Note 13 — Chapter II
J. V. (Jedediah Vincent) Huntington translation
The Iowa (Ayuwas, Aiouetz) were a Siouan tribe first encountered by French explorers in the state to which they have given name. This word lacked consonant sounds, hence its great variations in spelling. The Iowa early became allied with the Sauk and Foxes, and were thus hostile to the French power. They were a fierce tribe, and raided widely from their villages on the Des Moines River. Later, they traded with the English on the Mississippi. In 1808 a treaty was made with them by which the first American post west of the Mississippi River was erected—Fort Madison, which served in a measure to restrain their ravages. There are now about three hundred Iowa Indians, upon reservations with the Sauk and Foxes, in Kansas and Oklahoma.—Ed.