John Fletcher Lacey (May 30, 1841 – September 29, 1913) was an eight-term Republican United States congressman from Iowa's 6th congressional district. He was also the author of the Lacey Act of 1900, which made it a crime to ship illegal game across state lines, and the Lacey Act of 1907, which further regulated the handling of tribal funds. As the first federal conservation law, the Lacey Act of 1900 remains one of the foundations of conservation law enforcement. Background and Civil War service Lacey was born in New Martinsville, Virginia (now West Virginia). He moved to Iowa in 1855 with his parents, who settled in Oskaloosa. He attended the common schools and pursued classical studies. He also engaged in agricultural pursuits, and learned the trades of bricklaying and plastering. In the spring of 1861, when Lacey was twenty years old, the American Civil War began. Lacey joined an infantry in the Union Army in May 1861. He initially enlisted in Company H, 3rd Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment. During his time with the Third Iowa Infantry, he was captured at the Battle of Blue Mills. However, he was soon released on parole. He afterward served as sergeant major in Company D, 33rd Iowa Volunteer Infantry Regiment. He was promoted to lieutenant and reassigned to Company C of that regiment, then promoted to assistant adjutant general on the staff of General Frederick Steele. He remained in this position until the end of the war. As the war concluded, he studied law, was admitted to the bar in 1865, and began to practice law in Oskaloosa. Five years later, he became a member of the Iowa House of Representatives. He was elected to the Iowa House of Representatives for a term beginning in 1870. He was later elected to the Oskaloosa City Council in 1880, serving until 1883. He served one term as city solicitor. On April 12, 1902, Lacey accepted membership into the Boone and Crockett Club, a wildlife conservation organization founded by Theodore Roosevelt in 1887. Congressional service In 1888, he was nominated by the Republican Party to challenge incumbent Greenback Party Congressman James Weaver, who was seeking re-election to his fourth term as representative of Iowa's 6th congressional district. Lacey unseated Weaver. Lacey served one term (as a member of the Fifty-first United States Congress), but was defeated in the 1890 Democratic landslide by Democrat Frederick Edward White. Two