<P> The Sauk and Meskwaki were pushed out of the Mississippi valley in 1832, out of the Iowa River valley in 1843, and out of Iowa altogether in 1846 . Many Meskwaki later returned to Iowa and settled near Tama, Iowa; the Meskwaki Settlement remains to this day . In 1856 the Iowa Legislature passed an unprecedented act allowing the Meskawki to purchase the land; Indians were not usually permitted to do so . The Ho - Chunk were removed from Iowa in 1850, and the Dakota were removed by the late 1850s . Western Iowa around modern Council Bluffs was used as a way station for other tribes being moved west, including the Potawatomi . </P> <P> The first American settlers officially moved to Iowa in June 1833 . Primarily, they were families from Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Indiana, Kentucky, and Virginia . On July 4, 1838, the U.S. Congress established the Territory of Iowa . President Martin Van Buren appointed Robert Lucas governor of the territory, which at the time had 22 counties and a population of 23,242 . </P> <P> Almost immediately after achieving territorial status, a clamor arose for statehood . On December 28, 1846, Iowa became the 29th state in the Union when President James K. Polk signed Iowa's admission bill into law . Once admitted to the Union, the state's boundary issues resolved, and most of its land purchased from the Indians, Iowa set its direction to development and organized campaigns for settlers and investors, boasting the young frontier state's rich farmlands, fine citizens, free and open society, and good government . </P> <P> Iowa has a long tradition of state and county fairs . The first and second Iowa State Fairs were held in the more developed eastern part of the state at Fairfield . The first fair was held October 25--27, 1854, at a cost of around $323 . Thereafter, the fair moved to locations closer to the center of the state and in 1886 found a permanent home in Des Moines . The State Fair has been held every year since except for the year 1898 due to the Spanish--American War and the World's Fair being held in nearby Omaha, Nebraska . The fair was also a World War II wartime casualty from 1942--1945, as the fairgrounds were being used as an army supply depot . </P>

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