Montrose is a city in Lee County

Lee County, Iowa

-2010 census:The 2010 census recorded a population of 35,862 in the county, with a population density of . There were 16,205 housing units, of which 14,610 were occupied.-2000 census:...

, Iowa

Iowa

Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...

, United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The population was 957 at the 2000 census. The town is located on the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

. It is part of the Fort Madison

Fort Madison, Iowa

Fort Madison, situated on the Mississippi River, is a city in and one of the county seats of Lee County, Iowa, United States. The other county seat is Keokuk. The population was 10,715 at the 2000 census...

–Keokuk

Keokuk, Iowa

Keokuk is a city in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Iowa and one of the county seats of Lee County. The other county seat is Fort Madison. The population was 11,427 at the 2000 census. The city is named after the Sauk Chief Keokuk, who is thought to be buried in Rand Park...

, IA-MO

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

 Micropolitan Statistical Area

Fort Madison-Keokuk micropolitan area

The Fort Madison–Keokuk Micropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Census Bureau, is an area consisting of two counties – one in southeast Iowa and one in northeast Missouri, anchored by the cities of Fort Madison, Iowa and Keokuk, Iowa...

.
The area around Montrose has been occupied continuously since at least the 1780s, when Quashquame

Quashquame

Quashquame was a Sauk chief; he was the principal signer of the 1804 treaty that ceded Sauk land to the United States government...

's village was established nearby. The area was strategically important because it is at the head of the Des Moines Rapids

Des Moines Rapids

The Des Moines Rapids between Nauvoo, Illinois and Keokuk, Iowa-Hamilton, Illinois is one of two major rapids on the Mississippi River that limited Steamboat traffic on the river through the early 19th century....

, a major impediment to river traffic that caused large boats to land in this area and transfer freight overland to avoid the rapids.