Dakota was a small settlement that appeared on only one map, that being a state road survey that was made in April, 1853 and was hand drawn by the surveyor, Silvers C. Wood. The survey was commissioned by the Iowa Secretary of State. Dakota was located in SW Sec 17-87-26 in Webster Township. At another place in the same survey the settlement was spelled Dekota. The settlement was also spelled Dakotah in some places.

This state road ran from Boonesboro to Fort Dodge, passing through Mineral Ridge in Boone County, Homer, and Fort Dodge. The stagecoach followed the same path at a later time. The name of the settlement was named for the Sioux Indian tribe, that lived to the north of the county but hunted in the neutral strip which passed through our county.