Editing Iatan, Missouri (section)

==History==
The community is said to derive its name from Iatan, a chief of the [[Otoe tribe]] who supposedly derived his name from battles with the [[Comanche]] who were sometimes also referred to as Iatan.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=5XfxzCm1qa4C&pg=PA176&dq=Comanche+Iatan&lr=&sig=0ETuXk7UjzsIQCeZFgwr0BUNW00 Native American Placenames of the United States] by William Bright - University of Oklahoma Press - 2007 {{ISBN|0-8061-3598-0}}</ref> The town site was [[plat]]ted in 1842.<ref>{{cite web | url =http://shsmo.org/manuscripts/ramsay/ramsay_platte.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160624070705/http://shsmo.org/manuscripts/ramsay/ramsay_platte.html| archive-date = June 24, 2016 | url-status = live | title=Platte County Place Names, 1928–1945 | publisher=The State Historical Society of Missouri| access-date= December 9, 2016}}</ref> A post office called Iatan was established in 1855, and remained in operation until 1964.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.postalhistory.com/postoffices.asp?task=display&state=MO&county=Platte | title=Post Offices| publisher=Jim Forte Postal History | access-date=December 9, 2016}}</ref>

Iatan, first settled by John Dougherty in 1837, was one of the first communities to be established after the [[Platte Purchase]] allowed white settlement on former Native American land (which was proclaimed in February 1837).  It was initially an important trading port on the [[Missouri River]] but was soon overtaken by [[Weston, Missouri]] five miles (8&nbsp;km) to the south and [[St. Joseph, Missouri]] {{convert|20|mi|km}} to the north.<ref>[http://thelibrary.org/lochist/moser/platteco.html A Directory of Towns, Villages, and Hamlets Past and Present of Platte County, Missouri Compiled by Arthur Paul Moser] - the library.org</ref>