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Keokuk is a city and a county seat of Lee County, Iowa, United States,〔(【引用サイトリンク】accessdate=2011-06-07 )〕 along with Fort Madison. It is also the most southerly city in Iowa. The population was 10,780 at the 2010 census. The city is named after the Sauk chief Keokuk, who is thought to be buried in Rand Park. It is located in the extreme southeast corner of Iowa where the Des Moines River meets with the Mississippi. It is located at the junction of U.S. Routes 61, 136 and 218. Just across the rivers are the towns of Hamilton and Warsaw, Illinois, and Alexandria, Missouri. Keokuk, along with the city of Fort Madison, is a principal city of the Fort Madison-Keokuk micropolitan area, which includes all of Lee County, Iowa and Clark County, Missouri. ==History== Situated between the Des Moines and Mississippi rivers, the area that became Keokuk had access to a large trading area and was an ideal location for settlers. In 1820, the US Army prohibited soldiers stationed along the Mississippi River from having wives who were Native American.〔Sloat, Jerry. “Lee County, Iowa”.〕 Dr. Samuel C. Muir, a surgeon stationed at Fort Edwards (near present-day Warsaw, Illinois), instead resigned his commission rather than leave his Indian wife and crossed the river to resettle. He built a log cabin for them at the bottom of the bluff, and became the area’s first white settler. As steamboat traffic on the Mississippi increased, more European Americans began to settle here. Around 1827, John Jacob Astor established a post of his American Fur Company at the foot of the bluff. Five buildings were erected to house workers and the business. This area became known as the “Rat Row.” One of the earliest descriptions of Keokuk was by Caleb Atwater in 1829: The settlement was part of the land designated in 1824 as a Half-Breed Tract by the United States Government for allotting land to mixed-race descendants of the Sauk and Fox tribes.〔 Typically children of European or British men (fur traders and trappers) and Native women, they were often excluded from tribal communal lands because their fathers were not tribal members. Native Americans considered the settlement a neutral ground.〔Sloat, Jerry. “Lee County, Iowa”. p. 44〕 Rules for the tract prohibited individual sale of the land, but the US Congress ended this provision in 1837, creating a land rush and instability.〔("The Half-Breed Tract" ), Lee County History. Retrieved 1/28/08.〕 Centering on the riverboat trade, the settlement continued to grow. The village became known as Keokuk shortly after the Blackhawk War in 1832. Why residents named it after the Sauk chief is unknown. Keokuk was incorporated on December 13, 1847. In 1853 Keokuk was one of the centers for outfitting Mormon pioneers for their journey west; more than 2,000 Mormons passed through the city.〔Jenson, Andrew. ''Encyclopedia History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints'', p. 398〕 Keokuk was the longtime home of Orion Clemens, brother of Samuel Clemens, better known as Mark Twain. Samuel's visits to his brother's home led him to write of the beauty of Keokuk and southeastern Iowa in ''Life on the Mississippi.''〔(''Life on the Mississippi.'' ) Mark Twain. Ch. 57〕 During the American Civil War, Keokuk became an embarking point for Union troops heading to fight in southern battles. Injured soldiers were returned to Keokuk for treatment, so several hospitals were established. A national cemetery was designated for those who did not survive. After the war was over, Keokuk continued its expansion. A medical college was founded, along with a major-league baseball team, the Keokuk Westerns, in 1875. In 1913, Lock and Dam No. 19 was completed nearby on the Mississippi River. The population of Keokuk reached 15,106 by 1930.〔Jensen. ''Encyclopedic History'', p. 398〕 During the last half of the twentieth century, Keokuk has become less engaged in Mississippi River trade and more dependent on jobs in local factories. The town celebrated 150 years in 1997. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Keokuk, Iowa」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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