Review of "From Cabin to Capital: A Brief History of Des Moines and Polk County Iowa" by LeRoy Pratt

Review of

From Cabin to Capital: A Brief History of Des Moines and Polk County Iowa by LeRoy Pratt

Five out of five stars

 This book is a “just the facts” style of book, there is very little in the way of the unnecessary. For example, there is a list of the members of the first military garrison stationed at Fort Des Moines and brief descriptions of all the Polk County Iowa place names. While some of them still exist, many of the settlements have vanished with little left behind. When known, the origin of the names is given.

 The last section is a list of the important dates and events in the history of Des Moines and Polk County. It is presented in the form of a bulleted list, the date followed by a paragraph as to why it is significant. The first entry is at 1673, when the first white men set foot on Iowa land and the last is in 1974, when the book was published.

 If you are curious about the history of the capital city of Iowa and have no need of analysis, this book is for you.