By: Rachel Teten

A is forAlbert

The Bull

Albert the Bull is” the world’s largest bull”. Albert was built by the Audubon Junior Chamber of Commerce. The idea of Albert the Bull was made in 1961. However, because of the lack of encouragement dropped at that time.

B is forBlack Angel

The Black Angel is located in Council Bluffs, Iowa. It is said that Grenville Dodges wife, Anna, saw the Black Angel in a dream. The black Angel was standing on the front of a boat. It offered her the water of life. The first two nights Anna refused to go with the Black Angel but on the third night she gave in and went with The Black Angel and died that night.

C is forCorn

In 1981 there were 14.4 acres of corn planted. Since the early 1990’s, there has been an average of 12.5 acres of corn planted every year. The weather has a major effect on how the corn grows. Management factors are also a big factor in corn growth such as row spacing, planting depth, plant densities, and plant option.

D is forDes Moines

Des Moines is the capital of Iowa. It is 77.2 square miles. The elevation of Iowa is 955 feet. The population of Des Moines is 203,433 people. In 2007 the New York Times said “If you have any desire to witness presidential coordinates in the most close-up and intimate of settings, there is arguably no better place to go than Des Moines. Des Moines is said to be “the number one spot for insurance agencies.” Des Moines is also the home of Adventure land.

E is forEagle

The bald eagle has snowy white feathers on the top of its head and tail, but the rest of the bird is a dark brown color. The bald eagle is the national bird. Many people believe that it should be the Iowa state bird but, it was beat out by the Eastern Goldfinch. Bald Eagles live near water and eat mice, rabbits, and other small animals as well as fish. The Bald Eagle’s nest is about six feet wide by six feet tall and six feet deep.

F is forFort

MadisonOld Fort Madison which is the Midwest's oldest American military garrison is located on the upper Mississippi River. Fort Madison is one of the county seats of Lee County, Iowa. Fort Madison has a high tornado average so when Fort Madison got knocked down they built a stronger replica.

G is forGrantWood

Grant Wood was born on February 13, 1891, and died on February 12, 1942, at age 50. Grant Wood attended The School Of Arts Institute in Chicago. Grant Wood was born in Anamosa, Iowa. During his life, Grant Wood, painted many things but his most famous painting is American Gothic.

H is forHerbertHoover

Herbert Hoover was the thirty-first president of the USA. He was born on August 10, 1874 in West Branch, Iowa. He died on October 20, 1964 at the age of 90. Herbert Hoover was a republican and the only president to ever be born in Iowa. Herbert Hoover was married to Lou Henry Hoover. They had two kids Herbert Clark Hoover Jr., and Allen Henry Hoover.

I is for Iowa State Flag

The Iowa State Flag was adopted in 1921. It was designed by Mrs. Pixie Gebhardt. It is red, white, and blue to show that Iowa was part of the Louisiana Purchase. On the flag there is a bald eagle holding a ribbon that says “OUR LIBERTIES WE PRIZE,AND OUR RIGHTS WE WILL MAINTAIN.”

J is forJohnny Carson

John William Carson(Johnny Carson) was born on October 23,1925 in Corning, Iowa. He died on January 23, 2005 in los Angeles, California. Johnny Carson had four wives Joan Morrill Wolcott (1949-1963), Joanne Copeland (1963-1972), Joanna Holland (1972-1985), and Alexandra Mass (1987-2005/ his death).Johnny Carson was the host of the tonight show. He got many awards. His Emmy Awards were Special Classification Of Outstanding Individual Achievement which he got in 1976, 1977, 1978, and 1979. He also got the Governor's Award in 1980. He got the Outstanding Variety, Music or comedy program in 1992. Johnny Carson also got the Peabody award in 1986. He was also in the NAVY.

K is forKlu Klux

KlanThe Klu Klux Klan was created to terrorize black people who became free after the war. It only lasted a few years from 1865-1869. In 1920 the Klu Klux Klan came to Iowa. The Klu Klux Klan wanted people to support “clean living” which to them meant dope, graft, night clubs, road houses, violation of the Sabbath, and unfair business dealings.

L is forLog cabin

To build a log cabin you need wood, straw, clay mud, dirt, and a few shingles for the roof. The advantages of having a log cabin would be to have not as many bugs, wood floors instead of dirt floors, and it would be warmer in the winter. Disadvantages would be that there are splinters, and a fire could start from your fireplace. There is also scarce wood so it would be hard to build a house or to fix it. Most log cabins were built in Southeastern or East Central Iowa. Log cabins were built by the pioneers.

M is forMound Builders

Mound Builders were people who would build mounds out of dirt. They were usually built in the shape of buffalo, birds, snakes, and bears. The mounds were built from The Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and the Mississippi River to the Appalachian Mountains. The greatest mounds are in the Ohio Valleys to the Mississippi. Many people thought that because they mound builders would bury the dead in the mounds that they were uncivilized.

N is forNez

Pierce The Nez Perce Indians lived in the Pacific Northwest region of the US then moved to northern Iowa. The Nez Pierce are currently in Idaho. Their name for themselves is Nimiipuu meaning “the people”. In journals that were found the Nez Perce are called Chopunnish which means “we walked out of the woods or walked out of the mountains”.

O is forOkoboji

Okoboji is the only national park that has a lake made from a glacier. Okoboji is a major summer vacation area. Okoboji has become a national name because of all of the souvenirs that they sell and all of the things that people can do. Many people claim to have gotten an education while visiting Okoboji.

P is forPrairie

Fire The Fort Dodge Prairie fire of 1860 started when Daniel Swearington was on his way to Fort Dodge from Tuscawara county in a wagon with his wife and children and was caught in a prairie fire. Before anyone could do anything, the wagon was over taken with a fire. Before Daniel could get out his clothing was on fire… he was then, unfortunately, knocked out of the wagon and kicked by his horse. Daniel saw his wife fall out of the wagon dead. He then dragged one of his children out but he was also dead. Daniel’s clothing was burned from his body and he had severe burns on his face, head, and hands. He ended up finding nothing left of one of his children but the skull and of the other children ashes and bones with no sign of humanity left in any of them. One of the horses was burned to death in the harness and the other got out of his harness but was badly burned. They were 7 miles away from Fort Dodge, their destination.

Q is forQuaker

Oats

Quaker Oats is an American food company that has been owned by Pepsico since 2001. Quaker Oats was founded in 1901 when four oat mills merged. Quaker Oats now makes $10,081,972,025 a year. In 1969 Quaker Oats acquired Fisher-Price and spun it off on 1991. In 1983 Quaker Oats bought Stokely-Van Camp the makers of Van Camp’s and Gatorade. Quaker Oats bought Snapple for $1.7 billion in 1994 and sold it to Tariarc in 1997 for $300 million. The second largest Quaker Oats factory is in Des Moines, Iowa.

R is forRAGBRAI

RAGBRAI was first started by a few friends who wanted to see if they could ride across Iowa on bikes within six days. The tradition, however, began when a newspaper column wanted the friends to write a column while they were riding. When people read the column they wanted to join. Eventually became the longest, largest, and oldest bike ride in the US. I t is sometimes referred to as “The Great Three Day Bike Ride”.

S is forSod houses To build a sod house you

need mud, dirt, grass, plow, horse, ox, and a little bit of timber. Some advantages are shelter, sturdy, don’t burn, cool in summer, warm in winter. There are also disadvantages and they are insects coming from the roots in the roof, a lot of cleaning, small, not many wood floors, dirty, and very dark. Most sod houses were built in Northwestern Iowa.

T is forTurner

Society

The Turner Society Hall is in Northwest Davenport. It has been on the National Register of Historical Places since 1979. The Turner Society building was burned down in a fire on July 4, 1882 and was rebuilt soon after. The East Turner Hall still stands on the East side of Davenport.

U is forUnion Pacific

The Union Pacific Railroad was going to start in Iowa as President Lincoln asked. However, the people who were supposed to build it didn’t know how to build the bridge to get it to Nebraska. The UP railroad now covers 2/3 of the US.

V is for Abigail

Van Buren

Abigail Van Buren was born on July 4, 1918 in Sioux City, Iowa. She was born to Abraham Freidman and Rebecca Rushall. Her only sibling is Ann Landers. Abigail married Morton Phillips and had two children Edward Jay Phillips and Etta Jeanne Phillips. Abigail would say “If we could sell our experiences for what they cost us, we’d all be millionaires”.

W IS FORWILD ROSE

The Wild Rose is Iowa’s state flower. It became the state flower in 1987. The wild rose was chosen because, it was one of the decorations on the battleship USS Iowa. Wild roses bloom anytime from June to late summer. The wild rose is various shades of pink and has multiple yellow stamens in the center.

X is for The Basilica of St. Francis was built in 1889. It is one of only fifty-two basilicas in the US. The Basilica of St. Francis seats 1,200 people with 5,000 people in parish. The main alter in The Basilica of St. Francis is made of Italian marble. The two steeples are each 212 feet tall.

Y is forYellowRiver State Forest

The Yellow River State Forest was founded in 1933 by the Civilian Conservation Corps with land at the mouth of the Yellow River. It has six sections Luster Heights, Paint Creek North, Paint Creek South, Paint Rock, Waukon Junction, and the Yellow River. Yellow River is home to one of only two popcorn-owned sawmills in Iowa. The other is in Shimek State Forest. In the forest is the Yellow River fire tower. The only fire tower still standing in Iowa. The tower is 100 feet tall.

Z is forZearing

Zearing Iowa was formed out of the Lincoln Township on October 17,1881. Zearing was named after William Mitchell Zearing who was a judge from Chicago that gave the first church in Zearing a bell. The average amount of people in the families in Zearing was 3.13 people. Zearing is right in the middle of Iowa.

THE END

Rachel Teten