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  The History of the Butterfly:
Keokuk
 
 

Keokuk
Iowa has a Keokuk County and a city called Keokuk.  The county is in the south-eastern part of Iowa, and includes the small towns of Sigourney, Harper, Delta, Richland, What Cheer, and a number of others.  The City of Keokuk is found in the extreme south east tip of Iowa, where the Mississippi and Des Moines Rivers join, and is in Lee County, Iowa.  Keokuk probably visited the land where both the county and the city are located, but neither was his primary residence.
Keokuk was a powerful man.  Physically, he was tall, strong, and probably intimidating.  He rode the most expensive horse in the country--more expensive than any other Indian's or any white man's horse.  He was a war chief of the Sauk tribe, who had controlled the Mississippi from a time before the United States was created until the Black Hawk War of 1832.  For a time he was probably the most powerful man of any race in the area west of the Mississippi River and north of Saint Lewis.
Keokuk's position as a war chief was one he earned by distinguishing himself in battle.  He was not born into it.  But his talents went far beyond battle.  He was a politician and a showman, and he was known for his oratory abilities.  Not only could he move people by making a speech in his native language, which was the Sauk dialect of the Algonquian family of languages, but he also spoke English capably and could bring the house down in our language as well.
Keokuk will be mentioned often in the threads I call The History of the Butterfly.  His life was intertwined with a number of other people in the story.  In fact, if you live in Iowa, your life is intertwined with Keokuk's as well.
Is there really a Kishkekosh County?
Kish Ke Kosh
What about those other counties?
Keokuk
Mahaska
Wapello
What city was named after George King?
King City?
Who walked half-way around the world and ate his shoes to survive?
Shoe Eater
Did the poet really discover the butterfly?
Who found it?