Iowa's Cow War: Iowa Time Machine September 21, 1931

Iowa Time Machine ⏰: On September 21, 1931, Iowa’s Cow War reached a climax as farmers and police officers skirmished at a Cedar County Farm. The violence led Governor Dan Turner to declare martial law and send the Iowa National Guard to Tipton to help veterinarians give tuberculin tests to cattle.

Bovine Tuberculosis proved a significant issue for Iowa farmers during the early 1900s. However, when new testing methods became available in 1929, the state sought to eradicate the disease. The Iowa General Assembly passed a law requiring all cows, whether used for dairy or meat, to be tested for bovine tuberculosis. Many Iowa farmers, who did not trust the tests, opposed the law. The farmers believed the test might infect cows with tuberculosis and tried to overturn the law in court. When the Iowa Supreme Court determined the law Constitutional, a tense standoff ensued. Muscatine KTNT radio station owner Norman G. Baker spread misinformation in southeastern Iowa about medical professionals, Iowa politicians, farming magazines, and Iowa universities in response to the testing. Baker's words, paired with farmer resistance, led 1,000 farmers to travel from Tipton to the Iowa State Capitol in Des Moines to demand that the Iowa Legislature make the tests optional. After the Legislature refused, the farmers decided to act on their own.

On March 9, 1931, over 500 people protested south of Tipton at a farm owned by E. C. Mitchell. Iowa veterinarians and 20 police officers arrived at farmer William C. Butterbrodt's farm northeast of Tipton to test his cows for tuberculosis. Almost 1,000 protestors traveled to Butterbrodt's farm to block the tests, although no violence occurred. Late in the year, on September 21, 1931, 300 or 400 farmers went to Jacob Lenker's farm with crudely made weapons to attack roughly 65 police officers and two veterinarians. The farmers threw mud and rocks at the officers while also swinging clubs and slashing the officers' tires.

The next day, Governor Turner declared martial law and dispatched 31 Iowa National Guard units to Tipton. Soldiers and veterinarians traveled throughout Cedar County, testing cows for tuberculosis. The National Guard operated machine guns along country roads, and sentries patrolled the area. The farmers largely gave up on the Guard’s arrival. Fifty veterinarians, working in pairs, tested 5,000 cattle per day for a week to complete the work. #IowaOTD #IowaHistoryDaily #IowaHistoryCalendar