HomeMy Public PortalAbout2022 0927 Dubuque County DayCITY OF RIIV RDALE IOWA
PROCL , ; ATION
WHEREAS, the City of Riverdale has over the years been under many jurisdictions which are being
highlighted this year as part of a series of proclamations.
WHEREAS, our area, which would become Dubuque County was left as unorganized territory after the
formation of the State of Missouri in 1821 without legal jurisdiction. It remained this way until 1834,
when two miners in Dubuque got into an argument that led to the murder of George O'Keaf by Patrick
O'Connor. Nearby courts in Galena had no authority to hear the case, nor did former territorial courts
from Missouri. A petition to President Andrew Jackson also had no effect as he also concluded he had
no authority over the unorganized territory.
WHEREAS, Patrick O'Connor was tried and convicted by a jury he himself selected and was hanged on
June 20th, the first execution in Iowa. He was both executed on and buried in a Native American burial
mound. The action led the US Congress to reestablish the area as Michigan Territory a mere 8 days after
the hanging, and set forth the path for the territorial government to establish the County of Dubuque.
WHEREAS, on September 6th, 1834, Congress decreed that all lands west of the Mississippi River and
east of the Missouri and White Earth Rivers, and north of the lower end of the Rock Island rapids,
including those lands which now include Riverdale, would become Dubuque County through December
of 1837.
WHEREAS, Dubuque County was named for Iowa's first European settler, French Canadian Julien
Dubuque who had died 24 years earlier in 1810.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT, I, Anthony Heddlesten, Mayor of the City of Riverdale, Iowa, do
hereby proclaim that September 6th as
DUBUQUE COUNTY DAY
in Riverdale, Iowa, and encourage all staff, residents, and visitors to learn more about the history of the
founding of our region and those who first helped establish our community.
Anthony Heddlesten, Mayor
City of Riverdale, Iowa
http://iagenweb.org/history/moi/MOIChp2.htm
https://www.iowapbs.org/iowapathways/artifact/1848/frontier-justice
https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/publications/TB/1287442.pdt
http://iagenweb.org/history/palimpsest/1920-Sept.htm