Editing Muscatine County, Iowa (section)

==History==
Muscatine County was formed in December 1836 as a part of [[Wisconsin Territory]], partitioned from [[Des Moines County, Iowa|Des Moines County]], which had been organized two years previously.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/documents/WI_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm|title=WI: Individual County Chronologies|website=publications.newberry.org|access-date=September 28, 2016|archive-date=April 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170414132220/http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/documents/WI_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> One history suggests that the county was named for [[Muscatine Island]] in the [[Mississippi River]]. The island lies opposite Muscatine County and was believed to be named after the [[Mascouten]] tribe, Algonquian-speaking [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|Native Americans]] who lived in the area before being driven west by settler encroachment and other tribes.<ref>{{Citation|title=History of Muscatine County Iowa - History Section, 1879|url=http://iagenweb.org/muscatine/biographies1879/thename.htm|access-date=May 11, 2009}}</ref>

Colonel [[George Davenport]] of [[Illinois]] sent three representatives into the territory in 1833 to establish a trade post. They were the first European Americans to settle there. In the same year, James W. Casey and John Vanatta came to the area. They opened a supply depot for [[steamboat]]s on June 1, 1833, and named it Casey's Woodpile (since steamboats used wood as fuel). Muscatine County became part of [[Iowa Territory]] on July 4, 1838, when it was established by partitioning the area from [[Wisconsin Territory]].<ref name=":0"/> The first public land sale was held in November 1838. One year later, officials began construction of the first courthouse and associated jail. A second jail, known as the [[Old Jail (Muscatine, Iowa)|"Old Jail"]], was built in 1857.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.muscatinecountysheriff.com/History.html|title=Local Sights|publisher=Muscatine County Sheriff|access-date=April 23, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120208164232/http://www.muscatinecountysheriff.com/History.html|archive-date=February 8, 2012}}</ref>

The first courthouse was destroyed by fire on December 23, 1864. By 1866 a replacement stood on the same site. The [[Muscatine County Courthouse|present courthouse]] opened on September 26, 1907.<ref>[http://www.co.muscatine.ia.us/community/his.shtml History]{{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120728115458/http://www.co.muscatine.ia.us/community/his.shtml|date=July 28, 2012}}</ref>