 1673. The U.S. obtained control of the area in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase,
and during the first half of the 19th century, there was heavy fighting between white settlers and Indians. Lands were taken
from the Indians after the Black Hawk War in 1832 and again in 1836 and 1837. When Iowa became a state in 1846, its capital
was Iowa City; the more centrally located Des Moines became the new capital in 1857. At that time, the state's present boundaries
were also drawn. Although Iowa produces a tenth of the nation's food supply, the value of Iowa's manufactured products is
twice that of its agriculture. Major industries are food and associated products, non-electrical machinery, electrical equipment,
printing and publishing, and fabricated products. Iowa stands in a class by itself as an agricultural state. Its farms sell
over $10 billion worth of crops and livestock annually. Iowa leads the nation in all corn, soybean, and hog marketings, and
comes in third in total livestock sales. Iowa's forests produce hardwood lumber, particularly walnut, and its mineral products
include cement, limestone, sand, gravel, gypsum, and coal. Tourist attractions include the Herbert Hoover birthplace and library
near West Branch; the Amana Colonies; Fort Dodge Historical Museum, Fort, and Stockade; the Iowa State Fair at Des Moines
in August; and the Effigy Mounds National Monument, a prehistoric Indian burial site at Marquette.
History
European Incursions into Native Lands
In prehistoric times, the Mound Builders, a farming people,
lived in the Iowa area. When Europeans first came to explore the region in the 17th cent., various Native American groups,
including the Iowa, reputedly the source of the state's name, occupied the land. The Sac and Fox also ranged over the land,
but it was the combative Sioux who dominated the area. In 1673 the French explorers Father Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet
traveled down the Mississippi River and touched upon the Iowa shores, as did Robert Cavelier, sieur de La Salle, in 1681–82.
The areas surrounding the Des Moines and Mississippi rivers were profitable for fur traders, and a number of Iowa towns developed
from trading posts. Late in the 18th cent. a French Canadian, Julien Dubuque, leased land from Native Americans around the
Dubuque area and opened lead mines there. After his death they refused to permit others to work the mines, and U.S. troops
under Lt. Jefferson Davis protected Native American rights to the land as late as 1830. However, their hold was doomed after
the United States acquired Iowa as part of the Louisiana Purchase of 1803.
In 1832 the Black Hawk War broke out as the Sac and Fox, led
by their chief, Black Hawk, fought to regain their former lands in Illinois along the Mississippi River. They were defeated
by U.S. troops and were forced to leave the Illinois lands and cede to the United States much of their land along the river
on the Iowa side. Within two decades after the Black Hawk War, all Native American lands in the region had been ceded to the
United States. Meanwhile, a great rush of frontiersmen came to settle the prairies and take the mines.
Territorial Status
Slavery was prohibited in Iowa under the Missouri Compromise
of 1820, which excluded it from the lands of the Louisiana Purchase north of lat. 36°30'N. Included in the Missouri Territory
prior to 1821, Iowa was subsequently part of Michigan Territory and Wisconsin Territory. By 1838, Iowa Territory was organized,
with Burlington as the temporary capital. In the following year, Iowa City became the capital. The Iowans quickly built a
rural civilization like that of New England, where many of them had lived. Later, immigrants from Europe, notably Germans,
Czechs, Dutch, and Scandinavians, brought their agricultural skills and their own customs to enrich Iowa's rural life, and
a group of German Pietists established the Amana Church Society, a successful attempt at communal social organization. A system
of public schools was set up in 1839, and efforts made soon thereafter resulted in the establishment of a number of colleges
and universities.
Statehood, Railroads, and Reform Movements
Iowa became a state in 1846, and Ansel Briggs was elected
as the first governor. In 1857 the capital was moved from Iowa City to Des Moines. In that same year the state adopted its
second constitution. Iowa prospered greatly with the beginning of railroad construction, and the rivalry between towns to
get the lines was so fierce that the grant of big land tracts to railroad companies was curtailed by legislative act in 1857.
Two years earlier the state's first railroad line was completed between Davenport and Muscatine along the eastern border.
Before and during the Civil War, Iowans, generally owners of small, independent farms, were naturally sympathetic to the antislavery
side, and many fought for the Union. The Underground Railroad, which helped many fugitive slaves escape to free states, was
active in Iowa, and the abolitionist John Brown made his headquarters there for a time.
Iowa's farmers prospered after the Civil War, but during the
hard times that afflicted the country in the 1870s they found themselves burdened with debts. Feeling oppressed by the currency
system, corporations, and high railroad and grain-storage rates, many of Iowa's farmers supported, along with other farmers
of the West, the Granger movement, the Greenback party, and the Populist party. The reform movements had some success in the
state. Granger laws were enacted in 1874 and 1876 regulating railroad rates, but these laws were repealed in 1877 under pressure
from the railroad companies. By the end of the 19th cent., times improved, and the agrarian movements declined. Farm units
grew larger, and mechanization brought great increases in productivity.
Modern Iowa
Much of Iowa's society may still resemble that depicted in
the paintings of Grant Wood, an Iowan, but the state's industrial economy as well as other elements of modernization have
altered this image. While on a visit to the United States in 1959, Nikita S. Khrushchev, then premier of the Soviet Union,
was invited to a farm in Iowa to observe part of the U.S. farm economy. The volatile nature of agricultural prices combined
with a steady decline in manufacturing has made Iowa susceptible to economic recession. This was especially true in the 1980s,
when Iowa was second in the United States in outmigration with a 4.7% decline in population.
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