Mississippi River Clam Digger

Muscatine, Iowa was the pearl button capitol of the world. A German immigrant started the fresh water clam button business back in the 1880s. Within ten years the Pearl City (Muscatine) became the largest manufacturer of fresh-water pearl buttons in the world. In 1898 Iowa turned out 138,615,696 buttons! This statue along the shores of the Mississippi River honor the pearl button industry. You can see the main channel of the river in the background.