"At least fifty-six frontier forts once stood in, or within view of, what is now the state of Iowa. All sought to control and manipulate Indians to the advantage of European and American traders, governments, and settlers. Frontier forts of Iowa draws extensively upon archaeological and historical records to document this era of transformation from the seventeenth-century fur trade until almost all Indians had been removed from the region. Also included is a section on visiting original and reconstructed forts today"--Page 4 of cover.

Forts around Iowa / William E. Whittaker -- Historical tribes and early forts / Cynthia L.Peterson -- Cementing American control, 1816-1853 / Kathryn E.M. Gourley -- Native American perspectives on forts / Lance M. Foster -- Fort Madison, 1808-1813 / Marshall B. McKusick -- Fort Shelby, Fort McKay, and the first Fort Crawford, 1814-1831 / Vicki L. Twinde-Javner -- Fort Johnson, Cantonment Davis, and Fort Edwards, 1814-1824 / David J. Nolan -- Fort Armstrong, 1816-1836 / Regena Jo Schantz -- Fort Atkinson, Nebraska, 1820-1827, and other Missouri river sites / Gayle F. Carlson -- Second Fort Crawford, 1829-1856 / Vicki L. Twinde-Javner -- Fort Des Moines No. 1, 1834-1837 / Kathryn E. M. Gourley -- Fort Atkinson, Iowa, 1840-1849 / Jeffrey T. Carr, William E. Whittaker -- Fort Des Moines No. 2, 1843-1846 / Christopher M. Schoen, William E. Whittaker, Kathryn E. M. Gourley -- Other forts of the Dragoon Era, 1837-1853 / Cindy L. Nagel -- Northern border brigade forts, 1857-1863 / Leah D. Rogers -- Visiting forts / Cynthia L. Peterson.