Editing Oregon Trail (section)

===Iowa===
[[File:Bison Bull in Nebraska.jpg|thumb|A bison bull on a [[Nebraska]] wildlife refuge]]

The [[Lewis and Clark Expedition]] stopped several times in the future state of Iowa on their 1805–1806 expedition to the west coast. Some settlers started drifting into Iowa in 1833. In 1846, the [[Mormons]], expelled from [[Nauvoo, Illinois]], traversed Iowa (on part of the Mormon Trail) and settled temporarily in significant numbers on the Missouri River in Iowa and the future state of Nebraska at their [[Winter Quarters (North Omaha, Nebraska)|Winter Quarters]] near the future city of Omaha, Nebraska.<ref>{{cite web |url = http://winterquarters.byu.edu/pages/settlements.htm |title = Winter Quarters Project |publisher = Winterquarters.byu.edu |access-date = March 19, 2011 |url-status = dead |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110719155702/http://winterquarters.byu.edu/pages/settlements.htm |archive-date = July 19, 2011}}</ref> The Mormons established about 50 temporary towns including the town of Kanesville, Iowa (renamed [[Council Bluffs, Iowa|Council Bluffs]] in 1852), on the east bank of the Missouri River opposite the mouth of the Platte River. For travelers bringing their teams to the Platte River junction, Kanesville, and other towns became major jumping-off places and supply points. In 1847 the Mormons established three ferries across the Missouri River and others established even more ferries for the spring start on the trail. In the 1850 census, there were about 8,000 mostly Mormons tabulated in the large [[Pottawattamie County, Iowa]] District 21. (The original Pottawattamie County was subsequently made into five counties and parts of several more.) By 1854, most of the Mormon towns, farms, and villages were largely taken over by non-Mormons as they abandoned them or sold them for not much and continued their migration to Utah. After 1846, the towns of Council Bluffs, Iowa, Omaha (est. 1852), and other Missouri River towns became major supply points and jumping-off places for travelers on the Mormon, California, Oregon, and other trails west.