Statehood The 29th state Dec. 28, 1846 Captial Des Moines State Motto Our liberties we prize, and our rights we will maintain. Origin of State Name The name was taken from the Iowa River, which was named for the Iowa people, a Native American tribe. State Nickname The Hawkeye State The name is a tribute to Chief Black Hawk, a leader of the Sac people, a Native American tribe. Interesting Facts Effigy Mounds National Monument in northeastern Iowa preserves prehistoric mounds constructed in the outline of mammals, birds, and reptiles. In Spillville, near Decorah, is the house where the famous Czech composer Antonín Dvorák lived in the summer of 1893 during his visit to America. Amana, in east central Iowa, is one of seven small villages established by a German religious sect in the 1850s and early 1860s. Iowa is the nation's third most productive agricultural state, following only California and Texas in the value of its yearly farm output.