Greeting Card from Iowa. ca. 1949, Cherokee, Iowa, USA, Cherokee, thriving County Seat of almost nine thousand, in the heart of Iowa's richest agricultural area, is the largest town on the Little Sioux River. It was founded in 1856 and terrorized many time by Sioux Indians who perpetrated the Spirit Lake Massacre. Cherokee was incorporated in 1873 and named after the Indian tribe who occupied this territory.