May 1, 1839 – In order to secure a quorum for the Territorial commissioners meeting in Johnson County, Philip Clark rides on horseback 35 miles to bring John Ronalds to the meeting.

On May 1, 1839, three Territorial commissioners were to report to Johnson County, with the assignment of picking the location for the new Iowa capital city. By mid-day, only one man – Chauncey Swan – had arrived, leaving the good people of the county seat of Napoleon wondering if the whole project would be lost.

Thankfully, a 35-year-old farmer named Philip Clark saved the day! He mounted his horse, made a 35-mile trip through the wilderness, fetching a second commissioner – John Ronalds. They arrived in the nick of time – saving the future hopes of Johnson County before the strike of midnight.

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April 30, 1904 – The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World’s Fair, opens in St. Louis.

The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World’s Fair, was an international exposition held in St. Louis from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federal funds totaling $15 million were used to finance the event. More than 60 countries and 43 of the 45 American states maintained exhibition spaces at the fair, which was attended by nearly 19.7 million people!

In our collection are both a souvenir postcard and a stereoscope picture card from the fair. Both feature The State of Iowa Exposition Building. On the back side of the picture card, we find a delightful informational piece that describes the Iowa State Building as “one of the most imposing of the state buildings” at the 1904 World’s Fair.

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This Day In History is an Our Iowa Heritage blog series that offers you a little bit of Iowa trivia from a large selection of stories on our website. Subscribe to this FREE blog and you’ll get a new email from us daily. Click to learn more.

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April 29, 1890 – Iowa City’s famous cattle-breeder – Thomas Wales – writes to N.P. Pinney of Mechanicsville, Vermont, and includes a Certificate of Registry for a prize cow named Allene Netherlands.

You might be surprised to learn that during the 1880’s, Iowa City became the home to the nation’s top Holstein cattle breeder. Thomas Beale Wales III came to Iowa City from Boston in 1880 and was considered one of the top dairy-stock breeders in the United States and the inventor of the first recording system for tracking animal pedigree. From 1881 to 1891, Iowa City was considered “the center of the largest and best fine stock district in the world.”

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This Day In History is an Our Iowa Heritage blog series that offers you a little bit of Iowa trivia from a large selection of stories on our website. Subscribe to this FREE blog and you’ll get a new email from us daily. Click to learn more.

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