History of Iowa From the Earliest Times to the Beginning of the Twentieth Century/3/Counties/Monona
MONONA COUNTY lies on the Missouri River in the fifth tier south of the Minnesota line. It is about thirty miles long from east to west by twenty-four wide containing an area of six hundred eighty-five square miles. The county was created in 1851 from territory in the old county of Benton; the name is of Indian origin. In 1865 the eastern tier of townships was detached and given to Crawford County. The valley of the Missouri River spreads out to a great width in this county containing more than 165,000 acres of level bottom lands of unsurpassed fertility, the black soil varying in depth from six to fifteen feet. The Little Sioux River runs in a southwesterly direction through the county.
The first permanent settler was Isaac Ashton, who, in 1852, made a claim about two miles north of Onawa, while Josiah Sumner located near him. The same year Aaron Cook settled on the bank of the Missouri River at a place which became known as Cook’s Landing. In 1854, Charles B. Thompson, a Mormon leader, with several followers settled on Soldier Creek. During the year he was joined by about fifty Mormon families who preëmpted several thousand acres of the best lands in that vicinity. Thompson laid out a town called Preparation. A quarrel arose among the members of the colony; litigation ensued and the members gradually disposed of their lands and removed to other parts.
The county government was organized in 1854 by the election of the following officers: Charles B. Thompson, county judge; treasurer and recorder, Hugh Lytle; clerk, Andrew Hall; and J. F. Lane, sheriff. The county business was transacted at the Mormon town, Preparation. The commissioners chosen to locate the county-seat selected Ashton in the fall of 1854. The same year Mr. Thompson started two papers; one, a weekly called The Messenger, and the other a monthly named Zion’s Harbinger. The were published at Preparation.
In 1857 the Mormon Land Company laid out the town of Onawa and the first house was built by S. S. Pearse in July, while J. E. Morrison the same season built a hotel called the Onawa House. C. E. Whiting was one of the early settlers in the county who planted large orchards and extensive groves of trees.
In 1858, by a vote of the people the county-seat was moved to Onawa. The Sioux City and Pacific Railroad was the first built through the county.