In early historical times, the tribes resident in Iowa were the Ioway (northern, central and eastern Iowa) and the Sioux (northwest Iowa). In the eighteenth century, the Sauk and Mesquakie were driven out of their ancestral homelands in eastern Wisconsin by the Ojibwa, with the assistance of the French. They resettled in western Illinois and eastern Iowa along the Mississippi River and some of its tributaries. The subsequent forced removal of the Sauk to the western side of the Mississippi was the principal cause of the Black Hawk War of 1832. In 1837, a band of Potawatomi from northeastern Illinois were resettled in southwestern Iowa, and in 1840 the Winnebago of Wisconsin were moved by the U.S. Army to northeastern Iowa. All of these tribes, except the Sioux who had earlier abandoned their lands, were resettled by the U.S. Government on reservations in Kansas and Oklahoma during the mid and late 1840s. By 1850 no organized groups of Indians remained in Iowa.

The story does not end here. In 1857 a portion of the Mesquakie tribe returned to Iowa where tribal representatives had purchased land in Tama county, along the Iowa River. Since that time the Mesquakie have owned and controlled their own land, and have not been dependent on the government, as were many of the Indians who were forced onto reservations in the nineteenth century.

From 1671 through 1689 the Iowa region was claimed for France by Sieur Saint-Lusson, Daniel de Greysolon Sieur de Luth (Du Luth), Robert Cavalier Sieur de la Salle, and Nicolas Perrot. Several jurisdictional changes occurred in Iowa's early history. France ceded Iowa to Spain in 1762, although it was returned in 1800 preceding the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, which made it United States territory. As part of the United States, Iowa was first included in the Illinois Territory (1808) and then the Missouri Territory (1812). Migrating groups from the states began the first settlements in 1832. Before statehood was established in 1846, these settlements were included in the Michigan Territory (1834), Wisconsin Territory (1836), and finally its own territory in 1838.

The United States acquired the area of Iowa from France in 1803 as part of the Louisiana Purchase. Iowa Territory was organized on June 12, 1838, from part of Wisconsin Territory; it included all of present-day Iowa, the eastern part of North Dakota and South Dakota, and the western part of Minnesota. Iowa was admitted to the Union on December 28, 1846, as the 29th state with generally the same boundary as the present state. The remaining part of the territory was unattached until the organization of Minnesota Territory in 1849. Nebraska and Iowa have made periodic adjustments to their boundary as the Missouri River has changed its course.

This guide offers a selection of resources and strategies for Iowa local history and genealogy research. These include the print and digital collections of the Library of Congress, as well as external repositories and web sites key to finding forebears in the Buckeye State.