September 25, 1861 – Antoine Le Claire – U.S. Army interpreter, landowner in Scott County, Iowa, and Rock Island County, Illinois, businessman, philanthropist, and principal founder of Davenport, Iowa – dies.

Antoine Le Claire homesteaded in – what is today – Scott County (Davenport) in 1833, and was personally involved in many of the day-to-day events that shaped Iowa’s earliest history. While Albert Lea (above right) did a bang-up job in helping Americans become familiar with this new word – IOWA, it was Antoine Le Claire (above left) – the half-breed pioneer who spoke English, French, Spanish, and a dozen Native American dialects – that was the first one – in 1833 – to use this Sauk word in describing our beautiful land.

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