Iowa ABC book

By: Carlie Wilson

A is for Ames

Ames was founded as a station stop in Iowa in 1864. the city was named after a US congressman from the 19th century named Oaks Ames. Ames has been ranked 2nd most livable small city in the nation.

B IS FOR BLACK HAWK

Black Hawk was very young when

he became a brave. He was a

war chief who led his tribe to war. Black Hawk went

to prison for fighting for his

land in Iowa. He refused to give in without a fight.

C is for corn

Corn is the best grown crop in Iowa because of our rich soil. The nomads were the

first people to start growing corn and other crops in

Iowa.

D is for Des MoinesDes Moines was originally named Fort Des Moines. Then later after that it was shortened to Des Moines. Des Moines was translated from the word Moingona meaning “loon” (It was used as an insult.)

E is for Effigy Mounds

Effigy Mounds are located in northeast Iowa. The Native Americans or mound builders would build mounds in the shapes of animals. The most common animals to build were birds, snakes, buffalos, and bears. When people died the mound builders would burry the people in the mounds.

F is for Floyd MonumentFloyd Monument was made to honor a man named Sergeant Charles Floyd Jr..Sergeant Floyd was the only man to die on the Lewis and Clark expedition. Most people think the reason he Died on August 20,1804 is because of a disease named peritonitis.

G is for General Grenville Dodge

Grenville Mellen Dodge was a important railroad executive who helped build the Transcontinental Railroad. The I 480 bridge that crosses the Missouri River was named the Grenville Dodge Memorial Bridge in honor of him.

H is for hogs Every year there is about 30million hogs being raised in Iowa. Iowa produces more pork than any other state in America. Therefore it takes more than 39,000 people to care for and raise hogs in Iowa.

I is for Iowa State University

Iowa State University is located in Ames, Iowa. Iowa State was established on March 22,1858. It took 11 years from when they first established it to when the first 24 men and 2 women started classes. Now more than 28,000 students attend the school per year.

J is for Johnny Carson

Johnny Carson was a famous TV host and. He was born in Corning, Iowa, but spent most of his life in Nebraska when he moved to at age 8. When he lived in Iowa, besides Corning, he also lived in Avoca, Clarinda, and Red Oak. After that, for 30 years he hosted the Tonight Show which is now hosted by Jay Leno.

K is for the Kate Shelly High BridgeThe Kate Shelly Bridge is located in Boone, Iowa. It is the highest train bridge in the USA. The Kate Shelly Bridge has been around since 1901, and is 185 feet tall and 2,685 ft long. The bridge is named after a woman who rescued the train crew from a horrible crash.

One night a train was driving on a bridge in a horrible storm. The train fell off the bridge and the crew fell into the deep river below. Kate Shelly herd the crash and rushed outside. She was able to get help but in order to do that she had to crawl across the broken bridge to the town.

L is for Lewis and Clark

Lewis and Clark began their expedition across the Louisiana Purchase on May 22,1804. Lewis and Clark took 33 men with them on the trip. The first few places they went to were, Kansas City, Missouri and Omaha, Nebraska. To honor the two men there is a statue of them in Council Bluffs Iowa.

M is for Morel Mushrooms Morel Mushrooms are popular and tasty fungus well grown in Iowa. Morels start to pop 4-6 weeks after the ground thaws, which in Iowa is usually about mid April to early May. Many Iowans usually eat Morels the unhealthy way and deep fat fry them.

N is for University of Northern Iowa The University of Northern Iowa, also known as UNI was made because of two important things that happened in the 19th century. The first reason was: Iowa wanted to care for orphans whose parents were killed in the Civil War. The second reason was: Iowa needed a place to be able to train teachers.

The first building opened in 1869 and was known as Central Hall. After a fire in 1965 destroyed Central Hall, the citizens got together and raised $5,000 to start building Gilchrist Hall.

Some fun facts about the college were : 1)The first name the college was named was Iowa State Normal School in 1876-1909.

2) The second name was Iowa State Teachers College in 1909-1961.

O is for oak trees

Iowa’s state tree is the oak tree. The oak tree was chosen to be the state tree because it provides food, shelter, and nesting area for

certain kinds of animals in Iowa.

P is for Prairie grassesBefore people started to settle in Iowa, 70-80%of Iowa was covered in prairie grass. Some different species of grasses that grew in Iowa were Big Blue Stem, Butterfly Milkweed, Prairie Cord Grass, and The Pale Purple Cone Flower. Iowa prairie grasses help stop heavy rains from washing away all of the soil.

Q is for Quaker Oats Factory Quaker Oats was formed in 1901 by a combination of 4 oat mills. One of which was in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Quaker Oats helped make the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. In 2001 Quaker Oats was bought by the company, PepsiCo. In 1902 Quaker Oats boxes came with a coupon that could be turned in for a tiny piece of land (lot) in Milford, Connecticut. These lots were sometimes as small as 10ft by 10ft.

R is for RiversIowa is bordered by 2 of the largest rivers in the country, Missouri river and the Mississippi river. The Missouri river is the longest river on the continent. It is 2,341 miles long. The Mississippi is the largest river system in North America. It is 2,320 miles long. The Mississippi river starts at Lake Itasca, Minnesota.

Beginning of the Mississippi River

S is for Shawn Johnson

Shawn Johnson was born in Des Moines, Iowa. She first started taking gymnastics at age 3, and has come along way. In 2004 she finished 4th while competing in the National Championship for 1st on beam, and 2nd on the floor.

T is for Top Soil

Wright County, Iowa has the most “grade A” top soil in the nation. Iowa is slowly losing it’s top soil because of farming and erosion. Another form of Iowa top soil is Loess soil and can be found in the Loess Hills of western Iowa

U is for Underwood

Underwood is a small town in southwest Iowa. The area of the town was first settled between 1845 and 1850. Underwood was named after the first man to run a train over the Milwaukee tracks.

V is for Abigail Van Buren Abigail Van Buren was the pen name for Pauline Esther Friedman. Pauline and her identical twin Esther Pauline Friedman grew up in Sioux City, Iowa. They went by the nicknames Popo and Eppie. Pauline wrote the Dear Abby column in 1956. Her sister Esther wrote the Ann Landers Column in 1956 until 2002 when she died. Pauline’s daughter has now assumed the pen name Abigail Van Buren, and is doing all of the writing. Pauline was born July 4, 1918, and is still living today.

W is for Wild Rose

The wild rose is Iowa’s state flower. The rose was almost not our flower because of one vote

against it. Eventually the problem was fixed and it became our

flower.

X is for Planet X

Planet X first opened in Iowa City in 1998. Planet X is a family entertainment center that serves pizza, and has games such as Space ball Jump shot, Laser tag Rock climbing, bumper cars and many more. Since they’ve opened, they have hosted over 3,000 birthday parties and 5,000 group events.

Y is for Yorktown

The village of Yorktown was formed on April 8, 1882, by a man named C.E. Perkins. The early citizens of Yorktown fought over what the name should be. The Government had named their post office York and the town Yorktown, but the citizens wanted to name it Loy in honor of the first postmaster. The Government said okay, so the town went by Loy for the next few months. Newt Apple, a reporter for the Shenandoah post, started a con test to rename the town Yorktown as a publicity stunt.

Z is for Zearing Zearing is a small ton in central Iowa. The town is so small it is less than 1 square mile. The town Zearing could be considered a haunted town . Here are some examples why. The gas station Cissy’s is said to be haunted by the original owner. A lady was working alone one and all of a sudden the fridge door opened all by itself. The middle school is also said to be haunted. Many students and teachers have said they have seen a ghost in the basement/weight room. They also say that they here weights clatter when there is no one down there.