Wahkonsa Township is a

township A township is a kind of human settlement or administrative subdivision, with its meaning varying in different countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, that tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Ca ...

Webster County, Iowa Webster County is a county in the U.S. state of Iowa. As of the 2020 census, the population was 36,999. The county seat is Fort Dodge. The county was established in January 1851, one of 43 counties established by a legislative package. This c ...

. Since the year 1872, the township includes only the city limits of

Fort Dodge Fort Dodge is a city in, and the county seat of, Webster County, Iowa, United States, along the Des Moines River. The population was 24,871 in the 2020 census, a decrease from 25,136 in 2000. Fort Dodge is a major commercial center for North Cen ...

and no longer many notable settlements.

History

Wahkonsa Township was organized on March 3, 1856, in an attempt to reduce the boundaries of Washington Township which for a time contained all of Webster and

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counties. The boundaries of the township, as well as those of six other townships organized that day in Webster County, were fixed by the County court. Wahkonsa Township was set to contain 470 mi² (300,800 acres) of land. Wahkonsa township was named in honor of a young

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

chief of the name who frequently visited the neighboring city of

. The first settler in the present-day township was Mrs. Geo H. Rodgers, and the first

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preached was by

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J. B. Montgomery in 1851. The boundaries of the township were changed on March 24, 1857, so that the township would only border east of the Des Moines river, in exchange for some additional territory in the north. In 1865, the boundaries of the township again changed as the territory today known as Badger township separated. The boundaries were reduced again in 1872 to only include township 89 and range 28, and finally on September 6, 1877, with the separation of Cooper Township. Wahkonsa Township now only embraces the city limits of Fort Dodge, no longer including nearly any notable settlements.

1857 Election Results

The first township elections took place on Monday, April 6, 1857 in an old log school-house built by the government which elected the County Judge, Clerk of the District Count, Sheriff, Treasurer, Recorder, Drainage Commissioner, County Surveyor, County Assessor, Superintendent of Public Instruction, Register of State Land, Commissioner of Des Moines River Improvement, Township Trustee, Township Clerk, Justice of the Peace, Constable, and Road Supervisor (not included) of the township. ^ Information is organized by votes cast. If there is a tie in votes cast, it is organized alphabetically by office.

References

{{authority control Populated places established in 1856 Townships in Webster County, Iowa Townships in Iowa 1856 establishments in Iowa