Editing Monona County, Iowa (section)

==History==
The area around present-day Onawa was a stopping point in 1804 for Meriwether Lewis and William Clark during their [[Lewis and Clark Expedition|exploration]] of the newly obtained [[Louisiana Purchase]]. Many years later, that site was memorialized as the [[Lewis and Clark State Park (Iowa)|Lewis and Clark State Park]].<ref>[http://www.mononacounty.org/ ''About Monona County'']</ref>

Monona County was formed in 1851. It was perhaps named for an Indian word meaning "beautiful valley."<ref>[http://www.iowacounties.org/About%20Us/AboutCoGov/County%20Pages/Monona.htm Monona County] {{webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20070703140822/http://www.iowacounties.org/About%20Us/AboutCoGov/County%20Pages/Monona.htm |date=July 3, 2007}}</ref>

Monona County was organized officially in the spring of 1854 having been a part of [[Benton County, Iowa|Benton County]] (every county west of Benton in a line) in 1851 and afterwards [[Harrison County, Iowa|Harrison County]] between 1852 and 1854.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=b3kUAAAAYAAJ&q=monona+county+iowa+history|title=History of Monona County, Iowa: Containing Full-page Portraits and Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens of the County, Together with Portraits and Biographies of All the Governors of Iowa, and of the Presidents of the United States|publisher=National Publishing Company|year=1890|pages=166 [https://books.google.com/books?id=b3kUAAAAYAAJ&q=monona+county+iowa+history]}}</ref>

When [[Ashton, Iowa|Ashton]] (originally called Bloomfield) was named the [[county seat]] in the fall of 1854, a log house served as the first courthouse.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.mononacounty.org/Docs/Courthouse%20Document.html |title=Excerpt from: "The Counties and Courthouses of Iowa" |access-date=April 30, 2016 |archive-date=April 5, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160405013516/http://mononacounty.org/Docs/Courthouse%20Document.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> Ashton remained the county seat for only four years. That designation was moved to Onawa on April 5, 1858, and the first [[Monona County Courthouse]] was completed that same year.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_bH8HtIwXzdcC|title=History of Western Iowa, Its Settlement and Growth|publisher=Western Publishing Company|year=1882|pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_bH8HtIwXzdcC/page/n248 249]}}</ref>