History on the Mississippi Traditional Cache
History on the Mississippi
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This is a small cache located in the downtown area. It is only available from 10 AM to 4 PM, Thursday through Sunday (closed on Mon-Tues).
Explored in 1673 by Pere Jaques Marquette and Louis Joliet, the land that is now Des Moines County changed hands from France to Spain to France, and then to the United States as part of the Louisiana Purchase. After Lt. Zebulon Pike’s expedition landed at what is now Crapo Park in 1805, it was part of several territories-Louisiana, Indiana, Missouri and Michigan. But it remained off-limits to permanent settlement until 1833, when the Black Hawk War ended. In 1834, residents named the hamlet “Burlington” after trader John Gray’s Vermont hometown. Congress chartered this new city in 1836 as the seat of one of two counties in the Iowa District of the newly created Wisconsin Territory. The Iowa Territory was created July 4, 1838, and retained Burlington as its capital. The population was about 1,200, with more brick homes, a dozen shops, and two weekly newspapers. The legislature first rented the Methodist Meeting House (later nicknamed “Old Zion”) on November 12, 1838, eventually moving to Iowa City in December 1841. Burlington remained a small trading hub and stopover for westbound pioneers, growing slowly until 1868, when the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad completed the bridge that is still in use across the Mississippi River. The MacArthur Bridge was then completed across the Mississippi River 1917. Today, the majestic Great River Bridge connects this historic corner of Iowa with the land of Lincoln to the east.
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
V'z fheebhaqrq ol neg naq uvfgbel! Vs lbh trg sehfgengrq, gurer'f fher gb or fbzr urycshy, 'jrypbzvat' sbyxf arneol gb tvir lbh n uvag.
Treasures
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