When Meskwaki tribes were encamped along the Cedar and Iowa Rivers, they met Stephen Sumner Phelps, who established the first trading post west of this site as early as 1826. He took John Gilbert, another trader, into his company. Gilbert built his own post near here, but then turned his attention to incoming settlers. During the severely cold winter of 1838, a January meeting was called with seven in attendance: Jenny, a Winnebago woman working for the company, Mogawk, an African-American employee and friend, Gilbert, and four settlers from Indiana. From that first meeting, Johnson County government began in diversity and peacefulness. We honor those participants who served as models for our own diverse community today.