13 Notes From Napoleon, Iowa

Between 1800 and 1803 the future state of Iowa was ruled by Napoleon Bonaparte, then First Consul of the French Republic. This collection illuminates some aspects of Iowa’s French past, such as cities named after the Napoleonic battles of Marengo and Waterloo, and explains the mystery of Iowa’s distinctly French-looking flag. Along the way, the author muses on other Napoleon-related matters, such as Empire waist gowns, Goethe’s and Byron’s Bonapartism, the aftermath of the Battle of Waterloo, the Congress of Vienna, and to what extent have Europe’s current internal contradictions been impacted by its Napoleonic past. About the author Anna Barker is an educator and journalist who, with her husband Jim, raised three children in Iowa City, Iowa, and teaches at the University of Iowa. She walks her Yorkie Watson along the Iowa River, writes on Iowa Avenue, publishes essays in the Iowa City Press-Citizen, and believes that this designational monotony could have been easily avoided if Iowa City had retained the name of the original 1838 settlement — Napoleon