| Dubuque County is one of Iowa's two original counties along
with Des Moines County; both were organized by the Michigan Territorial
legislature in 1834. Dubuque County is named for Julien Dubuque, the
first European settler of Iowa, and an early lead mining pioneer in what
is now Dubuque County. Dubuque was French Canadian, and had (by most
accounts) a friendly relationship with the local Fox Tribe of Native
Americans. He and other early pioneers established a lucrative
mining and trading industry in the area. When lead deposits began
becoming exhausted, the pioneers developed boat building, lumber yards,
millworking, brewing, and machinery manufacturing to take its place.
The establishment of the City of Dubuque which was chartered in 1833,
as the first city in Iowa, led to large-scale settlement of the
surrounding area. This was greatly encouraged by the Roman Catholic
Church, which sent priests, bishops, and nuns to establish churches in the
unpopulated countryside. Primarily, Irish and German (many of whom were
Catholic) immigrants came to the region.
|
|
