Archaeological site information has been removed from this copy of the report.
The unedited text is available in the National Archaeological Data Base copy of the report. Final Report Fulfilling the Ft. Atkinson, Iowa, Certified Local Government Grant Contract No. 20-00.003
by Cynthia L. Peterson Project Archaeologist and Alan C. Becker Project Historian
John F. Doershuk and Stephen C. Lensink Co-Principal Investigators
Office of the State Archaeologist The University of Iowa Iowa City 2001 " Final Report Fulfilling the Ft. Atkinson, Iowa, Certified Local Government Grant Contract No. 20-00.003
by Cynthia L. Peterson Project Archaeologist and Alan C. Becker Project Historian
John F. Doershuk and Stephen C. Lensink Co-Principal Investigators
Office of the State Archaeologist The University of Iowa Iowa City 2001 ' Final Report Fulfilling the Ft. Atkinson, Iowa, Certified Local Government Grant Contract No. 20-00.003
Prepared for:
Fort Atkinson Historic Preservation Commission and the State Historical Society of Iowa Community Programs Bureau Des Moines, Iowa
Prepared by:
Cynthia L. Peterson, Project Archaeologist, and Alan Becker, Historian
This project has been partially supported through funding from a matching grant-in-aid agreement from the State Historical Society of Iowa, Community Programs Bureau, through the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, under the provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. The opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Department of the Interior.
This program received Federal funds from the National Park Service. Regulations of the U. S. Department of the Interior strictly prohibit unlawful discrimination in Federally Assisted Programs on the basis of race, color, national origin, age or handicap. Any person who believes he or she has been discriminated against in any program, activity, or facility operated by a recipient of federal assistance should write to: Director, Equal Opportunity Program, U. S. Department of the Interior, National park Service, 1849 C Street NW, Washington, D. C, 20240.
All phases of the project were conducted under the direction of Cynthia L. Peterson, Project Archaeologist and John F. Doershuk and Stephen C. Lensink Co-Principal Investigators Office of the State Archaeologist University of Iowa Iowa City, Iowa
with the assistance of the Fort Atkinson Historic Preservation Commission, Local Volunteers and Property Owners, and students of the summer 2000 University of Iowa field school "Archaeological Field Methods and American Indian Concerns"
Septermber 1,2001 Table of Contents
National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form Project Summary and Recommendations Acknowledgements
Appendix I: National Archeological Data Base Form Appendix II: National Archives Microfilm Indexing Appendix III: Related Project Correspondence Appendix IV: Letters from David Olmsted to his Brother Samuel Appendix V: Memorandum of Agreement between the Ewings and Olmsted-Rhodes Appendix VI: Local Media Coverage Appendix VII: Geographic Information Systems Modeling NPS Form 10-9QQ-b OMB No. 1024- 0018 (Revised March 1992)
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form
This form is used for documenting multiple property groups relating to one or several historic contexts. See instructions in How to Complete the Multiple Property Documentation Form (National Register Bulletin 16B). Complete each item by entering the requested information. For additional space, use continuation sheets (Form 1O-900-a). Use a typewriter, word processor, or computer to complete all items.
X New Submission Amended Submission
A. Name of Multiple Property Listing
Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground, Northeast Iowa
B. Associated Historic Contexts (Name each associated historic context, identifying theme, geographical area, and chronological period for each.)
Administration of the Neutral Ground, Turkey River Subagency: 1840-1848 Administration of the Neutral Ground, Winnebago Village Life: 1840-1848 Administration of the Neutral Ground, Trading: 1840-1848
C. Form Prepared by
name/title Cynthia L. Peterson/Project Archaeologist
organization Office of the State Archaeologist, The University of Iowa date September 1, 2001
street & number 700 CLSB telephone 319-384-0732
city or town Iowa City state Iowa zip code 52242
D. Certification
As the designated authority under the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended. I hereby certify that this documentation form meets the National Register documentation standards and sets forth requirements for the listing of related properties consistent with the National Register criteria. This submission meets the procedural and professional requirements set forth In 36 CFR Part 60 and the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation. ( See continuation sheet for additional comments.)
Signature and title of certifying official Date
State or Federal agency and bureau
I hereby certify that this multiple property documentation form has been approved by the National Register as a basis for evaluating related properties for listing in the National Register.
Signature of the Keeper Date of Action
,;/w,yjv^;: v>; vv"= =;:•!;•?" i-".i\ •-•-: • • .-•.•••• - • •• • •- .: ••:•:-•"••'.'•••:,• ••-';•• *- • '- ••••' •• ••' .i:;..'. •>,.•• .-.-v. p: •*>,'<-*"•..' U5DI/NPS NRHP Multiple Property Documentation Form
Historic Archaeoiogical Resources of the The Neutral Ground. Northeast Iowa Iowa Name of Multiple Property Listing State
Table of Contents for Written Narrative
Provide the following information on continuation sheets. Cite the letter and the title before each section of the narrative. Assign page numbers according to the instructions for continuation sheets in How to Complete the Multiple Property Documentation Form (National Register Bulletin 1SB). Fill in page numbers for each section in the space below.
Page Numbers E. Statement of Historic Contexts (If more than one historic context is documented, present them in sequential order.)
Administration of the Neutral Ground, Turkey River Subagency: 1840-1848 1 Administration of the Neutral Ground, Winnebago Village Life: 1840-1848 8 Administration of the Neutral Ground, Trading: 1840-1848 21
F, Associated Property Types (Provide description, significance, and registration requirements.)
Associated Property Types: The Administration of the Neutral Ground, Turkey River Subagency: 1840-1848 49 Associated Property Types: The Administration of the Neutral Ground, Winnebago Village Life: 1840-1848 51 Associated Property Types: The Administration of the Neutral Ground, Trading: 1840-1848 53
G. Geographical Data 55
H. Summary of Identification and Evaluation Methods (Discuss the methods used in developing the multiple property listing.)
Research Design 56 Methodology 57 Evaluation 58 Nominations 60
I. Major Bibliographical References 61 (List major written works and primary location of additional documentation: State Historic Preservation Office, other State agency, Federal agency, I oca! government, university, or other, specifying repository.)
Primary location of additional data: X State Historic Preservation Office Other State agency Federal agency Local government University .. Other Name of repository:
Paperwork Reduction Act Statement: This Information is being collected for applications to the National Register of Historic Places to nominate properties for listing or determine eligibility for fisting, to list properties, and to amend existing listings. Response to this request is required to obtain a benefit in accordance with the National Historic Preservation Act, as amended (16 U.S.C. 470 etseq.).
Estimated Burden Stetement: Public reporting burden for this form is estimated to average 120 hours per response including the time for reviewing instructions, gathering and maintaining data, and completing and reviewing the form. Direct comments regarding this burden estimate or any aspect of this form to the Chief, Administrative Services Division, National Park Service, P.O. Box 37127, Washington, DC 20013-7127; and the Office of Management and Budget, Paperwork Reductions Project (1024-0016), Washington, DC 20503. MPS Fofm tO-900-a QMS Approval NO. 1024-OOtB (ism i United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
i National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 1 Northeast Iowa
P E. Statements of Historic Contexts
The following historic contexts are based on contexts developed in several previous archaeological and archival P studies (Merry 1988; Peterson 1995, 1999; Rogers 1993) and in present research (Peterson and Becker 2001). Both Rogers (1993) and Peterson (1995) developed the historic context of "Administration of the Neutral Ground, Turkey River Subagency, 1840—1848," based upon archival and archaeological data. Peterson also utilized documentary and [ archaeological data to formulate the contexts "Administration of the Neutral Ground, Winnebago Village Life, 1840- 1848" (Peterson 1995) and "Administration of the Neutral Ground, Trading 1840-1848" (Peterson 1999). This latter context was more fully developed in Peterson and Becker (2001). Each of these contexts relates to the use of Northeast Iowa as a temporary home for the Winnebagos within the Neutral Ground. Stanley (1992, 1993) has previously formulated the historic context for Fort Atkinson, the military post associated with the Neutral Ground.
f Administration of the Neutral Ground, Turkey River Subagency: 1840-1848
The Neutral Ground was not only a physically surveyed strip of land running across northeast Iowa, but also a political device, designed to control and corral several groups of midwestern Native Americans. The U.S. Government sought to make territories east and west of the Mississippi River available for white settlement and for natural resource exploitation. This desire to increase Euro-American landholdings brought along further displacement of native peoples. By the 1820s, the westward push for settlement had directly affected the Winnebagos, among other groups, through treaties. a Forced Winnebago Relocation Between 1825 and 1828, several treaties established intertribal boundaries in and around Wisconsin, the first step in a governmental effort to acquire all Indian lands east of the Mississippi River, beginning with the lead mining regions along the river. A line running nearly east-west across present-day northeastern Iowa was surveyed by the government on August 19, 1825, with the Dakota Sioux to remain north of the line and the Sauks and Meskwakis to the south. This line, running from the mouth of the Upper Iowa River directly to the upper fork of the Des Moines River, was meant to define the boundary of each tribe's hunting grounds (Hexom 1913) and decrease hostilities between these often-warring groups. In 1830, a strip of land 20 miles wide on either side of this line was designated the Neutral Ground. Officially, this strip was created to further separate the Dakota Sioux from the Sauks and Meskwakis to the south. However, by 1830, the government already had plans to remove the Winnebagos from Wisconsin (Street 1899), and the Neutral Ground was seen as a convenient place to temporarily house that group. Hovde (1979:93) suggests that the U.S. Government also wanted the Winnebagos moved into the Neutral Ground to act as a physical barrier between the warring tribes. The Neutral Ground included all of present-day Winneshiek and Chickasaw counties, the majority of Allamakee County, and portions of Bremer, Clayton, Fayette, and Howard counties in Iowa (Figure 1). In 1829, a treaty was signed that ceded half the Winnebago tribe's territory south of the Wisconsin River. Land south of the Fox and Wisconsin rivers was ceded in 1832, in the Treaty of Fort Armstrong, signed at Rock Island, Illinois (Hexom 1913; Turner 1951).
• • • In partial payment for the cession of 1832, the tribe [the Winnebagos] was granted a reservation along the west bank of the Mississippi River, the Neutral Ground on the Turkey River in Iowa, actually a contested no-man's-land between the Sauk and Sioux. Winnebagos from the ceded areas who settled there soon found themselves the target of Sauk hostilities. ; MPS FOfrtl 10-900-a OMB Approval No. 1024-00 fS {8-96) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 2 Northeast Iowa
Despite these problems, the government began pressing for cession of the tribe's remaining land in Wisconsin and removal of all the Winnebagos west of the Mississippi River [Lurie 1978:698-699].
Most Winnebagos were unwilling to move from their homeland. Other factors also contributed to the Winnebago reluctance to leave Wisconsin. The Sioux and the Sac and Fox (Sauk and Meskwakis) were known to be especially hostile toward each other; and the Winnebagos did not want to live in a "buffer" zone between two warring tribes. The Winnebago premonitions of hostilities proved warranted: they suffered three large-scale attacks by the Sauks between 1834 and 1839. The third attack, in November 1839, resulted in 20 Winnebago deaths. Retaliation was planned but was not can ted out, and peace between the two nations was established in July of 1840. Another reason the government had difficulty persuading the Winnebago to remove to the Neutral Ground was the interference of the American Fur Company. The Fort Winnebago, Wisconsin, subagent, John H. Kinzie, and his interpreter, Pierre Pauquette, explicitly asked some of the Winnebago not to leave Wisconsin (Street 1899:607). Kinzie and Pauquette were not only government employees, but also employed by the American Fur Company. Removal of the Winnebagos would negatively impact the fur trade by driving the Sioux from their traditional hunting grounds. A small group of Winnebagos settled near or along the Yellow River in present-day Allamakee County in the early 1830s. General Joseph M. Street was appointed agent, overseeing the Winnebagos from Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin. Buildings were erected adjacent to the Yellow River in 1833 and school began in 1835 (Colton 1938; Hexom 1913; Reque 1944). The school had only six regular attendees as of 30 April 1835. By December 1837, enrollment was 41 pupils. In 1839, 79 students attended the Yellow River School, 43 boys and 36 girls (Petersen 1960). The school was to teach reading, writing, and arithmetic, gardening, agriculture, carding, spinning, weaving, and sewing, according to their ages and sexes, and such other branches of useful knowledge as the President of the United States may prescribe [Swisher 1946:66].
Education stressed domestic and agricultural learning. Agent Street stated that the Winnebago's "hands should be educated" (Street 1899:606), Cumberland Presbyterian minister David Lowry was the school superintendent. Lowry replaced Street as administrator of the Yellow River facility in 1839, by which time the position had been reduced to that of subagent. Several Winnebago bands had located to the Neutral Ground by 1839. Two Shillings' band camped near the Yellow River School, and the bands of Little Priest and Whirling Thunder were living on a farm about 15 miles west of the school (Galland 1840). A council was held in Washington D. C. in 1837. Most Winnebagos still resided in Wisconsin and protested further removals west of the Mississippi. Several young men, sons and relatives of tribal leaders, who nevertheless did not hold positions of authority within the tribe, were sent to talk with government officials. The young men were forced to sign a treaty ceding remaining Winnebago lands. They understood that they would be given eight years to relocate to that portion of the Neutral Ground extending forty miles west of the Mississippi, but that they were not to hunt within 20 miles of the Mississippi River. In actuality, the treaty read "eight months" for removal to the Neutral Ground. The treaty allocated $10,000 to be paid to the tribe annually for 27 years. The Neutral Ground was to be a temporary home for the Winnebago, with the promise of relocation to better land as soon as possible. Soon after the treaty was signed in 1838, the Winnebago were told to leave Wisconsin. Also of note was that size of the Neutral Ground had been modified in an 1832 treaty, cutting its acreage in half. Instead of reaching west to the upper fork of the Des Moines River, the westernmost Neutral Ground boundary was amended to a point on the eastern fork of the Cedar River (then called Red Cedar Creek), following the meanders of the river 40 miles to the south (Kappler 1972:345-348). NPSform 10-900-a OMB Aporovl No. 1024-OOfS (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 3 Northeast Iowa
Winnebagos loudly declared the 1837 treaty invalid, signed by men who did not represent the coalition of tribes. This treaty split the tribe into two factions: a treaty-abiding group, which moved to the Neutral Ground, and a renegade group, which hid from government troops in Wisconsin. A special agency was established for "outlaw" Winnebago and Potawatomi at Plover, Wisconsin, in 1864, lasting until 1869. The agency moved to Necedah and then to New Lisbon. In 1870, the special agency was abolished (Hill 1974). Finally, in 1881, the Wisconsin Winnebago were allowed to purchase 40-acre farmsteads scattered across 10 counties. By this time, Euro-Americans had already purchased the best lands. For those Winnebagos who moved into present-day Iowa, their stay was short. In 1840, the first large emigration of Winnebagos to the Neutral Ground took place. Two boats transported the reluctant Winnebagos down the Wisconsin River to Prairie du Chien, then across the Mississippi to the Neutral Ground. The government would continue to have difficulties for the next eight years and more containing many of the Winnebagos in areas west .of the Mississippi River. Whereas the Winnebagos were supposed to remain twenty miles west of the Mississippi River, they were attracted to the river by the good hunting, fishing, and trading. Also, Winnebagos frequently returned to Wisconsin, to visit tribal members living there, for annual hunting trips, and in attempts to permanently move back. In September 1845, the Turkey River subagent estimated that half of the Winnebagos had returned to Wisconsin or were living along the Mississippi (Mahan 1926; Petersen 1960). To entice the Winnebagos to move, annuity payments were made in the Iowa Territory after 1840 (Nichols 1965). As early as 1841, the government began plans to remove the Wmnebagos from the Neutral Ground to a new reservation in Minnesota, and thereby open up eastern Iowa to white settlement. Other attempts to remove the Indians from the Neutral Ground took place in 1843, 1844, and 1845, but all were unsuccessful. The Winnebagos did not want to be moved to a place that might be worse than the Turkey River area (Diedrich 1991; Mahan 1926). Winnebago Chief Gull stated in October of 1846: All the land we have been talking about was made by the Great Spirit. The Great Spirit made some of it for his white children and some for his red children. He knows to whom he allotted all this land. He gave the Indian a country and he meant that his red children should live upon it, where he had placed them. We think the Great Spirit is displeased when we alter his arrangements, and that he is angry at his red children for giving up the lands he has placed them upon. We fear that our Great Father does not live in the fear of the Great Spirit or he would not ask us again to move from our lands. We have already given our Great Father a large and valuable portion of lands the Great Spirit gave us, and we greatly fear that his wrath will descend upon us if we move again [United States Department of State n.d.] When Iowa became a state in 1846, the Winnebagos were the only Indians "legally" remaining in eastern Iowa. The treaty of October 13, 1846 required the Winnebagos to move to a reservation between the Watab and Crow Wing rivers, northwest of present-day St. Cloud, Minnesota. A total of $190,000 was to be paid to the tribe over 30 years, with five percent interest being allotted to the tribe annually (Schoolcraft 1847). The subagency was located at Long Prairie, Minnesota, and was soon given the designation of full agency. In 1848, the Winnebagos reluctantly moved from the Neutral Ground under escort of combination of military forces and contracted volunteers who were paid according to the number of Winnebagos that were taken to Minnesota. Once again, Winnebagos decried the 1846 treaty as invalid: they did not want to move further from their Wisconsin homelands and did not care to live between more warring tribes, this time the Sioux and Chippewa (Hovde 1979:32). A caravan of 115 government wagons and about 50 privately owned wagons (mostly belonging to traders and Winnebagos) transported the majority of the Winnebagos to Wabasha, Minnesota, in June, 1848. There, the wagons and people were transferred to barges and steamboats. At St. Paul, they disembarked and proceeded to the reservation. NPS Form 10-MO-s OMB Approve! Na. 1024-0018 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutrai Ground Section number E Page 4 Northeast Iowa
In 1855, the Winnebagos were again moved, this time to a reservation newly established south of Mankato, Minnesota, along the Blue Earth River. The agency was located on the Le Sueur River (Friedrich 1980; Hill 1974; Merry and Green 1989) The Winnebagos were then removed to Crow Creek in South Dakota in 1862. The majority of the Winnebago left Crow Creek, establishing themselves among the Omaha in Nebraska or returning to Wisconsin. A reservation was created for the Winnebago on the north end of the Omaha reservation in 1865 (Hill 1974). a Formation of Subagencies Secretary of War John C. Calhoun created the Office of Indian Affairs within the War Department on March 11, 1824. In 1832, a Commissioner of Indian Affairs was appointed who reported to the Secretary of War. The United States Office of Indian Affairs was transferred to the newly created Department of the Interior in 1849 and renamed the Bureau of Indian Affairs (Hill 1974). Two domains were created under the Office of Indian Affairs—superintendences and agencies. The superintendents oversaw the "relations among the Indian tribes within their jurisdiction and between these tribes and persons having business with them, and supervised the conduct and accounts of agents responsible for the affairs of one or more tribes" (Hill 1974:1). Agents reported to the superintendent or, occasionally, directly to the Office of Indian Affairs. The responsibilities of agents included the preservation or restoration of peace, allotment distribution, education, and "civilization" of the Native Americans. An ongoing mission of agents in the mid-1800s was an attempt to "induce the Indians to cede their land and move to areas less threatened by White encroachment" (Hill 1974:1—2). The President appointed superintendents and agents, subject to the recommendations and approval of the Senate. Only a certain number of agents and superintendents were allowed. An 1834 Act allowed the President to discontinue or transfer agencies, but gave no authority to create additional agencies. To circumvent this Act, subagencies were created. Essentially, subagents carried out all the responsibilities of full agents, although subagents were paid less and were often assigned to smaller or less important jurisdictions. In 1878, superintendences were abolished and agents reported directly to the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs (Hill 1974), D Turkey River Subagency In an attempt to dissuade the Winnebagos from so easily returning home to Wisconsin, the governmental administrative offices, school, and other associated facilities were moved from the Yellow River further inland from the Mississippi River in 1840. In addition, a large military outpost, named Fort Atkinson, was built. Construction of Fort Atkinson, in present-day Winneshiek County, Iowa, began in 1840, and was completed in 1842. The main duty of the military was to ensure that Winnebagos did not attempt to return to Wisconsin (Lurie 1966, 1978; Mahan 1922; Merry and Green 1989; Rogers 1993; Stanley 1992; see Stanley 1993 for National Register of Historic Places nomination form for Fort Atkinson). The fort complex would eventually include 38 buildings and a stockade. These structures included barracks, blockhouses, a magazine, guard house, Sutler store, commissary, carpenter shop, blacksmith shop, bakery, barn, grocery, and more. Yellow River Subagent David Lowry chose the site of the new Turkey River Subagency (archaeological site
Lowry remained subagent until July 5, 1844, when James R. McGregor replaced him. On June 2, 1845, Jonathan E. Fletcher became subagent and remained with the group for 11 years (Petersen 1960). NPS Form 10-900-a 0M8 Approval No. 1024-0018 18-881 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet .y A Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 5 Northeast Iowa
Rogers (1993:11-12) notes that the subagency served a variety of functions: The Subagency provided health care by hiring doctors, and it operated a model farm, demonstration mill, and school. It also distributed annuity payments and expedited pacification and acculturation processes. The annuity payments typically included goods such as Mackinac blankets, cloth, clothing, bed ticking, sewing supplies, "assorted ribbons," "clay and fancy pipes," "assorted beads," vermilion, and livestock such as beef cattle, and also could include cash payments. Annuity payments, their transport and distribution, seem to have been a chronic problem for both the Subagents and the Winnebagos (Stanley 1992:Appendix C). Merry and Green (1989:2) have noted that "above all, the agency saw to the political and economic administration of the Winnebago resettlement, including interpreting and effecting federal treaty policy to the Winnebagos, as authorized in the Rules and Regulations of the Indian Office." Three microcopy rolls of Office of Indian Affairs documents relating directly to the Turkey River Subagency are i housed at the State Historical Society of Iowa (see below, Rolls 862-863). These sources include correspondence, contracts and bonds, and property books, providing a wealth of information on the day-to-day workings of the Subagency, primarily from the government's point of view. Additional information relating to the Neutral Ground may be found in several other, not yet consulted, microcopy rolls as well:
List of Neutral Ground-era, Win neb ago-related National Archives Microfilm Rolls. Genera] name Microcopy Microcopy Roll Contents '• name No. No. ___^_ Records Relating to Territories: Iowa, 1838- M325 56 Records of the Bureau of Indian Affairs; Letters received by the Office of Territorial Papers of the United 1846 Indian Affairs, Subject Files: "Schools," 1838-1847 (pps. 0-619); "Stocks," States 1840-1847 (626-739); "Miscellaneous," 1838-1846 (740-1266); "St. Louis Emigration,"!838-1839 (1267-5279); and "Miscellaneous Emigration;' 1839(1280-1290) Letters sent by the Office of Indian Affairs, 1838-1843 Letters sent by the Office of Indian Affairs, 1843-1847 Report Books, 1836-1846 (pps. 336-642); Miscellaneous records, 1838- 1846 (336-642); Letters sent by the Winnebago Agency, 1846(642A- • : 642C); Register of Applications and Recommendations for Appointment, 1838-1846(643-697) 82 Turkey River Subagency, Settlement Nos. 49098/40-1,200/44 83 Turkey River Subagency, Settlement Nos. 1,393/44-3,885/46 84 Turkey River Subagency, Settlement Nos. 3,900/46-13,496/52 (1-522) Correspondence of the Office of Letters M234 700 Prairie du Chien Agency 1840 Indian Aflatrs (Central Office) Received, and Related Records 1824-1881 701 Prairie du Chien Agency 1841 702 Prairie du Chien Agency 1842, and Prairie du Chien Agency Emigration, 1837-1841 Turkey River Agency, 1842-1843 Turkey River Agency, 1844-1845 864 Turkey River Agency, 1846 931 Winnebago Agency, 1826-1847 -.;,:,.- 947 Winnebago Agency Emigration, 1833-1852; Winnebago Agency Reserves, 1836-1847 Office of Indian Affairs Letters Sent, M21 29 July 1-June 30, 1840 (including instructions to 1824-1881 Superintendents, Agents, etc..) NPSForm 10-900-a OMB Approval Ho. 1024-0018 (8-86) . United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet i Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 6 Northeast Iowa ;
The correspondence details the removal of the Winnebago to and from the Neutral Ground and the problems in getting them to cooperate in this removal. It includes information on a wide variety of other topics including complaints and grievances related to the Winnebago, illegal white traders and the traffic of alcohol, education of Winnebago children, and attempts to establish a Catholic mission either at or near the Subagency. Contract and bond records give accounts of annuity payments and distribution, building specifications and construction, trade goods orders, and the hiring of farm laborers, teachers, principals, blacksmiths, interpreters, and doctors. The records also provide a summary of subagency building specifications (from Rogers 1993:11-12): Building specifications for the subagency include an Agent's House, which was to be "of hewed logs 2 stories high and divided by a partition of the same materials into 2 rooms beiow and 2 above," with a central stone chimney (U.S. Department of State 1967a:301), The foundation was to be made of stone and "good lime mortar" (U.S. Department of State 1967a:30I). A "piazza" [porch or veranda] was to extend the full length of the front of the building supported by six posts. Pine shingles were to be used as roofing material. The interior walls were to be finished with lathe and a plastering of whitewash, with doors to be hung on 4 inch butts and "finished with a latch." (U.S. Department of State I967a:311).
The windows of the first story were specified as "3 lights 8 x 3 of 8 x 10 glass," with sashes of pine and finished with "a button and hooks fastened inside and "with patent spring fastenings and neatly painted green" (U.S. Department of State 1967a:311). Windows on the second floor were "4 lights x 3 of 8 x 10 glass finished in and supplied in the same manner and of the same kind of materials with those of the 1st story" (U.S. Department of State 1967a:311). Interior paint on the doors was to be "2 coats of white lead properly mixed with oil," with the two front doors "to be painted green outside" (U.S. Department of State 1967a:311). r Other buildings noted in the specifications included: a' stable "a convenient distance from the Agency House"; a meat house; a chicken house; a privy at the rear of the Agency House; two houses, two stories in height and having stone foundations, for the principal and teachers of the school; two privies "a suitable distance" from each of the houses; two blacksmith shops "in the vicinity of the Agency"; a school building "12 logs high-placed on a foundation like that of the Agency House and divided by a tog partition into 2 rooms 20 x 20 ft in the clear"; two privies in the area of the school; a refectory with a three-room floor plan and built of logs on a stone foundation; a stone bake oven built near the refectory; and a bam built in 1842 and located "near the Subagency" (U.S. Department of State 1967a: 301-310, 133-135). There may also have been a "recitation room and boarding house, steward's room and kitchen" by 1842, although it is not clear how many separate buildings these functions represent or if these even represent additional buildings to those described above (U.S. Department of State 1967a: 133). An addition was made to the "house now occupied by the boys of the Indian School" in 1842, with the school yard and the yard and garden of the Agency house enclosed at the same time (U.S. Department of State 1967a).
John Hinkle was contracted to erect "the several buildings as set forth in the specifications" and to break 100 acres of land and break and fence 300 additional acres of prairie for the Subagency. The fence was to be of oak or ash posts (U.S. Department of State 1967a:305). By 1842 only one-quarter of the 1,500 acres of the broken prairie was under cultivation. General Land Office surveyors mapped the Turkey River Subagency and surrounding agricultural fields in 1848 (Office of the Secretary of State 1981; Figure 2). The following buildings were mapped: the Agency house; a log stable; a framed house; the "smiths shops"; the spring house; the store house; two dwelling houses; the cook house; the school house; the ware house; the "men's house"; the carpenter's house; and an ox stable. Five agricultural fields were also
NPS Form lO-a00-a QMB Approval No. f024-OO18 13-86) United States Department of the Interior ('" National Park Service j , - National Register of Historic Places 1 Continuation Sheet f Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground | Section number E Page 7 Northeast Iowa
mapped. Not only were the structures and fields mapped, but also the distance in chains and horizontal angle from a ,, datum point was listed (Merry and Green 1989). I Property types: Administration of the Neutral Ground: Turkey River Subagency, 1840-1848 Property types related to the Administration of the Turkey River Subagency context include roads and trails leading to ) the Subagency, the cultivated fields and surrounding fencerows, and the structures described above. Although only three ' outhouses are mentioned, additional 1840s privies may have been located within the Subagency complex. No Subagency structures are known to be extant, although one possible Subagency structure may have been rebuilt \ from original materials at the St. Anthony of Padua Chapel (Alan Becker, personal communication 2001). Therefore, 'l physical evidence of the Subagency takes the form of archaeological deposits. Previous geomorphological investigations revealed a low potential for intact cultivated field remnants lying below post-settlement alluvium in the Turkey River p Valley near the Subagency (Peterson 1995). The General Land Office surveyor's map of 1848 depicts four roads or trails f converging upon the Subagency. Some remnants of these roads may be present in timbered areas along the Turkey River and modern roads may have been placed upon 1840s roadbeds. Archaeological investigations have revealed that a f portion of the Winnebago schoolhouse, including a chimney remnant and limestone foundation, is present beneath the i plowzone. The Subagency was designated archaeological site (Peterson 1995; Rogers 1993; Figure 3). Remnants of all structures, except the Agency house and the springhouse, may remain at the site. A modern, ranch- | style home has been placed atop the likely location of the Agency house. A modern, concrete structure presently i surrounds the still-running spring. Expected archaeological evidence of other structures at the Subagency would likely take the form of limestone I foundation alignments and/or piers and chimney remnants. At less substantial buildings such as the chicken house, post I construction may have been utilized, or logs may have been laid directly atop the ground surface, with no foundations laid. Post molds may be in evidence along fencerows, although the exact locations offence lines are not presently known. { A concentration of intensely heat-affected limestone may signify the presence of the "stone bake oven." The j blacksmith's shops may be identified by a high concentration of iron at ground surface. NPSFom 10.900-a QMS Approval No. I0244OI8 (3-861 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 8 Northeast Iowa
Administration of the Neutral Ground, Winnebago Village Life: 1840-1848 The First reported white contact with Winnebago peoples occurred around 1623, when French fur traders used the nearby Hurons and Ottawas to extend the French trade westward (Sagard-Theodat 1939). Jean Nicollet visited what is now Wisconsin in 1634, reportedly welcomed by 4,000 to 5,000 Winnebagos (Lawson 1907). This claim is not substantiated in Nicollet's writings (Blair 1911). In 1665, the first substantial contact was made: Nicolas Perrot was sent as an interpreter for the French government and fur trade. At that time, the male Winnebago population was estimated at 1,500. An epidemic had heavily impacted the population several years earlier (Blair 1911). This epidemic may have been linked to contact with Nicollet's party. Probably due to heavy population loss in the late seventeenth century, the Winnebago began to intermarry with surrounding tribes, especially the Ojibwa, Potawatomi, Menominee, and Sauk (Lurie 1978:692); thus, the Siouan- speaking Winnebago adopted many cultural traits from their Algonquian neighbors. As contact with fur traders increased, the Iifeways of the Winnebago changed. Settlement began to disperse away from Green Bay and Lake Winnebago, expanding south and westward, with as many as 40 different villages scattered across central and southern Wisconsin. However, the concept of a "head chief," crossing several village borders, was maintained (Lurie 1960; Radin 1923). a Horticulture At the time of European contact, the Winnebagos were sedentary horticulturists, occupying most of present-day east- central Wisconsin, with a heavy concentration around Lake Winnebago. Winriebago villages were located along I waterways and had adjacent cemeteries and agricultural fields. Fields extended a mile or more back from the villages and rock piles were often found nearby, the result of field preparation (Peske 1971:67).
Large gardens were planted and tended in the summer and a good part of the dried harvest of corn, beans, squash, and wild foods was stored in pits or fiber bags for winter use...Organized hunts associated with the large Lake Winnebago villages may even have occurred when the tribe was located at Green Bay [Lurie 1978:692].
Berries, wild rice, onions, nuts, and cattail roots were also important elements in the Winnebago diet (Smith and Feldkamp-Price 1994).
Accounts from the Neutral Ground-era show a similar subsistence pattern, with the addition of watermelon, pumpkin, oats, peas, potatoes, turnips, and buckwheat, to the traditional garden crops. Tobacco was grown in small amounts in the historic period. Stands of wild rice were also tended (Hexom 1913; Petersen 1960a). By 1846, Subagent Fletcher reported that of the [2,400] Winnebagoes, two bands consisting of about 300 in number follow the chase for a subsistence. The balance are, more or less, engaged in agricultural pursuits... they all, however, depend partly on hunting and fishing for a living (Reque 1930+; letter dated 15 August 1846 from Fletcher to James Clark, Superintendent of Indian Affairs).
In the Fort Atkinson vicinity, com was "cached" in 3-4 square feet, 3 foot-deep holes. Dried fruit, nuts, and other longer-lasting items may also have been stored in these pits. A. Jacobsen recalls these features in 1905, saying the Winnebagos "had evidently intended to return at some future time as they had made large cellar-like holes in the ground in which l MPS Form 10-900-* OMB Approval No. 1024-0013 (MM United States Department of the Interior National Park Service i ! National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 9 Northeast Iowa
were deposited all kinds of goods covered with the bark of trees. Such things as com, feathers, axes, and kettles were in good preservation when exhumed by the new settlers" (in Hexom 1913:n.p). a Housing Sometime in the 1700s, the rectangular-shaped dwellings of the Winnebagos evolved into the domed wigwams that continued in use until the early 1900s (Lurie 1978). Separate winter and summer lodges were built:
The winter lodges were built in areas that were protected from the severe winter weather and were near trees for fuel, canoe making, and sugaring. The summer lodges were in places that had fine, loose soil for farming and were close to lakes or rivers for fishing and clamming...Both men and women helped in the building of the winter lodge. The men cut poles for the framework for the wigwams and collected birchbark for the roofs. The women tied together reed mats and, with rolls of bark, covered the hut. Extra mats were woven and were used as a ground cover for sleeping (Smith and Feldkamp- r Price 1994:6). The large villages were occupied during the late summer and early spring. During other seasons, people dispersed for large and small scale communal hunts, regrouping at the large villages after maple sugaring activities in the spring (Richards 1993:275). Subagent Jonathan Emerson Fletcher provided a description of Winnebago buildings erected near the Turkey River Subagency:
These lodges are built by setting posts or poles in the ground, and covering them with bark. The shape of the lodges is similar to that of a log cabin, and differing in size according to the number of persons in the family or families who occupy them. Said lodges are from twelve to forty feet in length, and from ten to twenty feet in width, and about fifteen feet in height from the ground to the top of the roof. These lodges are built near the field or fields they cultivated, and are occupied several summers. A lodge forty feet in length, and sixteen in width, will accommodate three families of ten persons each. There are no windows in these bark lodges. They generally have two doors, and a space through the center; with benches or berths on each side for sleeping. The fires, one for each family, are made along the space through the center of the lodge. The smoke escapes through apertures in the roof. These lodges were formerly built by the women; lately, however, the men assist in building them....The Winnebagos use skins, mats made of flags, or bark, for enclosing their winter lodges [Schoolcraft 1854:56-57], :l :,., .
In another account, Fletcher describes the winter homes as having a round or elliptical shape, while conical lodges were in used chiefly during the summer (Hexom 1913). A member of the religious Society of Friends, who visited the Turkey River Subagency in 1843, provides another eyewitness account:
These Indians live in rude lodges, or wigwams, as they are sometimes called, built in the usual Indian style, by forcing forked sticks in to the ground for posts and ribs, preparatory to covering them with oak bark. The sides are either made of bark, mats made of flags, or skins fastened to the plates, and extending to the ground. These wigwams are from ten to twenty-five feet in length, and from ten feet wide. The inside of the building is fitted up with a sort of frame-work on each side, made of poles about two feet high, and three feet wide, intended as a son of bedstead, on which they fasted skins or mats, where they lounge and sleep, leaving a space through the centre four feet wide. At each end there is an aperture or door. The firei s built in the center, the smoke escaping through a hole in the top. NPSFOtm 10-900-a QMS Approval No. 1Q24-0Q18 18.861 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 10 Northeast Iowa
There are not unfrequentiy as many as three or four families, amounting to twenty persons or more, occupying one of these miserable hovels. When about their homes, they live principally upon soups, made of wild fowl and venison, turnips and potatoes. They also eat an abundance of boiled corn. Some corn-bread, and a very little wheat flour are used by them {theFriend 1843).
An early settler further states that canvas, if available, was sometimes used to cover the roofs of lodges (H. J. Goddard in Hexom 1913). Census information suggests the average village of the Neutral Ground period contained 168 inhabitants (Hancock 1842). However, much is not understood about village layout. Areas ripe for future investigation include population density across the Neutral Ground, loci of settlement, factors that determined village placement, and general village layout. Within each community, spatial relationships amongst activity areas, structures, outlying gardens, and burial grounds are not known. a Accommodation and Resistance Direct contact between peoples of European and Winnebago descent had been ongoing for 200 years by the time the Winnebagos arrived in the Neutral Ground, with indirect contact through inter-tribal trade of European goods predating archivally verified contact. Contact resulted in varying degrees and types of cultural exchange, first in the form of change in Winnebago material culture, then through changes in warfare, social organization, daily activities, and dietary habits, to name a few. French contact with native groups was designed to maximize European fur trade profits. Traders provided guns and traps, and cheap baubles such as beads, in exchange for profitable furs. British trade in the late 18 century followed a similar pattern. Later, U.S. governmental efforts attempted to force submission of individual tribes to U.S. political, economic, and military policy that involved acquisition of Indian lands through any means. Manufactured and imported trade goods were easily acquired through the credit system and governmental interference was heightening by the 1820s in the Mississippi Valley. Once Winnebago land cessions began and tribal members were forced to live at locations chosen by the government, illnesses and goods were not the only influence upon their daily lives. The U.S. government made efforts to replace traditional Winnebago spiritual beliefs with Christianity. David Lowry, the Yellow River and later, Turkey River, Subagent, was also a Presbyterian minister. The government plowed up immense tracts of land, on which the Winnebago men were supposed to use white agricultural methods, thus disrupting centuries-old traditional agricultural practices. The government burned canoes to prevent return to Wisconsin. Large numbers of traders were allowed to gather in the Neutral Ground, particularly at the time of annuity payments. Sometimes, annuity monies would be spent for an entire family within one day. An unregulated credit system ensured that the tribe would be so indebted to traders, that the recompense must be land cessions. The government failed to recognize the authority of many lineal chiefs, and appointed men who could be manipulated by the government as "head chiefs" (U.S. Department of State 1967b:400-403; Bieder 1995:139-141). Despite these attempts to force pacification and cultural change on the Winnebagos during the 1830s and 1840s, the failure of these efforts was substantial. Very few tribal members appear to have converted to Christianity during the Neutral Ground period. Chief Whirling Thunder reportedly banished a Winnebago woman who wanted to be the First of her band married in a Christian ceremony in the mid-1840s (Burnett 1994:49). Attempts to bring men in from the hunt to practice white agricultural methods were not successful during this period either. Traditional seasonal hunts occurred and women harvested traditional crops. During September 1845, the subagent estimated that half of the Winnebagos had returned to Wisconsin or were living along the Mississippi (Mahan 1926; Petersen 1960), suggesting the canoe-burning did little good. The concept of chiefs based on lineage or moiety was maintained. !
NPSFormlO-900-a 0MB Approval Ho. 1024-0018 fS-SS) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 11 Northeast Iowa
In the most simplistic of terms, the Winnebagos borrowed or incorporated European lifeways, beliefs, and objects that / were compatible with traditional ideology (see general discussion on acculturation in Castile 1981 and Spicer 1962). This borrowing may have altered the historical methods appropriate to certain tasks or social structures (e.g. replacement of the bow with the gun; changes in marital practices). However, the underlying culture that bound the Winnebagos together remained intact, despite the government's best efforts at subjugation. Peoples who maintain a group cultural identity despite outside domination have "common understandings concerning the meaning of a set of symbols" (Spicer 1980:347). A common identity and shared sense of history bind members of a group together, and results in cultural ( mechanisms that maintain boundaries between, in this case, the Winnebagos and interfering whites. Much in the same way as population devastation in the mid 1600s resulted in intermarriage with other tribes and reorganization of socioeconomic patterns to aid in Winnebago survival (Lurie 1978:692), so too did the tribe adapt to later circumstances r - brought about by Europeans. European introductions that could not be reconciled with traditional beliefs {such as male- dominated farming) were rejected. Only a small percentage of Winnebago children attended the school at the Subagency (roughly 10 percent of all the children; compiled from Hancock 1842 and Petersen 1960), further evidence of resistance r to governmental domination efforts. f Although such a task has not yet been attempted, future research may be able to track domination and resistance "markers" or strategies through material culture. Not only can individual artifacts be analyzed as relating to acculturation, but also the sites as a whole and the features within a site must be considered as possible sources of information regarding resistance strategies. Village layout, individual features, and the material assemblage should be compared to earlier and later Winnebago settlements, as well as to contemporaneous Euro-American and other Indian settlements, in an attempt to discern archaeologically decipherable symbols of identity and markers of cultural change J and continuity. For instance, in the case of the Biackfeet, changes in tipi and buffalo corral size, growth of polygamy, and subsistence changes have been correlated to the introduction of the fur trade (Lewis 1966). Some resistance strategies, ! such as Winnebago refusal to partake in new treaty negotiations designed to oust them from the Neutral Ground in 1843, | 1844, and 1845 (Diedrich 1991; Mahan 1926), may become apparent through further research into period governmental correspondence. j" Although no Winnebago villages have yet been excavated in Iowa, surface collections from probable Winnebago j habitation sites Figures 3-5) have exposed noteworthy material assemblages. At site an iron projectile point was recovered. This site dates from the 1840s, long after guns j were readily available to the Winnebagos. Obvious trade items found at the site included a blue glass seed bead, a cylindrical shell bead, and a gunflint. Other artifacts include ball clay pipe fragments, white earthenware, hand wrought and machine cut nails, and bottle glass. At site typical trade items, such as gun parts, beads, and brass ornaments, were missing from the small assemblage. A hand-pecked sandstone marble was recovered, along with ball clay pipe fragments, white earthenware, redware, stoneware, and bottle fragments. Sites similarly yielded ball clay pipe fragments, glass, and imported ceramics. Very small amounts of faunal material have also been found at all of the potential Winnebago habitation sites. Trade lists provide data regarding items exchanged with the Winnebagos. These lists may be coupled with future archaeological data to better understand changes occurring during the Neutral Ground period. Many such lists exist (see Peterson and Becker 2001 for examples), one of which is provided below. Subagent David Lowry confiscated the goods of Samuel Parker, an agent of a large trading firm operating in the Neutral Ground. Parker sent his employees to trade with the Winnebagos on the Red Cedar River. His men were arrested for "trading beyond the limits of their license (Trennert 1981:116-117). Lowry provided a list of confiscated items: NPSForm10-900-» QM3 Approval No. 1O2-4-0O13 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number Page 12 Northeast Iowa
Trade Goods Seized from Parker in the Neutral Ground, 1843.
Quantity Description 3 Buffalo robes 1 Elk skin 6 Beaver skins 6 Deer skins 4 Coon skins 2 Wolfskins 1 Cub skin 6 . Blankets lib 15 oz Yam 6 Paper looking glasses - io" Pair of socks 12 Metal frame looking glasses 40 Large hawk bells 30 Small hawk bells 18 Pieces ribbon 3 pounds Vermillion 12 Combs, coarse I Bunches of ear bobs, 1S in a bunch 1n0 Fine Combs 10 3 point white blankets 3 3 point red blankets 4 3 point blue blankets 7 1 1/2 point white blankets 9 2 1/2 point white blankets 3 dozen Butcher knives 1 Piece of scarlet cloth 1 Piece of blue gray cloth 1 Piece of blue white cloth 2 Horse wagon harnesses
Because non-Indians wrote most of the 1840s documents regarding Winnebago lifeways, archaeological j manifestations of village life become very important in understanding general village lifeways and specific resistance strategies. Oral histories and translations of Winnebago oratory are the only other sources representing the 1840s . Winnebago viewpoint. Q Population Reports documenting Winnebago population during their Neutral Ground history vary in total population count and in the chief or village tally. One source which utilized governmental correspondence lists 22 bands containing 2,400 Winnebagos in the Neutral Ground, with an additional 75 "half-breeds" concentrated mainly in the area of the subagency ID 1846 (Van der Zee 1915:339). The Winnebago Census of 1842, prepared by J. W. Hancock, school superintendent of the school at Turkey River, lists 2,183 Winnebagos in 13 villages:
• • •;•• . NPSForm 10.900-3 OM3 ApBiaval Ho. T024-0018 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 13 Northeast Iowa
Census Enumeration of Winnebagos for 1S42, listed by Village Chief (Hancock 1842). Chiefs Men Women Children Total Location Bent Nose 25 25 20 70 Vicinity of Sub Agency Big Nose 47 61 61 169 Vicinity of Sub Agency Whirling Thunder 50 64 63 177 Vicinity of Sub Agency Little Hill 68 114 158 340 School Winoshink 74 105 150 329 Rock River Little Soldier 43 50 40 133 Rock River Yellow Thunder 51 52 40 143 Rock River Big Thunder 50 36 34 120 Rock River Nak-hawn 55 66 82 203 Upper Iowa Big Canoe 40 38' 50 148 Noat (possibly Root) River Kisch-?? 43 44 54 141 Upper Iowa Little Thunder 40 50 40 130 Upper Iowa Little Decorie 28 30 22 80 Upper Iowa 614 755 814 2183
This census suggests that an average village of that period contained 168 inhabitants. Further research, particularly into 1840s-period governmental correspondence available in the National Archives microfilm, is needed to better approximate village locations, band divisions, and population It is unlikely that the above mentioned villages/camps represent locations of the various bands during the entire Neutral Ground occupation. Rather, the villages would probably be relocated seasonally. The summer and/or winter villages may have been placed as the same locations for several consecutive years. In other words, there may be several different, and correct, locations of the villages of any one band over time. In the case of several Winnebago families or clans, there are numerous individuals of similar name, most notable being "Decorah" and "Winneshiek." Often, governmental or other period authors did not specify which individual they were referring to. Chief Winneshiek (Wa-don-ja-goo-gah; Coming Thunder) signed at least the 1828 and 1855 treaties, and is referred to as the "head" chief in some secondary source documents (e.g. Hexom 1913). Winneshiek had several children, the most well known being Younger Winneshiek (No-gin-kah; Striking Tree) and John Winneshiek (Ko-sho-gi- way-ka). In addition, Winneshiek's brother, Young Winneshiek (Ah-hoo-sheeb-gah; Short Wing) was a well-known orator (see Stanley 1992:48-51 for discussion of Neutral Ground-era Winnebago genealogy). Similar to the situation with Winneshiek, there were many members of the Decorah family living in Iowa and Wisconsin. When governmental correspondence only refers to "Decorah," it is difficult to know whether period authors are referring to Spoon Decorah, Little Decorah, Big Boat Decorah (possibly the same person as Big Canoe or One-Eyed Decorah; see Stanley 1992:47-49), or Waukon Decorah. • Predicted Winnebago Village Locations Peterson and Becker (2001) identified 11 possible village or camp locations which may related to the "Administration of the Neutral Ground, Winnebago Village Life: 1840-1848" context. Specific archaeological or archival information exists that may enable identification of a Winnebago village component. Several additional sites, not given letter designations in the following list, are likely villages for which archival data is presently too sketchy to assign a discrete location. #•. •
1 This number appears to be incorrect, as the actual number of women listed in this census is 735, not 755. The actual number of persons enumerated in the Village of Big Canoe is 128, not 148, bringing the total enumerated population to 2,163. NPSForm 10-900-3 QM8 Approval Nc, J024-OOI3 IB-B6) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service i National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 14 Northeast Iowa
( (Al) Winneshiek's Village: Based on the present data, three locations of Winneshiek's village are proposed. One is based upon Iowa Site File data, which may have been determined from the research of Ellison Orr. The other two possible locations are based solely on information provided by Orr.
Orr (1935:100) also described a second possible location of the village:
A predicted site location was not ascribed to the above-referenced village, for several reasons. It is unclear if Orr truly is . His hand-drawn map of shows Chief Winneshiek's Village Further oral historical, documentary, and archaeological research is needed.
An 1844 map may show Winneshiek's village at another location (Kearny 1844 discussed in Stanley 1992:49). The original map was not viewed for the present investigation, but Stanley notes that a village is shown at a location
(A2-3) Decorah's Village: The predicted location of this village is based upon a primary source document that details the location of the village of one of the Decorah family. The document suggests a single location, but there are two landforms that fit the description, hence two possible site locations. Both predicted locations are in
A subagency doctor wrote: NPSFOrm 10-900-a OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 (a-sst United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 15 Northeast Iowa
Other sources state that a 50-acre field was plowed for the Winnebagos in 1843 or 1844 at the
Information that seems to be describing a different location is found in governmental correspondence. One-Eyed Decorah and Black Hawk (not the Sauk chief Black Hawk) had a village
(A4) Whirling Thunder's Village: At least two locations are proposed for this village. One (A4) was located,
A GLO map shows an "Indian Field" is shown in the
Because no "Old Indian Village" was mapped near the predicted location (A4) of Whirling Thunder's Village was placed at the GLO-mapped location of the field, for the purposes of this model. However, future archaeological investigations should also concentrate on areas peripheral to the field, areas reported as "wet" or formerly wet by landowners (former spring locations), or other locations where landowners may have noticed artifacts or other local oddities. The second, separate, site location in the vicinity of the city of Monona is considered too vague to be included at this time. David Olmsted arrived in Clayton County in 1840. He wrote, NPS Form 10-SOO-3 OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 16 Northeast Iowa
Of further interest is the predicted location of two unlicensed trading posts: Sodom and Gomorrah (D2-3). These posts would have been located near Luana, and therefore very close to Whirling Thunder's village. The GLO map depicts two cabins, "Moore's" and "Scott's," within Monona. It is possible that one of these cabins was Olmsted's, as it is known that he sold his claim to participate in trade with the Winnebagos (Olmsted n.d.; Trennert 1981). Several trail crossroads are shown just west of Luana. Further research is necessary to pinpoint both the early Olmsted claim and Whirling Thunder's other village.
(AS) Chief Little Hill's Camp: Oslund (1940) states this camp was located in the Winneshiek County (A5), in agreement with the 1842 census which lists Little Hill's band of 340 living in the vicinity of the "School," Hancock 1842).
Two sites are recorded in this vicinity, both with Neutral Ground-era components, and both possibilities for Chief Little Hill's Camp. Neither site was definitively associated with Chief Little Hill, as some areas within the remain to be archaeologically surveyed (see Rogers 1993 for surveyed areas). King (1844) cites a different location for Little Hill's village: ' The "School" or Subagency is a from Fort Atkinson, and King's estimation may simply be incorrect. This Iocational information is too vague to incorporate into the present document.
(A6) Red Cedar River Village: There was a Winnebago village along the Red Cedar River by spring, 1847, as "an attack by the Sioux in the spring of 1847 interrupted farming operations along the Red Cedar River that season" (Mahan 1926:232). This is likely the same village depicted on the GLO surveyor's plat map in the
(A7-8) Womanokaker's Village: J. Ries recorded site Bremer County, in 1962, based on archival information. The Iowa Site File form contains a quote from a county history book. The site File quote is not complete and is corrected here: NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval NO. 1024-OO1B 18-30} United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 17 Northeast Iowa
Ries also recorded site The site form again contains a quote from the same publication, noting that "quite a number of Indians infested what was known as the Big Woods for a time, but were not in any way hostile." The GLO surveyor mapped a plowed field, labeled "Dow's,"
r (A9) Site Site may be the location of a Winnebago village in the Allamakee County (A9). Art Hoppin of Bear Creek Archeology, utilizing archival information, recorded this site in 1998. No field verification has been conducted, but the site form notes that, if this location is correct, it is "probable that flood deposits have covered the site, so there may be no evidence of it on the surface." The GLO surveyor mapped "Chilson's" cabin as Chilson is not a known trader, but the name appears in Orr's reference to Winneshiek's Village (see discussion under Al). Site very tentatively identified as Winneshiek's village (Al), is located
Orr's (1935) transcription of the GLO map of that township shows "teepee" shapes, his typical notation for an Indian village, as the approximate location of site However, this village is not shown on the final field plat map of this township, nor is it noted in the surveyor's notes available at the State Historical Society in Iowa City. Orr may well have consulted a different version of the GLO map than was reviewed for the present document. Anderson (1996) has shown that each microcopy version, and the WPA transcription of the GLO information, varies slightly from the other versions.
(A10) Site Site is the location of a historic Indian village depicted on the GLO maps in the Howard County (Collins 1990). Jim Collins recorded this site in 1990 based on archival information. The 1853 GLO field notes stated "an old Indian Village or encampment" is within the above- referenced quarter-quarter section. Field verification is needed. Given the location of this site and that remnants were visible as late as 1853, Winnebago site affiliation is possible. However, the village is of the northern boundary of the Neutral Ground, making Dakota Sioux affiliation equally likely.
Yellow Thunder's Village: Stanley et al. (1995:43) note that Yellow Thunder's (Wah-con-zaj-gah's) village is shown on the Kearny (1845) map on the Upper Iowa River, in the general vicinity of the present-day village of Bluffton. Bluffton is located in Winneshiek County. The consulted GLO maps do not depict a village in that township. The original of the Kearny map was not reviewed for the present document. The 1842 Winnebago census lists Yellow Thunder's village on the Rock River (Hancock 1842). This locational information is too vague to incorporate into the present document. NPSForm 10-900-a OMB Approval No. W24-QQ18 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 18 Northeast Iowa
(All) Camp/Village 1: In Orr's reading of the GLO surveyor's field notes, he found in
Camp/Village 2: A local informant interviewed by Rogers and Vogel (1989:56, 157-158) stated there was a village site located He recalled Winnebagos living in the area until after the turn of the century, but there is the possibility that Winnebagos also lived in that vicinity during the Neutral Ground period. This site is located within This locational information is too vague to incorporate into the present document.
Camp/Village 3: Winnebagos reportedly cultivated approximately three to four acres of land close to site and had a camp nearby, possibly as late at 1849 (Goddard 1921). This locational information is too vague to incorporate into the present document.
Village 4: This village is likely located in northern Black Hawk County, although southern Bremer County is another possible location. Reference to this village was found during research into site the burial location of two individuals who were likely Winnebagos (OSA Burial Project 1178). The only research presently conducted with regard to this village is that which was located within the burial file. Specifically, two secondary source documents apparently reference the site burials, but also mention one or two winter villages in the same vicinity. Both documents (Finchford Community Bible Church Ladies Aid 1954; Messerly and Messerly 1969) state that James Newell came to the "Turkey Foot" area in 1845. This is the location The Newell Cemetery is a small rural cemetery located in the Presumably, the Newell residence is located nearby and a search of county records could likely confirm the location of this very early and well-known settler. In any case, a Winnebago winter village was reported in the vicinity of the Newell house. In December 1846, Winneshiek, Big Wave, and 250 other Winnebagos reportedly camped
Village 5: Frank Kapler described two village locations, one of which may be site
2 The same information is found in Messerly and Messerly 1969 and probably was taken from the 1878 History of Black Hawk County (not consulted for the present document). NPS Form 10-200-a OMB Apptovi) No. 1024-0018 (8-BSI
United States Department of the Interior National Park Service i National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 19 Northeast Iowa
Assorted village locations] information, non-specific: Other very vague references exist for several village locations. While site-specific information cannot come from these sources alone, future researchers may couple these data with other information to pinpoint site locations. The locations of various Winnebago villages are cited in King (1844), "Big ) Wave: Also, the census enumeration of 1842 villages provides further vague references for the locations of specific chief's villages, including Root River, Upper Ioway River, Vicinity of Sub Agency, and School. Three Winnebago villages, including those of Yellow Thunder and Little Decorah, both on the Upper Iowa, and an unnamed village on the Root River in Minnesota, are depicted on a map drawn by Kearny (1845), and discussed in j Stanley (1992:45, 79). This map was not examined for the present investigation, but may yield valuable information. Little Decori had a village on the (Upper) Iowa River, and that there was another village two miles above that of Little Decori in October, 1845. This second village was on the north bank of the same river (United States Department of State I 1967b: 1058) and may have been occupied by Elk and Young Coramano. Twelve Winnebagos were present at the village, along with one mat-covered wigwam and four or five "hay" wigwams. The village of Wakon and Old Coramano was two-and-one-half to three miles above the village of Elk, and also on the same side of the river. No one was present at the village, but three hay wigwams were standing, and provisions had been buried there. Lurie (1978:693, 699) refers to Kar- t-mo-nee as Old Naw-Kaw's successor. Naw-Kaw was the head chief of the Winnebagos until his death in 1833. Perhaps one of the Coramano's referred to above was actually a hereditary chief in the eyes of the Winnebagos, and not recognized as such by the government in the 1840s. Treaty signers of 1837 include "Keesh-kee-pa-kah, Kar-i-mo-nee his x mark." The general location of a winter village or general winter hunting site is suggested by the note that: the farm hands [at the Subagency]..had put thirty tons [of hay] on the Coden [possibly Cedar] River at a place [of the Subagency], intended for the Indians during their winter hunt (Van der Zee 1915:338). "' ' "' :. - A Winnebago encampment apparently was located very near a Catholic mission in the 1840s. Huber (1924) writes that a French priest had a mission church "among the Winnebagos." Goddard (1923a) states that a mission and trading post were located in the vicinity of site and that an associated church and graveyard were located on the Site is located on Father Remegius Petiot of Dubuque reportedly visited the Winnebagos or had a mission in their midst in 1842. Kucera (n.d.) states that Father Joseph Cretin "took charge of the mission the next year, 1843," building a log chapel "about a mile East of our present St. John's cemetery and called it Our Lady of the Wilderness. Near this chapel was an Indian cemetery in The chapel was destroyed in an 1853 prairie fire. Cretin also built a Winnebago school of Fort Atkinson, in use from 1845 to 1848 (Bailey 1913; Kucera n.d.). The Rev. Loras C. Otting, Director of Archives and Historical Records of the Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque, reports that this archive is the correct repository for related material (Otting 2001). However, information related to the Winnebago occupation of Iowa, Catholic missions in the area, and Fathers Petiot and Cretin's relationship with the Winnebagos is spotty at best. Related archival NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval No. 1024-OO1B (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 20 Northeast Iowa material available in Dubuque includes Baptisms among the Winnebagos by Rev. R. Petiot in an early baptism book which begins in 1839. Rev. Otting also notes the existence of the Annual Report from St. Mary of the Indian Mission, , written in Latin by Rev. Joseph Cretin. This document dates to 1849 and is presumably related to Winnebago activities in j Minnesota. The archive also has many original documents, written in French, of Cretin and Petiot, although none deal directly with the Winnebago mission. The Archdiocese archives also hold a Monstrance. This vessel designed to hold the ,• .' Blessed Sacrament was used in the Indian Mission on Turkey River. J Property types: Administration of the Neutral Ground: Winnebago Village Life, 1840-1848 • i • Property types related to this context include roads and trails between the villages, agricultural fields plowed by the J government for Winnebago use, and the villages themselves. Expected features within the villages are aligned post molds, representing lodges and outdoor shelters or activity areas (such as shaded deer processing locations with post f supports); dwelling floors; food storage pits; refuse pits; food processing pits; hearths or fire pits; unsheltered outdoor [~? activity areas; and storage pits for non-food items, to name a few. Amorphous sheet middens may or may not be present. v- Because no Winnebago sites have been subjected to excavation in Iowa, village layout and feature type are difficult to predict. Quantity of features and the distribution thereof is similarly not understood. I Spector (1974; 1975) conducted small-scale excavations at the Crabapple Point site in Wisconsin, a 1760-ca. 1820 (at * =. latest) Winnebago habitation site. Botanical remains suggest this site was occupied in the summer months. Identified features included a refuse pit/dump area (1.1 m diameter x .5 m deep, irregular circular shape with sloping to straight- j sided walls), two lead smelting pits, four smudge pits (containing vast quantities of charred corn cobs), and 46 post ' •• molds. The oval, shallow-basin smelting pits measured 0.7-x-0.6-x0.l5 m and 0.8-X-0.5-.0.1 m in size. The proximity of Crabapple Point to naturally occurring lead, which the Winnebagos exploited, explains the presence of the lead smelting pits. No accounts of Winnebago lead processing during the 1840s in the Neutral Ground have yet been located. The diameter of the post molds at Crabapple Point ranged from 0.12 to 0.3 m in diameter, with 75 percent of these features between 0.15 and 0.27 m in depth. The smudge pits were circular, irregularly circular, or oval, with depths ranging j between 0.12 and 0.26 m. The largest pit measured 0.3-X-3.0 m, while the smallest was 0.3-X-0.2 m. Spector expects '• summer lodges of the early 1800s to be oblong, bark covered structures, averaging 10.6-X-5.0 m in size. These dwellings housed multiple or extended families and contained multiple fire pits central to the structure. I I
NPSForm 10-900-a QM8 approval Na. I024-0O13 | " (S-H6) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service r National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground ., Section number E Page 21 Northeast Iowa
Administration of the Neutral Ground, Trading: 1840-1848 A basic understanding of the development of the fur trade is necessary to fully understand the Neutral Ground historic trading context. Fur traders along the Great Lakes, and later, the Mississippi Valley and tributaries, were the primary transmitters of European goods and non-native foodstuffs to the Winnebagos from the late 1600s until the 1820s. By the end of this period, treaty provisions called not only for monetary payments during annuity disbursement, but also the I distribution of blankets, animals, and foodstuffs as part of the annuity. Even so, traders found business profitable among the Winnebagos, as evidenced by continual applications for trading licenses granted by the subagent. How could native groups who had previously killed only those animals they needed, groups with intense reverence for r_ wildlife and the spirits embodied within, kill so many animals with the coming of the fur trade? Although the economic advantages of increased animal harvests, in the form of greater accessibility to manufactured goods, certainly played a role in the change from hunting for sustenance to hunting for imported food, goods, and alcohol, this change could not i < have occurred unless something within native belief systems allowed for the increased slaughter. Kay (1985) points out that native ideology did not have to change to incorporate the practice of wildlife depletion; the basic beliefs already existed. As a whole, Native Americans believed in taking from nature only enough to supply basic I needs. As items of European manufacture replaced native-made goods, such as blankets and clothing, these imported items became necessities. However, "the number of animals required to make Native items were usually much less than the number of pelts needed as exchange units in order to purchase equivalent European substitutes" (Kay 1985:123). Therefore, after the fur trade gained momentum, overhunting could, in effect, be practiced to supply basic needs, without altering basic ideology. In fact, some historians have attributed poor returns and financial losses of traders directly to overhunting by Native groups. According to Kay, overhunting by the small population of native groups could not possibly have approximated the impact of white settlers. Unlike the western mineral mining frontier, native groups on the fur trade frontier were generally viewed as valuable assets, at least in the minds of early traders. Without the Winnebagos, Sauk, Meskwaki, and other groups in Iowa, the fur trader could not have been successful. In addition, traders often relied on natives for survival, obtaining needed winter stores of meat from the Indians. A widely held view of fur trading conjures images of Indians bringing furs to traders. In exchange, the traders supplied whiskey and baubles such as beads, tinklers, and smoking pipes. In reality, the fur trade relationship was much more complex and revolved around more than furs. Fur traders also made profits by allowing Indians to become highly indebted, and then having these debts paid via deduction from annuity payments. Beginning in 1825, the federal government allowed the direct payment of Indian debts to traders from annuity payments. Along with traders, the government saw this direct payment as good practice. The government hoped to receive land cessions from nearly every tribe. Often, traders had a great deal of policy influence over tribes, even more than the Indian agent. Appease the trader, and the trader would convince the Natives to sign away more land. The practice of debt payment to traders became incorporated into most treaty negotiations by 1831. By the late 1830s, $200,000 annually was recovered by traders via direct annuity payments. By 1842, this amount had risen to over $2,000,000 (Clayton 1966:214-216). During the 1840s, it appears that the traders' primary source of income was from annuity monies, not furs.
•
• "• • :•< • •'.•'.:
: . .:• ., . NPSForm 10-900-3 OMB Appwl No. 1024-0018 (8-89) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number Page 22 Northeast Iowa 1 The influence of traders over their Indian neighbors was often considerable. During treaty negotiations, traders might act as interpreters, although this act was frowned upon by the government. Iowa Territory governor Robert Lucas (1840:32-14, 33-33) stated:
In my last years report I stated that the benevolent designs of government towards the Indians could never be consummated until die power and influence of the traders were counteracted. That they exercised a power and control over the Chiefs-that their interests were opposed to the policy of government, and that frequently their influence were exerted to embarrass the officers of government in the discharge of their official duties-that the laws were not only evaded but violated by persons in their employ. This Company [the American Fur Company] has for many years controlled this tribe [Sac and Fox] without a rival. I have heard some of the members of that Company boastingly declare that they had broken down all persons who had hitherto demand to oppose their interests, and that they could and would continue to do so. A part of this tribe, has lately become sensible of the blighting policy of this company, and are now struggling to burst the fetters by which they have been bound, by declaring their independence of the Company-and their determination no longer to permit them either to control their actions as a people or to grasp their annuities as a pretended right Q Harvested Animals Prior to 1865, the majority of furs were exported, mainly to Great Britain. From 1822 until 1890, Great Britain received 74 percent of all U. S. fur exports. To a lesser extent, furs were also exported to Russia and France. American fur traders divided their pelts into four categories: .. .furs, skins, robes, and hides. Under "furs'' were grouped all of the fur-bearing rodents (including the fiber-producing beaver), felines, canines, weasels, and marsupials. "Skins" almost always meant those of deer, bear, or raccoon. A "robe" included buffalo cow or a young bull dressed with die fur on, and a "hide" was the full pelt of a summer-killed buffalo cow, dressed without the hair, or of a short-haired bull. When the term "fur" alone is used, it is meant to include skins also. (Clayton 1966: 210-211) Beaver, the dominant animal of the fur trade until the mid to late 1830s, was not utilized for its pelt, but rather as a source of fine felt. Clothing producers would pound, stiffen, and roll the downy gray beaver felt into hats. In the case of raccoon, Indian-processed pelts were more highly valued by exporters; these pelts were carefully cured and softened by chewing (Clayton 1964:14, 1966:217). Depending upon the region, Native Americans would trade other items in addition to furs. In the Midwest, these items included honey; maple sugar; bee's wax; feathers; meat, such as venison, bear, turkey meat, and deer; tallow; reed matting; and finished clothing items, such as moccasins (Russell 1985:96). Q Trading Posts in the Neutral Ground The number of trading posts once present in the Neutral Ground is not known. Several posts date to the 1830s. A conservative estimate would put the number from the 1840s at around 40 separate trading locations. This number is based upon a quarterly trader's list generated by the Subagent, that contained 16 licensed traders in 1844 (Reque 1930+). Most of these trading houses were likely not year-round operations. Rather, they served "the needs" of the Winnebagos strictly at annuity payment time; i.e. these were seasonal or moveable posts (tent, wagon, or ephemeral construction). Governmental records of the Office of Indian Affairs in microfilm form should yield additional traders' lists, resulting in a firmer basis on which to estimate the number of trading posts. One 1840s Neutral Ground visitor stated, "The licensed traders are numerous, and generally plant themselves at the time the money is paid over [annuity payments], in the immediate vicinity of the place where the payment is made [the NPSFormlO-900-s OMB Approval NO. 1024-0018 (3-861 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number Page 23 Northeast Iowa
"v•••••• •
Subagency]" {The Friend 1843). Large numbers of illegal posts, often selling alcohol, were reported within the NeutnJ Ground. Subagent McGregor denied trading licenses to two men during the 3"1 quarter, 1844: to John Sleff ("whiskey seller") and James Stewart ("foreigner").
License To Date of License Names of Trustees Terms Of License Capital Location Persons Employed To Whom Granted Trade William E. Gilbert 16 August 1844 C. and EC Pelton To trade with $3,000 N. E. Agency , Is ham Gilbert f ' Winnebagos 3 1 mile months 1 William Abbe 14 September George Green Trade with $2,000 N. E. Agency ,
1844 i Winnebagos until 2 miles Oct. 1, 1845 j .ichard Chute1 14 September S. J. Patten Trade with 510,000 Crossing of Turkey S. J. Parker, H. C. Rhodes, 1844 S. Lequire Winnebagos until River P. Manage, John Henry, Sept. 14 1847 David Galtineau, F. Olive {'I M. Rice 14 September B. W. Brisbois Trade with $15,000 Intersection of S.B Lowry, CR. Rice, L . i1 1844 Winnebagos 3 Agency and Fort Jones, I. St. Cyr, G ' years roads Beaupre, William Griffin Richard Fordyce 16 September S. Clark Till I September 52,000 1 mile west of S. A. Clark, H. Morse 1844 1845 agency [. L. Dousman 18 September H. M. Rice 2 years 510,000 Near Fort Atkinson B. W Brisbois, Charles 1S44 Brisbois, David Drew, M. Rolette, A. Reed, A. Grignon 18 September Herman Sneider 2 years S1,000 At Swindle Town David Olmsted 1844 ' Francis Labathe 18 September J. P.P. Gentel, B. W. 1 year $3,000 1 1/2 miles N. E. Hagrand, G. L. Lapointte 1844 Brisbois Agency 18 September George Culver, S. B 3 years $2,000 1 1/2 miles S. W. George Culver, T. Cilly, Joseph Hewitt 1844 Olmsted, H. N Agency Asa Parker, Jacob Smart, Wayman Randol, J. Maine .e Clare 18 September Herman Sneider 1 year 56,000 1 1/2 miles N. E, J. B Gravel, William 1844 Agency Tippetts John Haney 20 September John Thomas 1 year $1,000 Swindle Town 1844 Charles Fisher 2t September John Thomas 2 years $2,000 2 miles N. E. Agency David Thompson 1844 E. A. C. Hatch 17 September Merrick, Miller, Co. 1 year $1,800 Swindle Town 1844 -•;rV J'; I. L, Dousman 18 September H. M. Rice 2 years Between I and 2 1844 miies N. E. Agency Alexis Bailly 20 September B. W. Brisbois 2 years 54,000 Between 1 and 2 Guillaume St. Gervaiu, I. 1844 : miles N. E. Agency Lequire Antoine Grignon 20 September H. L. Dousman 2 years $2,000 Upper Iowa River Thomas Provencal, George 1844 Fisher
3 By 1847, Chute was a partner with the large trading firm The House of Ewing. It is likely that Chute was already in partnership with the Ewing brothers by 1844 (Trennert 1981). NPSForm 10-900-a OMB Appicvsl No. 1Q24-QQ18 13-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 24 Northeast Iowa
These 16 traders had capital ranging from unlisted to $15,000, with H. M. Rice holding the largest amount of capital. Most of the locations are given in reference to direction and distance from the Subagency, with the exception of three trading posts located at "Swindle Town." Separate Swindle Town licenses were granted to David Olmsted, John Haney, and E. A. C. Hatch, with capital of $1,000, $1,000, and $1,800, respectively. The location of Swindle Town is not presently known. A cabin labeled "Rice's" is shown on the 1848 General Land Office survey map (Office of the Secretary of State 1981), at a trail or road crossroads located in the A letter dated 20 June 1847 from Subagent Fletcher to Major Thomas H. Harvey, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, St. Louis, reads:
h
Subagent David Lowry confiscated the goods of Samuel Parker, an agent of the Ewings (United States Department of State 1967b: 137-156). Parker sent his employees to trade with the Winnebagos on the Red Cedar River. His men were arrested for "trading beyond the limits of their license" (Trennert 1981:116-117). Lowry provided a list of confiscated items. This list is valuable, in that it likely described items a trader would have in his inventory during a trip to the villages in the Neutral Ground as of 1843: Trade Goods Seized from Parker in the Neutral Ground, 1843. Quantity Description 3 Buffalo robes 1 Elk skin 6 Beaver skins r 6 Deer skins 4 Coon skins 2 Wolfskins I Cub skin 6 Blankets IlblSoz Yam 6 Paper looking glasses 10 Pair of socks 12 Metal framelookin g glasses 40 Large hawk bells 30 Small hawk bells 18 Pieces ribbon 3 pounds Vermillion 12 Combs, coarse 11 Bunches of ear bobs, ISinabunch 10 Fine Combs to 3 point white blankets 3 3 point red blankets 4 3 point blue blankets 7 1 1/2 point white blankets 9 2 1/2 point white blankets NPSFofm 10-900-a OMB Approval No. t024-001B (S-861 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
• . National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 25 Northeast Iowa
Trade Goods Seized from Parker in the Neutral Ground, 1843 (continu ed). Quantity Description 3 dozen Butcher knives 1 Piece of scarlet cloth I Piece of blue gray cloth 1 Piece of blue white cloth 2 Horse wagon harnesses
Parker claimed the beaver skins were payment for credits. The matter was resolved when Lowry returned the goods to Parker, under orders of John Chambers. Parker was warned not to trade away from his establishment again, or his license would be revoked. After this exchange, Parker continued to send his employees to areas outside of the licensed post. Fearing repercussions from Chambers, William Ewing replaced Parker with Richard Chute in August 1844. In other parts of pre- statehood Iowa, it was commonplace for traders to travel seasonally to exchange goods (see Peterson 1997). No further specifics of Neutral Ground regulations have yet been found in the archives relating to this apparent policy of restricting traders to certain areas within the Neutral Ground. Richard Chute is shown as possessing the second highest amount of capital for a trader in 1844—$10,000. His post was located at the "crossing of Turkey River." One of Chute's employees was S. B. Lowry, the interpreter for the Subagency and son of Subagent David Lowry. By 1850, Chute was considered a "partner" in Ewing operations with the Winnebagos in Minnesota (Trennert 1981:158). Illegal trading posts were a constant source of trouble to Fort Atkinson and Subagency personnel. Liberal credit was given to the Winnebagos, so they were often heavily in debt to traders. Many traders illegally provided alcohol to the Indians. Alcohol use among the Winnebago was a common problem and is well documented in the Turkey River Subagency correspondence. Taft Jones operated one well-known illegal trading post. Jones' post, nicknamed Sodom (Hexom 1913; Reque 1944), was located just outside of the Neutral Ground boundary, in the vicinity of Monona, Iowa. Mahan (1926) states that the post was located on the road from Fort Crawford to Fort Atkinson. Graham Thorn, a soldier discharged from Fort Crawford, also started a trading post near Sodom, and named it Gomorrah. Sparks (1877:9) states that Indians frequented these two establishments, trading blankets and other items for whiskey. Orr (1940:2) states that "The site of the Sodom cabin...was 23 feet north of the rail-road track and 18 feet west of the cattle guard, at about the point where the fill on the west ends and the cut on the east begins," near the town of Luana. Orr describes the location of the Gommorah cabin as "163 feet west from the center of the road leading to the Luana Creamery and 79 feet north of the center of the rail-road." Orr (1940:3) states that Gommorah burned to the ground after the proprietor killed an Indian and left the area. a The Hewitt-Olmsted Trading Post Peterson and Becker (2001) conducted excavations at one trading post which falls into the present historic context: The Hewitt-Olmsted Trading Post Figure 6). Multiple features were identified. NPS Form lO-MO-t OMB Apprev»t No, 1024-00T9 18-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 26 Northeast Iowa
Site Description Site is located in the
Soil is mapped as Winneshiek loam (Kittleson and Dideriksen 1968:Sheet 103). This soil formed in 38 to 76 cm of loamy glacial material over limestone bedrock. The site measures
The majority of site In the summer of 2000, surface visibility within the pasture was patchy and less than 10 percent. However, outlines of limestone foundations exist, flush with the ground surface, and numerous depressions are visible. In addition, one foundation is very prominent, consisting of a limestone-lined rectangular foundation. This foundation appears to have had a cellar, dug into bedrock. A fireplace of machine made brick and extruded drainage tile is still present. It is believed this was the location of a structure in which the Goddard family lived after their arrival to the property in 1850. The trading post or cabin apparently fell into disuse shortly thereafter. The family reconstructed this structure around 1920. About 40 percent of the site is located within undergrowth and sparse timber. There was generally no surface visibility in the timber, with one exception. Immediately north of visible foundation stones, or ca. 5 m into the timber, the landscape slopes from the upland ridgetop to a side slope leading down to Goddard Creek.
Site History A trading post was established at the location of site this much is certain. When the post was established, and by whom, is uncertain. Certainly, the post was constructed between 1840 and 1847—there would be no reason for a trading post at this location prior to construction of the fort. Sometime during or prior to 1847, David Olmsted acquired the trading post. No direct reference to this particular trading post has not yet been located in governmental correspondence. One county history book (Sparks 1877:78) states that the Goddard family purchased "the claim of one Olmstead, an Indian trader" This reference makes no mention of Joseph Hewitt. Bailey (1913:39) states, "An Indian trading post was established Bailey was the first to link the trading post to both Hewitt and Olmsted1. Unfortunately, Bailey relied upon earlier history books for most of his information. There is no way to know where Bailey came upon the link between Hewitt and Olmsted. The Goddard family purchased the post in 1850, and genealogical information, including reminiscences and letters from family members alive at the time of purchase, is plentiful. Nowhere in the Goddard family documents is Hewitt mentioned; rather, all Goddard references state that Josiah Goddard, Sr., purchased a land claim in from David Olmsted. The purchase included the trading post and reportedly amounted to 320 acres (Goddard n.d., 1905,1921,1923a-b; Morton 1971; Morton and Covington 1971). Other than the later county history book (Bailey
4 The correct spelling is Olmsted. NPS Form 10-900-a OMS Approval Ate. J024.00J3 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 27 Northeast Iowa
1913), there is presently no evidence that Hewitt and Olmsted operated the trading post together, or that Olmsted purchased the post from Hewitt. However, Hewitt certainly did have a Winnebago trading post within the Neutral Ground. In the 3rd quarter, 1844 record of trader's licenses, Hewitt's post is listed as of the Subagency, nowhere near site Olmsted's post of that date was at "Swindle Town." As of February 12, 1844 Olmsted was living in Clayton County and reported, "There are no Indians at this time nearer to us than Fort Atkinson 36 miles (see Appendix IV in Peterson and Becker 2001)," further suggesting he did not live at site which was within miles of the Fort. There is one additional, though tenuous, connection between the two men: after Hewitt arrived in Iowa, he persuaded two Mormon women to move to Iowa. One married Hewitt, the other married another trader and Hewitt acquaintance named George Culver. George Culver, along with David Olmsted, was present when a group of Winnebagos resisted the final movement out of the Neutral Ground in 1848, at Wabasha Prairie (Williams 1880:235). In other words, in the small world of Neutral Ground trading, Hewitt and Olmsted minimally had one acquaintance (Culver) in common. However, because there is no other known connection between Hewitt and Olmsted, it is assumed that the men did not operate the post jointly. More likely, either Hewitt sold the post to Olmsted or Hewitt never actually operated the trading post at site JOSEPH HEWITT Although the link between Hewitt and site is tenuous at best, he certainly was important in the world of Neutral Ground trading and a locally renowned character. Also, it may be possible to locate at least one of his trading posts, based on archival information. Therefore, his background information is presented here. Joseph Hewitt was the son of Moses Hewitt. Moses Hewitt was born in Worchester, Massachusetts in 1767 and moved to Ohio in 1790. Moses reportedly had great physical strength, combined with an "unrefined and rather irritable mind," which resulted in "numberless personal contests in which he almost universally came off victorious" (Howe 1848:51). Moses Hewitt was captured by Indians in 1792 and held for several days. Apart from being tied up at night, he was treated fairly. No doubt, Joseph Hewitt heard the detailed story of his father's capture and eventual escape many times, likely shaping his view of Native Americans. Joseph Hewitt was the third son bom to Sarah and Moses. He was most likely bom at Backus or Belpre Island, Virginia (now Blennerhassett Island, West Virginia; Mitchell 1989:52), probably on June 4, 1794, although his tombstone puts his birthdate one year earlier. In 1797, Moses Hewitt, his wife Sarah, and children settled on a farm near Athens, Ohio. Moses Hewitt, a Methodist, could read and write, but had little additional education, although he was appointed a Trustee to the University of Ohio at Athens shortly before his death in 1814. In his will, written in February 1814, Hewitt listed a wife, five sons (Aaron, Joseph, Pardon, George, Ephraim, and the severely retarded Moses Jr.), and two daughters as heirs (Mitchell 1989:52). Moses Hewitt Sr. bequeathed to Joseph and Ephraim "all the Town Lots and Out Lots in the Town of Athens the place where I now live." Joseph also received
the Tract of College Land lying on Factory (being held until) my Son Joseph comes to be of Age when it is my will that it be sold and that Joseph have the refusal of it, and that he have time to pay it, by paying the one-sixth part yearly without Interest, and that on condition Joseph should make an Improvement thereon before he becomes of Age that the said Tract be valued to him and in a State of Nature (Hewitt 1814). NPS Form 10-9OO-a * OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 (8-861 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
Wationa! Register of Historic Places • Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 28 Northeast Iowa
Finally, Joseph and his brother Aaron received "the two Colts called theirs." Moses Hewitt apparently died a short time after this will was written. All of Hewitt's children were well provided for, and it appears that Joseph Hewitt had a good sum of money, prior to "coming of age." In fact, historian Susan Mitchell's (1989) extensive analysis of legal documents reveals that Joseph Hewitt received a disproportionately large portion of his father's estate. Joseph Hewitt married Ruth Cranston in 1818. The Cranston family had arrived in Athens County in 1811 from New York. Joseph Hewitt was commissioned a Caption in the Second Regiment, First Division, of the Militia of the State of j Ohio in 1821 (Mitchell 1989:54). He held this position until 1827, at which time he resigned. Joseph served in numerous civic capacities in the Athens area. He was elected as constable and justice of the peace in Waterloo Township in 1826. , Hewitt was an official in the Athens County Agricultural Society. In a property tax assessment levied in 1827, he ] received the highest assessment in the township. Joseph Hewitt served as guardian for his disabled brother, Moses Jr., from 1826-1829 (Mitchell 1989:52). , What happened next is a mystery. Joseph and Ruth had six children and substantial land and other personal holdings. | Joseph had high community standing. Joseph apparently left Ohio on horseback with a local schoolteacher. No divorce papers were filed in Ohio, although Ruth Cranston Hewitt apparently remarried. Joseph and the schoolteacher came to Iowa. At some point Hewitt established a trading post in northeast Iowa. It is unclear whether he married the j schoolteacher, but in any case, she became homesick. Joseph escorted her to within a few miles of her former Ohio home (Peterman 1902a, b). f On his return to Iowa, Hewitt met several Mormons journeying west in Illinois. He persuaded two of the Mormon j women to accompany him back to his trading post. Hewitt married one, nicknamed "Big Lib." The other woman married George Culver, another northeast Iowa trader and Hewitt's sometime partner in business. Joseph and Lib had one child, t Carper, who died while serving in the Civil War (Peterman 1902). Lib (Elizabeth) relinquished all rights of dower j (inheritance) to Joseph Hewitt in March of 1856, and divorce proceedings were filed at the Cerro Gordo County Courthouse in June 1857 (Hewitt 1856; Church 2000). Sometime in the 1830s, Joseph Hewitt opened a trading post near the Fayette-Clayton county line, possibly in Cass Township (Peterman 1902a). By 1841, he had reportedly settled in the present day St. Sebald area (Anonymous n.d.). He established his trading post northwest of Strawberry Point, very near the in 1840, f with George Culver as his partner. In 1841, Culver, "probably still associated with Mr. Hewett (sic)" built a cabin The source
(Western Historical 1878:316) then states that Culver's cabin was "Culver ( assisted in the removal of the Winnebagos to Minnesota, then filed a land claim | In 1841, Hewitt and two other men were appointed to locate the territorial road from Dubuque to "Camp" Atkinson. The road, as located in 1841, • NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior
National Park Service ; .
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number F Page 29 Northeast Iowa
Moses Hewitt, Joseph's son by his first wife, was a chain man for the road survey. By 1844, Joseph Hewitt, in partnership with George Culver, S. B. Olmsted, and H. N. Waman, was granted a three-year license to trade at a location 1 Vi miles southwest of the Subagency (Reque 1930+). j Hexom (1913) states that Hewitt's primary occupation was "hunting, trapping, and fishing." He spoke the Winnebago { language, and his name was "Nock-a-shooka," or "Nah-ko-shokear," reportedly meaning hew it or cut it. In 1851, Hewitt, along with James Dickirson, arrived in Clear Lake during a buffalo and elk hunting expedition. The two men and ! their families moved there from Clayton County in the summer of 1851 or the spring of 1852, becoming the first white 1 settlers along the lake. Hewitt was a mail carrier for many years and one of three men responsible for laying out the town which later became Mason City. His home in Cerro Gordo County was located in I Winnebagos, as well as Sioux, camped in the timber near his home along Clear Lake as late as 1854 (Wheeler 1910: 20- 21, 23, 35, 41; Turtle 1859). Although Hewitt's wife Elizabeth left him around 1857, "the loss of a woman or wife did not long worry such a man as Hewitt. He seemed to have some kind of hypnotic influence over women and was seldom f: without one" (Peterman 1902a,b). In October 1857, 63-year old Hewitt married 19-year old Harriet Morley, the daughter of Matthew Morley. Matthew had purchased Hewitt's trading post northwest of Strawberry Point (Peterman 1902a,b). Joseph Hewitt died in 1865 and is buried in Clear Lake (Western Historical 1878). | DAVID OLMSTED David Olmsted was born in Fairfax, Vermont in 1822. In the spring of 1838, Olmsted left home and headed west. He I had little money and found work en route. After staying in Chicago for a month, Olmsted moved to Mineral Point, ' Wisconsin, where he was employed by a hotel keeper. In the fall of 1838, he purchased 40 acres in Grant County, Wisconsin, hear Potosi. The following fall, his brother Page (a.k.a. Phineas) moved to the area. Together, the brothers | moved to Prairie du Chien (Williams 1880). ! In 1840, David and Page spent two weeks trekking through northeast Iowa, most likely in the area just south of the Neutral Ground. The brothers obtained a
...light tent and as much provisions as we felt able to carry on foot with a blanket for each. We provided ourselves, however, with guns and a good supply of ammunition which formed our principal reliance for food. After spending about i ' two weeks in hunting in this manner we selected a beautiful .location about from the present town of J^acGregor in the township now known as Monona. We immediately commenced the erection of a cabin on the edge of a grove near an excellent spring of water and though at the time we had no team to help us in getting the logs together, in a few days we had completed a very comfortable "shelter... About of our place was a village of Winnebago Indians under the chieftainship of the venerable and celebrated "Whirling Thunder." These Indians were usually peaceable, but they proved very troublesome neighbors, stealing and breaking into our enclosures whenever an opportunity occurred. We occasionally found it •;•• convenient to traffic with them, and purchase from them some furs and skins which afforded us a fair profit. They had also .raised a good crop of corn of which we purchased some 100 bushels at a reasonable.price and in this manner I became acquainted with Indians, learning something of their ancestors, character and language; and it was the acquaintance thus acquired which led me subsequently to become associated with the Indian trade on a larger scale. Within a year after making our settlement Page and I dispersed of our claim and took up new and separate claims in the same neighborhood. I remained there the next three years. My leading objective being to operate a farm, but occasionally engaging in other pursuits incidental to getting a living and improving my land. In the fall of 1844 I found myself a pretty prosperous young farmer. I had 30 acres of land under excellent cultivation and had a good crop of grain. I was out of debt, < had some stock and a fair amount of other personal property (Olmsted n.d.). NPSForm 10-9OO-a OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 13-88) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 30 Wortheast Iowa
David Olmsted sold his farm near Monona in 1844 and became a clerk for the large trading firm of Ewing and Ewing. { His place of residence following the sale of his farm is not known, but was likely at one of the Neutral Ground trading ! posts operated by the Ewings. The Ewings were operating trading establishments within the Neutral Ground at least by 1843 (United States Department of State 1967b:205-223), but the location of those other posts is not known. David j Olmsted took his relationship with the Ewings a step further on October 14, 1847 (Appendix V in Peterson and Becker i 2001) as Olmsted and Henry C. Rhodes entered into a written trade agreement with The House of Ewing on that date. The two men continued to act as agents for that company for several years, following the Winnebagos to Minnesota. [ In 1845, Clayton County voters elected Olmsted as a representative to the Iowa State Constitutional Convention, his i first known foray into politics. Sometime between 1845 and 1847, Olmsted probably set up or took over the trading business at site The link between Olmsted and this site has been established through primary source [4 documentation, furnished by early settlers, and through reference in the earliest Winneshiek County history book (Sparks 1877). It is possible, though unlikely, that Olmsted lived at this post prior to 1845. His election as a Clayton County representative in 1845 suggests he lived within that county's borders. j Five buildings stood at Olmsted's5 trading post at site two large dwellings, a large store, a storage house, I and a blacksmith shop, all log construction, one story tall. They were arranged "in the same form as the fort, enclosing a hollow square" (Sparks 1877:78). A. L. Goddard (n.d.), who had first-hand knowledge of the post, stated there were five | ! or six "substantial log cabins in a good state of preservation" as of 1849, As of 1877, the trading post's blacksmith shop I was still standing, "situated at the southwest corner of the buildings." Also standing at that time was one of the original store buildings (Sparks 1877:78). At the trading post, Jacobson (1921:43) noted that "the log cabins and the buildings [ ' were torn down one by one until there were no buildings to mark the spot which was once the home of many Indians and I white people." Winnebagos had cultivated approximately three to four acres of land adjacent to the post. A Winnebago camp was J located nearby, possibly as late at 1849 (Goddard 1921). Historic Indian burials with painted wooden grave markers were f reported to have been located in the vicinity of the camp. Goddard (n.d.) describes the cemetery: "At the head of some of these [graves] were hard wood posts three feet high set in the earth, on which were painted characters of different colors, [ indicating a mark of distinction. That of their Chief Winneshiek was marked by a stockade also."6 Hexom (1913) noted I that pickets often surrounded the graves of Winnebago chiefs. Jacpbson (1921:43) noted that an Indian trail led from the trading post to St. Paul. As of the 1920s, remnants of the trail were still visible near the trading post. She also recorded j that ' '
It appears that Olmsted alone sold the post after the Winnebagos left the area (Morton and Covington 1971:19). No | mention of Rhodes or Hewitt is found in any Goddard family recollections, letters, genealogical information, or ! newspaper articles pertaining to the trading post. After removing from the Neutral Ground in 1849, Olmsted and Rhodes
5 Although Rhodes signed the agreement with the Ewings, as yet there is no additional information linking Rhodes to this particular post. 6 Winneshiek more likely died at an Ioway village in Kansas (Hexom 1913). NPSForm 1O-90O-a OMB ApprovalNo. 1024-0018 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number Page 31 Northeast Iowa
erected a House of Ewing trading post in Minnesota for continued trade with the Winnebagos. That same year, Olmsted was elected to a two-year appointment to the Legislature of the Territory of Minnesota. A list of goods purchased from William Guife and Sons of Philadelphia by the Ewings and shipped to the "Olmsted and Rhodes, Winnebago Outfit, for 1849" appears below (from Reque 1930+):
Memorandum of Goods for Olmsted and Rhodes, Winnebago Outfit for 1849, Estimated Cost List of Goods Description Cost Mercerized Cloth Blue prints with white figures 900 yards/S90.00 Mercerized Cloth Blue prints with orange figures 750 yards/S75.00 Mercerized Cloth Blue prints with red and white figures 600 yards/S66.00 Mercerized Cloth Good fancy 360 yards/$360.00 Mercerized Cloth Common fancy 3000 yards/$ 180.00 P Mercerized Cloth Poor fancy 900 yards/$36.00 Mercerized Cloth Bright yellow mixed with scarlet and green Mercerized Cloth Pink Taffeta Ribbons Green, Scarlet, Sky blue, Dark blue, Black, Yellow Orange Pink, White Playing Cards Thick and strong with dark backs 3gross/S9to$10 Assorted fine sewings Scarlet and green Skein Cotton Colored and white Spool Cotton Assorted white and colored Patent Thread Dark blue and black Paten Thread Assorted colors Handkerchiefs Fancy Pongee Handkerchiefs Cotton Shawls Cashmere Decole and Turkey Red Shawls Assorted bright colors $.15 to $2.00 each Brown Drills Brown shirting and bleached shirting ; Hickory Shirts Trowbridge Shirts White cotton with linen bosoms Pants Blue Satinett Pants Cotton and linen- Frock Coats Linen, cotton and gingham Cravats Black Italian Twine Cotton Patent Twine-Thicker Twine Gilling Twine Whiteorbrown Boots Mens top boots, Calf boots, Thick boots, and ; Brogans Shoes Morocco shoes and Calf shoes Shoes Women's Morocco shoes (heavy) Knives Good market knives with 2 or 3 blades Knives Common pocket knives with 2 or 3 blades Knives Congress pocket knives with 2 or 3 blades Chains Steel guard Chains Smallest size of Iron Jack chain Chains Smallest size of Brass Jack chain Chains German Silver Guard chains NPSForm 10-900-> OMB Appwtl No, W24-Q0t8 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page _ 32 Northeast Iowa
Memorandum of Goods for Olmsted and Rhodes, Winnebago Outfit for IS49 (continued). List of Goods Description Cost Pistols Small belt pistols Pistols Brass Mounted Navy pistols Pistols Plated pistols Shot Guns Double barreled shot guns SlO.OO/each Medals Britannia School medals Medals Britannia Temperance medals Gloves Assortment Needles Assortment Hemmings Assortment Straps Polished sleigh bells with open bells in Martingales Straps Polished sleigh bells with round bells in Martingales Rings Brass wire with stone finger rings Rings Plain brass finger rings Spectacles German Silver Combs Fine Shaving Boxes With glasses Mirrors Covered pocket mirrors Mirrors Small meta) frame mirrors with portraits Medal Washington! an Temperance Locks Good pad locks ,1/2 axes Awls Indian Moccasin awls Files Half round pit saw files Files Taper saw files Thimbles Small steer top thimbles Jews Harps Small Flints Black coated gun flints Flints Black coated carbine flints Beads Brown Garnets and Ruby beads Snuff Boxes Shaving Cases Red wood, 5x10 inches with glass in the top and apartments in the bottom Wampum White Chinese Vermillion Bridles Double rimstif f bit fancy bridles-leather c ire ingles Trunks Steel Morocco minks Clothing India rubber overcoats . . Clothing Black Alpacco frock coats Black Bombazine Bells Hawk bells Jewelry Earrings and glass bobs set in brass Fruit Raisins and Figs \> •••;•- f-*f Chrome Green Chrome Yellow Antwerp Blue Cord Soda powder-hemp bed cord Cord Manila bed cord NPS Fotm 10-900-s OMB Approver No, IQ24-Q01B (S-ge> United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 33 Northeast Iowa
Memorandum of Goods for Olmsted and Rhodes, Winnebago Outfit for 1849 (continued). List of Goods Description Rope Hemp coil rope Fish Lines Hooks-lines Pocket Harmonicas Powder Flasks Pocket brass or copper hunters powder flask Gloves Men's brown cotton gloves Gloves Men's white cotton gloves Hosiery Men's colored cotton hose Hosiery Women's colored cotton hose Hosiery Women's white cotton hose Writing Material Letter paper Writing Material Large yellow envelopes Writing Material Day book ledger Writing Material Quills Writing Materia! Sealing wax Writing Material Wafers Writing Material Steel pens Writing Material Holders Writing Material Gold pens with silver case Shaving Supplies First quality razors, Metallic hone and strap Earbobs 1500 pairs. Large selected Earbobs 1000 pairs, Small selected Beads Red beads Beads Pink garnishing garnets Beads Ruby garnets Beads Large fine cut rubies Beads Hollow glass beads Beads Mixed red and white beads
These goods were shipped care of H. E. Walsh, via St. Louis to St. Paul. It is assumed that Olmsted and Rhodes would have had similar goods during their occupation in Iowa the previous year. Olmsted, in partnership with the House of Ewing, would later assist in removing the Winnebagos from one of their Minnesota reservations in 1850. Olmsted also attempted to secure Chippewa and Menominee removal contracts during the 1850s. Olmsted operated a trading post on the Long Prairie River in Minnesota as of 1851 (Trennert 1981:161, 164). Olmsted married a Miss Stevens, daughter of a Vermont judge, in 1851. The couple had two children. Soon after his marriage, Olmsted withdrew from the trading business, reportedly due to decreasing profitability. In 1853, he purchased the Minnesota Democrat newspaper and acted as publisher and possibly editor for one year. He was elected mayor of St. Paul in the spring of 1854. Olmsted was in failing health by September of that year, so, at the age of 32, he sold the paper. Failing health two years later prompted a trip to Cuba. Returning to Minnesota, Olmsted visited friends and family in that state and Wisconsin. He spent his last days at his mother's home in Vermont, dying in 1861 at the age of 39 (Williams 1880). A county in Minnesota is named after him.
HISTORIC MAP DATA The General Land Office surveyor drew the first available map of in 1849, where the Hewitt-Olmsted trading post is located. In his field sketch map, no trails, structures, or fields are shown in Also, no trails are shown NPSForra 10-900-a OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 (8-86) United States Department of the interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 34 Northeast Iowa leading between Fen Atkinson and the trading post. In his final map, a trail is shown adjacent to site
During his survey of the line abutting the surveyor describes the area as "Surface rolling. Soil good. 2d rate timber, White and Bur Oak, no undergrowth." The trading post would have been located less than
ARCHAEOLOGICAL INVESTIGATION
Feature 1— Trading post dwelling/specialized storehouse
Feature 2— Trading post storehouse NPSForm 10-900-a OMB Approval Ha. 1024-QOiS IS-S8) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet
• Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 35 Northeast Iowa
Feature 1 and 2 discussion NPSForm 10-900-a OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 (8-86I United States Department of the Interior Mationa! Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 38 Northeast Iowa
Feature 5— Trading Post Midden NPS Form 10-900-a QMB Approval Ho. 1024~QQ,B le-ssi United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 37 Northeast Iowa
!
Q Predicted Trading Post Locations Peterson and Becker (2001) have identified seven possible trading post locations which are likely related to the "Administration of the Neutral Ground, Trading: 1840-1848" context. Existing archaeological or archival information exists that may enable identification of these trading posts. Several additional sites, not given letter designations in the following list, are likely trading posts for which archival data is presently too sketchy to assign a discrete location. MPS Form 10-900-• OMB Approval No. 7024-0018 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 38 Northeast Iowa
Trading posts, licensed(C) (CI) Site Culver's trading post: Site or the "Culver Trading Post" is recorded in the Elmer Heller of Washburn, Iowa, wrote then State Archaeologist Marshall McKusick on April 24, 1967 regarding the Culver trading post near Wadena (Heller in Iowa Site File). McKusick replied on May 3, stating he would phone Heller in a week and make arrangements to visit the site. There is no specific record that McKusick visited the site. However, the Iowa Site Form, dated the same date as Heller's letter, contains a map, not from Heller's letter. This map may have been drawn by McKusick, and shows the site location in relation to Also, the site location contains information not present in the letter, further suggesting that McKusick visited the site. The site description states:
Heller reports the landowner in 1967 was Wilder Mattock, whose sister had photographs of one of the trading post buildings. Mattock moved the building to his home, where it eventually "rotted away." A "pioneer graveyard" was also on Mattock's land. Heller notes that the Fayette County courthouse has no records of this cemetery. George Culver was Joseph Hewitt's trading partner, as evidenced on an 1844 licensing list. Culver's post was (Western Historical 1878:316). Further information is provided on the
• ! :..-.
(C2) Old Mission Trading Post: This trading post was reportedly located in the cited in Oslund 1940). This post would have been NPS Fotm IO-900-a OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 [8-861 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number E Page 39 Northeast Iowa
Numerous trading posts were granted licenses of the Subagency. At least four posts mentioned on the 1844 list of granted trading licenses might be located within this quarter-section: the posts of Bailly, Dousman, Gilbert, and Labathe.
(C3-4) Rice's or Rice-Brismen Trading Post: The GLO surveyors depicted a structure next to the word "Rice's" in the center of the ' (C3). The intersection of two trails is located adjacent to the cabin. The predicted location of Decorah's Village (A3-4) is of Rice's. A second trading post associated with Rice (C4) is predicted Oslund (1940) suggests the "Rice and Brismen" post is located near (C4). The GLO surveyors mapped a plowed field, not associated with the large plowed fields affiliated with the Subagency, in this general location. Another primary source seems to describe the same site as C4:
The 1844 list of granted trading licenses states that Rice's post was at the "Intersection of Agency and Fort roads" also located within the predicted site location. H. M. Rice was also the trustee of the Dousman Post, (Reque 1930+).
(C5) Clark's Trading Post: "Clark's" cabin is depicted on the GLO surveyor's map in the, Given that this cabin is located of a presumed Winnebago village (A6), is adjacent to of 216 ha (534 acres) of mapped "Ploughed ground," Clark's is presumed to be a trading post. One "S. A. Clark" is listed as a trustee of the Fordyce Trading Post, licensed to operate of the Subagency in 1844 (Reque 1930+)- The predicted location of this trading post is of the Subagency
Hewitt's Trading Post: Joseph Hewitt established a trading post in Clayton County in 1840, of Strawberry Point, very near the In the fall of 1842, Hewitt's trading post was The cabin was (in Clayton County; Western Historical 1878:322). Another source (Inter-state 1882:683) states the first white settler in was "Joseph Hewett, who lived on the line between and who came here in 1844 to trade with the Indians...Mr. Hewett remained here until 1851, when the Indians moved West, and he followed." The same reference states that in 1842 there were only two white settlers in the one of whom was Joseph Hewitt (Inter-state 1882:1081). The final specific bit of evidence about the site location states: NPS Fo/m 10-900-a OMB Awrovtl No. W24-Q018 18-861 United States Department of the interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number Page 40 Northeast Iowa
St. Sebald is a rural cemetery in
. further archival and oral historical research is recommended prior to undertaking a four square mile survey for this trading post. Hewitt may have had more than one trading post. On the 1844 list of licenses granted to traders, Hewitt's post is listed " George Culver is listed as one of his "Trustees" (transcribed by Reque 1930+). . . t v,-.- . ...•;. • Grignon's Trading Post: A trading post of renowned Prairie du Chien entrepreneur Antoine Grignon was noted at a location about The 1844 trader's license list states that Grignon's post was Should Winneshiek's village on the Upper Iowa be pinpointed, Grignon's post was . (United States Department of State 1967b:1058).
Assorted trading post locational information, non-specific: As was the case with non-specific village information, the following information is presented in the hope it may be coupled with additional archival or archaeological evidence to yield more specific site locations. The table presented on page 23 of the present document lists the locations of numerous trading establishments licensed in 1844. Promising locational information includes, "Swindle town"; .
Given that the licensing list is only for one quarter of one year out of eight in which the Winnebagos were "required" to live in the Neutral Ground, a thorough pedestrian survey and landform assessment is recommended for all areas within ,• that have not previously been subjected to pedestrian survey (see Peterson 1995 and Rogers 1993 for surveyed areas). A substantial amount of information exists on a web site dealing with the history of Fayette County (Iowaz 2001a-d). Much of this information is contradictory and cannot be used here. However, some locational information appears to be based on county history books which were not researched in depth for the present document. Thorough searches of Fayette County history sources will likely yield more precise locational information. ;<.N ••%'—• Trading posts/taverns, unlicensed(D) (Dl) Whisky Grove: Reportedly, a "half-breed" ran this "whiskey store" , of present-day Calmar. It was "a popular resort for the soldiers stationed at Fort Atkinson" (Alexander 1882:5; Sparks 1877:14). This tavern may have been located in the NPS Form 10-SOO-a OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 (8-36) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
Natioa ;es ieei Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number Page Northeast Iowa
(D2) Teagarden Trading Post/Cabin: Henry T. Garden, Tegarden, or Tegardner was an trader in whiskey who was murdered in 1843. The location of his cabin, as given in a county history book, is in the '
Sodom and Gomorrah (D3-4): Sodom (D3) was a trading post in the vicinity of Monona, run by Taft Jones. Graham I Thorn started a trading post in "close proximity to" Sodom, and called it Gomorrah (D4; Alexander 1882:9). These [ trading posts were on
i ! Specific locational information exists for these two taverns. The present author is not familiar enough with the city of Luana to pinpoint these illegal trading posts on the GIS layer without field visits. Ellison Orr (1940:2) who grew up in H the area, states "The site of the Sodom cabin..
Property types: Administration of the Neutral Ground: Trading, 1840-1848 Property types related to the "Administration of the Neutral Ground, Trading: 1840-1848" context would include roads and trails leading to the trading posts and the posts themselves. At illegal or short-term posts, construction is expected to be ephemeral, consisting of post construction. These illegal posts may have lacked any permanent construction, rather consisting of a tent-like structure or wagon where alcohol and other goods were distributed in exchange for cash from annuities. One or more firepits may be present at these sites. Expected features within the licensed or long-lasting trading posts are limestone foundations, fire pits, and outdoor activity areas. Depending on the available capital and goals of the trader, the number, size, and layout of buildings at each trading post would be varied. In addition, some trading posts may have outlying Winnebago encampments nearby. Access
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Restricted r NFS Form 10.900-a OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 (8-S6I f- United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet i Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number F Page 49 Northeast Iowa
F. Associated Property Types
Property Type: Archaeological Sites/Components Associated with the Administration of the Neutral Ground, Turkey River Subagency: 1840-1848
a. Description The Turkey River Subagency complex is located in
\ - The present channel of the Turkey River is Three soil types are recorded at the complex: Dickinson sandy loam, 2-5 percent slopes; Terril loam, 0-2 percent slopes; and Waukegan loam, moderately deep, 0-2 percent slopes (Kittleson and Dideriksen I968:Sheets 111-112). Dickinson series soils formed in sandy loam to sand along ridges, side slopes and r benches. Terril series soils formed in loamy alluvium on first bottoms and at the base of upland slopes. The Terril series . . is mapped in the immediate vicinity of a still-flowing spring situated near the center of the subagency complex. Waukegan series soils formed in loam to silt loam atop sand or gravel. Waukegan soils are found mainly on stream benches, convex ridge tops, or side slopes. , . -General Land Office surveyors mapped the Turkey River Subagency and surrounding agricultural fields in 1848 (Merry and Green 1989; Office of the Secretary of State 1981). The following buildings were mapped: the Agency house; a log stable; a framed house; the "smiths shops"; the spring house; the store house; two dwelling houses; the cook house; the school house; the ware house; the "men's house"; the carpenter's house; and an ox stable. Five agricultural fields were also plotted. Building specifications are listed under the associated historic context (see page E-6, present document). In addition to the mapped structures, specifications called for a chicken house, a barn, a privy behind the Agency House, two privies behind the dwellings, two blacksmith shops, a meat house, and a refectory (dining hall). Where specified, foundations were made of stone and lime mortar, with pine shingling used as a roofing material. The school house was of log construction. The property types associated with the identified historic context are archaeological in nature. Archaeological property types associated with the Turkey River Subagency will include roads and trails leading to the Subagency, the cultivated fields and surrounding fencerows, and the remnants of the structures described above. Although three outhouses are mentioned, additional 1840s privies may have been located within the Subagency complex. No Subagency structures are known to be extant, although one possible Subagency structure may have been rebuilt from original materials at the St. Anthony of Padua Chapel, (Alan Becker, personal communication 2001). Therefore, physical evidence of the Subagency takes the form of archaeological deposits. Geomorphological investigations revealed a low potential for intact cultivated field remnants lying below post-settlement alluvium in the Turkey River Valley near the Subagency (Peterson 1995). The General Land Office surveyor's map of 1848 depicts four roads or trails converging upon the Subagency. Some remnants of these roads may be present in timbered areas along the Turkey River, and modern roads may have been placed upon 1840s roadbeds. Archaeological investigations have revealed that a portion of the Winnebago schoolhouse, including a chimney remnant, limestone foundation, and feature fill, is present beneath the plowzone. Remnants of all structures except the Agency house and the springhouse may remain at the site. A modern, ranch-style home has been placed atop the likely location of the Agency house. A modem, concrete structure presently surrounds the still-running spring. MPS Form lO-SOO-a 0MB Approval No. 1024-0013 IS-861 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number F Page 50 Northeast Iowa
Expected archaeological evidence of other structures at the Subagency would likely take the form of limestone foundation alignments and/or piers and chimney remnants. At less substantial buildings such as the chicken house, post construction may have been utilized, or logs may have been laid directly atop the ground surface, with no foundations laid. Post molds may be in evidence along fencerows, although the exact locations of fence lines are not presently known. A concentration of intensely heat-affected limestone may signify the presence of the "stone bake oven." Surficial artifact concentrations of iron objects may signify the locations of the blacksmith shops. b. Significance The significance of these properties lies in their association with the Turkey River Subagency historic context during the Neutral Ground period. These sites should have the ability to represent and illuminate a pivotal period of development in northeast Iowa governmental-administrative and Winnebago culture history that is only partially documented in archival records. Many aspects of life related to the Subagency complex can be documented only through examination of the archaeological remains of the original sites. Properties may achieve significance under Criteria A, B, C, or D under this context depending on the nature and integrity of the archaeological component. c. Registration Requirements For properties associated with "Administration of the Neutral Ground, Turkey River Subagency," integrity is a key issue for associated archaeological deposits. In particular, integrity of location, setting, and association will be most critical, with workmanship not considered a critical issue. Associated archaeological properties must be able to represent and reflect their association with the 1840-1848 period. A plowed site can retain sufficient integrity if it has discernible activity areas or patterning associated with the period of significance and if it possesses good integrity of setting, materials, and association. A critical concern for sites occupied after the Neutral Ground period would be if there remained any identifiable features or activity areas that could be associated with the 1840s. The property must date to or contain a component from the period of significance, in this case 1840-1848. NPSForm 10-900-B CMS Appi oval No. 1024-0018 18-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeoiogical Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number F Page 51 Northeast Iowa
Property Type: Archaeological Sites/Components Associated with the Administration of the Neutral Ground, Winnebago Village Life: 1840-1848
a. Description Property types related to this context include roads and trails between the villages, agricultural fields plowed by the government for Winnebago use, and the villages themselves. Expected features within the villages are aligned post molds, representing lodges and outdoor shelters or activity areas (such as shaded deer processing locations with post supports); dwelling floors; food storage pits; refuse pits; food processing pits; hearths or fire pits; unsheltered outdoor activity areas; and storage pits for non-food items, to name a few. Amorphous sheet middens may or may not be present. Because no Winnebago sites have been subjected to excavation in Iowa, village layout and feature type are difficult to predict. Quantity of features and the distribution thereof is similarly not understood. Spector (1974; 1975) conducted small-scale excavations at the Crabapple Point site in Wisconsin, a 1760-ca. 1820 (at latest) Winnebago habitation site. Botanical remains suggest this site was occupied in the summer months. Identified features included a refuse pit/dump area (1.1 m diameter x .5 m deep, irregular circular shape with sloping to straight- sided walls), two lead smelting pits, four smudge pits (containing vast quantities of charred com cobs), and 46 post molds. The oval, shallow-basin smelting pits measured 0.7-x-0.6-x0,15 m and 0.8-X-0.5-.0.1 m in size. The proximity of Crabapple Point to naturally occurring lead, which the Winnebagos exploited, explains the presence of the lead smelting pits. No accounts of Winnebago lead processing during the 1840s in the Neutral Ground have yet been located. The diameter of the post molds at Crabapple Point ranged from 0.12 to 0.3 m in diameter, with 75 percent of these features between 0.15 and 0.27 m in depth. The smudge pits were circular, irregularly circular, or oval, with depths ranging between 0.12 and 0.26 m. The largest pit measured 0.3-X-3.0 m, while the smallest was 0.3-X-0.2 m. Spector expects summer lodges of the early 1800s to be oblong, bark covered structures, averaging 10.6-x-5.0 m in size. These dwellings housed multiple or extended families and contained multiple fire pits central to the structure.
b. Significance The significance of these properties lies in their association with the "Winnebago Village Life" historic context during the Neutral Ground period. These sites should have the ability to represent and illuminate a period of development in Neutral Ground and Winnebago culture history that is only minimally documented in archival records. There are many aspects of Winnebago lifeways that can be documented only through examination of the archaeological remains of the original sites. Properties may achieve significance under Criteria A, B, C, or D under this context depending on the nature and integrity of the archaeological component. c. Registration Requirements For properties associated with "Administration of the Neutral Ground, Winnebago Village Life," integrity is a key issue for associated archaeological deposits. In particular, integrity of location, setting, and association will be most critical. Associated archaeological properties must be able to represent and reflect their association with the 1840-1848 period. A plowed site can retain sufficient integrity if it has discernible activity areas or patterning associated with the
-v NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior Mational Park Service
National Register of Historic Places J Continuation Sheet • < Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground ) Section number F Page 52 Northeast Iowa ' period of significance and if it possesses good integrity of setting, materials, and association. A critical issue for sites occupied after the Neutral Ground period would be if there remained any identifiable features or activity areas that could be associated with the 1840s. The property must date to or contain a component from the period of significance, in this case 1840-1848. NPSForm 10-900-a QMB Approval No. 1024-0018 (8-86) I United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number _F Page 53 Northeast Iowa
Property Type: Archaeological Sites/Components Associated with the Administration of the Neutral Ground, Trading: 1840-1848
a. Description Property types related to the "Administration of the Neutral Grourjd, Trading: 1840-1848" context include roads and trails leading to the trading posts and the posts themselves. At illegal or short-term posts, construction is expected to be ephemeral, consisting of post construction. These illegal posts may have lacked any permanent construction, rather consisting of a tent-like structure or wagon where alcohol and other goods were distributed in exchange for cash from annuities. One or more firepits may be present at these sites. Post molds could be present. Trade goods and other 1840s- period artifacts should be found in discrete clusters at these sites. Fragments from glass alcohol-containing bottles and barrel straps would be expected at illicit trading posts. Expected features at licensed or long-lasting trading posts are limestone foundations, fire pits, and outdoor activity areas. Skin/pelt processing and storage areas, food storage (ranging from above ground log structures to large size cellars to small size, expedient over-wintering pits), smoke houses, and trade good storage areas may be present. Craft structures, most commonly related to small-scale biacksmithing, may be present. One or more dwellings should be present, although these dwellings likely served a dual storage/store function. Privies could be found at 1840s trading posts. Trail remants leading to these posts may still be present in timbered areas. All long-lasting posts likely contain a sheet midden, present either near the main dwelling/storehouse/store or near the location where goods were on and off loaded. In the case of trading posts located along navigable waterways, such as the Turkey River, loading areas would be adjacent to rivers and major streams. For other posts, goods were transported overland, probably right to the door of the storehouse. At a mid-to-late 1830s trading post south of present-day Iowa City, several small basin-shaped, oval to circular pits, ranging from 10 to 20 cm in depth, were found. The largest pit had approximate dimensions of 100-x-70-x- 15 cm. The smallest pit had dimensions of 30-x-30-x-10 cm. The pits were interpreted to be borrow pits for log chinking, located adjacent to a loading area along the Iowa River, During use of the site as a trading post, these pits filled in with soil and trade goods (Peterson 1997). Given that lumber mills in the Neutral Ground were confined to those operated by the government, most trading posts would have been log construction, so such chinking pits should be common features. Depending on the available capital and goals of the trader, the number, size, and layout of buildings at each trading post would be varied. For protection against theft and for defensive purposes, the layout of a long-standing trading post would likely consist of tightly clustered, as opposed to widely scattered, structures. In addition, some trading posts may have outlying Winnebago encampments nearby.
b. Significance The significance of these properties lies in their association with their association with the "Trading" historic context during the Neutral Ground period. These sites should have the ability to represent and illuminate a period of development in northeast Iowan, trading, and Winnebago culture history that is only partially documented in archival records. Many aspects of trading practices can be documented only through examination of the archaeological remains of the original sites. Properties may achieve significance under Criteria A, B, C, or D under this context depending on the nature and integrity of the archaeological component. NPSForm 1O-90O-a OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior Nationa! Park Service
islet* of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Weutra! Ground Section number Page 54 Northeast Iowa c. Registration Requirements For properties associated with "Administration of the Neutral Ground, Trading," integrity is a key issue for associated archaeological deposits. In particular, integrity of location, setting, and association will be most critical, with workmanship not considered a key issue. Associated archaeological properties must be able to represent and reflect their association with the 1840-1848 period. A plowed site can retain sufficient integrity if it has discernible activity areas or patterning associated with the period of significance and if it possesses good integrity of setting, materials, and association. A critical issue for sites occupied after the Neutral Ground period would be if there remained any identifiable features or activity areas that could be associated with the 1840s. The property must date to or contain a component from the period of significance, in this case 1840-1848. W>S Form 10-900- a OMB Approve/ No. 1024-0013 I8-S6) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number G Page 55 Northeast Iowa
G. Geographical Data MPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval No. 7024-0078 [8-861 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number H Page 56 Northeast Iowa
H. Summary of Identification and Evaluation methods
Research Design The present Multiple Property Documentation Form (MPDF) represents the culmination of 12 years of study concerning the historic resources of the Neutral Ground, with a strong focus on related resources within Winneshiek County. In the volume Archaeological and Paleoenvironmental Studies in the Turkey River Valley, Northeastern Iowa (Green 1988), previous archaeological work in the area was summarized, an environmental context formulated, archaeological investigation of mainly prehistorically-utilized areas was undertaken, and a local and regional context for the Fort Atkinson area was first proposed. Several sites, including the Hewitt-OImsted trading post and the Turkey River Subagency were recommended for intensive archaeological investigation. Following the recommendations of Green and Merry (1988), the first phase of intensive archaeological work was conducted in 1993 (Rogers 1993). The goal of this phase was to develop a long-term research design and to comprehensively survey the Turkey River Subagency Site and its vicinity in order to better define the location and boundaries of site and to locate associated sites and features. Two additional sites with 1840s artifacts were identified in close proximity to the Subagency Recommendations of Rogers (1993) included:
1. Intensive geomorphological investigation of the agricultural fields surrounding the Subagency, to identify possible buried archaeological sites. 2. Test excavations at site to assess site integrity. 3. Compilation of data from Neutral Ground-related correspondence found on National Archives microfilm. 4. Further archaeological investigation to identify outlying Neutral Ground sites, such as villages, trading posts, and trail/road remnants. 5. Archaeological investigation at sites found under number four, to assess NRHP eligibility. 6. Nomination of the Subagency site and locality, as either a district within a potential Neutral Ground multiple property nomination or as a multiple property nomination in itself.
The second phase involved excavations in the vicinity of the Subagency school, to evaluate site integrity (Peterson 1995). In addition, a geomorphological assessment of the Subagency vicinity was undertaken to determine the potential for buried Subagency-era cultural deposits in what had been Subagency agricultural fields. Pedestrian survey at other locations in Washington and Sumner townships, Winneshiek County, resulted in the identification of four other Neutral Ground-era sites The third and most recent phase involved excavation at the Hewitt-OImsted trading post to assess site integrity (Peterson and Becker 2001); identification of one additional Neutral Ground-era site; beginning indexing of period governmental correspondence; generation of a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) layer of predicted Neutral Ground-era archaeological site locations, based on archival and archaeological data; and creation of this MPDF. The reasons for recommending nominations within this MPDF was to demonstrate the significance of these archaeological properties, to aid historical groups in their preservation projects, and to put in place a document by which other nominations could be incorporated. NPS Form 10-900-a OMB Approval No, 1024-0018 16-861 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number H Page 57 Northeast Iowa
"The Administration of the Neutral Ground, Turkey River Subagency: 1840-1848" was targeted as a historic context because of the rarity of the Indian agency site type in Iowa and the importance of this context not only to understanding the history of Iowa, but also governmental Indian policy and Winnebago history. To date one site, The Turkey River Subagency Complex, has been identified in association with this context (Peterson 1995; Rogers 1993). "The Administration of the Neutral Ground, Winnebago Village Life: 1840-1848" was also targeted as a historic context because of the rarity of historic Indian village site types in Iowa and the importance of this context not only to understanding Winnebago history, but also the effects of governmental removal efforts on Native peoples. To date, several archaeological sites have been assigned tentative associations as Winnebago villages or habitation sites, but no excavation has been conducted at these sites. Association as a village has been based on archival/map data or on surface collections that yield trade goods. However, given the large numbers of trading posts once present within the Neutral Ground, at present it is difficult to distinguish a trading post surface assemblage from that of a village. Sites with a tentative Winnebago village or habitation affiliation include In addition, Peterson and Becker (2001) identified numerous other suggested village locations within the Neutral Ground based on archival or archaeological information. None of those sites have been field verified. "The Administration of the Neutral Ground, Trading: 1840-1848" was also defined as a historic context because of the rarity of the trading post site type in Iowa and the importance of this context not only to understanding the context of trading, but also to understanding Winnebago history. To date, one site has been archaeologically verified as a trading post and subjected to test excavation Peterson and Becker 2001). The trading post was found to possess a high degree of integrity, despite an occupation post-dating the Neutral Ground period. Site has also been recorded as a trading post, but has not been archaeologically verified. In addition, Peterson and Becker (2001) identified numerous other suggested trading post locations in the Neutral Ground based on archival or archaeological information. None of those sites have been field verified.
Methodology Two archaeological sites have been examined to a level sufficient to fully evaluate their individual National Register eligibility. Work involved subsurface testing in the form of I-x-l-m test excavation units in order to determine the vertical and horizontal limits of the site deposits, the nature and research potential of site contents, and the integrity of the site deposits (Peterson 1995; Peterson and Becker 2001). Although some archaeological work has been conducted at possible Winnebago villages no assessment of integrity or even definite attribution of these sites to the Winnebagos is possible at this time- Artifact analysis was conducted on assemblages from sites using currently accepted professional standards and available artifact dating references. After receiving instruction on proper techniques, volunteers washed the artifacts. Following washing and drying, the materials were sorted into various material classes (e.g„ botanical remains, fauna, ceramics, glass, metal) and a catalog and descriptive inventory was prepared. Items larger than 1-cm were labeled in ink with corresponding site and catalog numbers. Smaller items were placed in plastic bags with an acid-free paper label containing the site and catalog number. Following the general sorting, labeling, and inventory preparation, the specimens were segregated by material class for more detailed analyses.
• NPSForm 10-SOO-a OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number H Page 58 Wortheast Iowa
Color, vessel portion, technological attributes like mold seams, and embossed designs, lettering, and maker's marks \ were noted on glass artifacts where applicable. Historic ceramics were separated into ware type. Glaze colors, vessel types, decorative treatments, and maker's marks were noted where applicable. The temporal ranges of historic artifacts recovered through the survey were identified using a variety of reference sources listed in the artifact descriptions. Historic research for context development and site-specific data was conducted at the following repositories: State Historical Society of Iowa libraries in Iowa City and Des Moines; Office of the State Archaeologist in Iowa City; Preuss Library, Luther College; and the Winneshiek County Historical Society. Property owners and local residents also j provided oral historical information concerning local history. Local volunteers also assisted in the archaeological excavation and artifact washing. ,
Evaluation (from Rogers 2000 with permission; modified to exclude architectural properties) The archaeological site evaluations were completed using the guidelines and criteria set forth by the Department of , the Interior for the National Register of Historic Places (National Park Service 1991,1993). j Integrity is a key component to any site evaluation. Integrity is defined as "the ability of a property to convey its significance" and "to retain historic integrity a property will always possess several and usually most of the aspects" of integrity (National Park Service 1993:17). For historic archaeological sites, integrity of location, design, materials, and j association are of primary importance when nominating sites under Criteria A and B. Under Criterion C, design, * materials, and workmanship are particularly important, while under Criterion D, location, design, materials, and association are most relevant. Furthermore, integrity of setting is important under Criteria A and B. Integrity of feeling j can also add to the site's integrity, with integrity of setting and feeling both increasing the "recognizability" of the site or 1 district, thus enhancing the ability to interpret a site's significance (ibid.). The following table is adapted from Bulletin 26 (ibid.: 17-21) and is a summary of the aspects or qualities of integrity: J
Location - The place where the historic property was constructed or the place where the historic event occurred. (Historic archaeological sites and districts almost always have integrity of location). t
Design - The combination of elements that create the form, plan, space, structure, and style of a property. (Design can be applied to town layouts and plans but for historic archaeological sites generally refers to the patterning of structures, , buildings, and discrete activity areas relative to one another. All properties must be able to convey their significance I either through the information they contain [Criterion D] or their historical appearance [Criteria A, B, and C]. A plowed site can be: eligible if plowing has displaced artifacts to an extent, but the activity areas or intra-site patterning are still discernible, then the site still retains integrity.of location or design. !
Setting - The physical environment of a historic property. (This includes elements such as viewsheds, topography, landscapes, vegetation patterns, and man-made features such as fencerpws, "paths, roadways. Historic archaeology sites can be nominated under Criterion D without integrity of setting if the sites have important information potential; however, an intact setting certainly enhances the ability of the site to convey its significance. For nomination under Criteria A and B, integrity of setting must be able to reflect the appearance of the site during the period of significance j and the setting must be integral to the importance of the site or district.) j
Materials - The physical elements that were combined or deposited during a particular period of time and in a , particular pattern or configuration to form a historic property. (Integrity of materials is important under Criterion C, I while under Criteria A and B, the integrity of materials should be considered within the framework of the property's overall , NPSForm 10-900-a OMB Approval No. 10244018 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number H Page 59 Northeast Iowa
significance. Under Criterion D, integrity of materials is usually reflected in the presence of intrusive artifacts or features, the completeness of an artifact or feature assemblage, or in the quality of artifact or feature preservation.)
Workmanship -The physical evidence of the crafts of a particular culture or people during any given period in history or prehistory. (This is most often an issue under Criterion C, with it important under Criteria A and B only if workmanship is tied to the property's significance. Under Criterion D, workmanship is usually addressed indirectly in terms of the quality of the artifacts or architectural features and may not necessarily be a critical issue to eligibility).
Feeling ~ A property's expression of the aesthetic or historic sense of a particular period of time. (A property has integrity of feeling if its features in combination with its setting convey a historic sense of the property during its period of significance. Integrity of feeling enhances a property's ability to convey its significance under all of the criteria).
Association - The direct link between an important historic event or person and a historic property. (Integrity of association is critical under Criteria A and B. In essence, a property retains association if it is the place where the event occurred and is intact enough to convey that relationship to the observer. Under Criterion D, integrity of association is measured in terms of the strength of the relationship between the site's data and the important research questions from which it can derive its significance.)
Criterion A- Association with events and broad patterns of events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history (i.e., historical significance). To be eligible under this criterion, properties are significant because they demonstrate or reflect important events or patterns of events. Under Criterion A a property must convey its historic significance. For archaeological sites, they must have well preserved features, artifacts, and intra-site patterning in order to illustrate a specific event or pattern of events important in an area's history. Significance is generally demonstrated through historical research, with archaeological or architectural evidence supporting the linkage.
Criterion B - Association with the lives of an important person or persons significant in our past. These are individuals whose activities are demonstrably important within a local, state, or national historic context. A property must he illustrative of this person's life, rather man commemorative. Under Criterion B, archaeological sites must have excellent preservation of features, artifacts, and spatial relationships. Simply put, integrity for a property eligible under Criterion B means that the person for whom the property is significant in its association would be able to recognize the property if he or she could return today. This is true for architectural properties as well.
Criterion C - Embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction (i.e., architectural significance). To meet the integrity requirement of Criterion_ an archaeological property must have remains that are well preserved and clearly illustrate the design and construction of the building or structure. An architectural property would have to retain sufficient integrity of design, materials, workmanship, and feeling.
Criterion D - Information potential (i.e., the ability to yield information important in prehistory or history). This is most commonly applied to archaeological sites, although it does not exclude architectural properties or features. To be eligible under this criterion, a property must have or have had information that can contribute to our understanding of human history or prehistory, and that the information must be considered important. There are five steps in making a Criterion D evaluation of an archaeological property: 1) identify the property's data sets or categories of archaeological, NPSFotm 10-900-a OMB Approval No. 10Z4-OQ1B (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number H Page 60 Northeast Iowa
historical, or ecological information; 2) identify the historic contexts that are appropriate historical and archaeological frameworks in which to evaluate the property; 3) identify the important research questions that the property's data sets can be expected to address; 4) evaluate the data sets in terms of integrity and their potential to answer research questions; and 5) identify the important information that an archeological study of the property has yielded or is likely to yield. Archaeological study generally contributes to our understanding of the past in three ways: 1) reinforces, alters or challenges current assumptions about the past; 2) test new hypotheses about past activities; and 3) describes, records, and reconstructs past Hfeways across time and space.
Evaluating archaeological site significance is often a challenge given that historical archaeologists do not always agree on what is important or significant to our understanding of history. Generally, it is comparatively easy to recognize those properties that are clearly eligible for the NRHP: those with 1) spatially and temporally defined archaeological features and artifacts that can be identified and interpreted; 2) cultural and natural site formation processes that have preserved these remains; and 3) an extensive documentary record assignable to a particular group associated with the property or type (Wilson 1990:30-31 as quoted in National Park Service 1993:29). Conversely, it is generally agreed upon as to those properties that are clearly ineligible: 1) mixed or undifferentiated contexts and temporally diverse cultural material or disturbed spatial associations and the absence of identifiable archaeological features; and 2) site formation processes that have severely impacted the physical integrity of the archaeological accord to the point of compromising that record (ibid.:30). For those properties that fall somewhere between these two extremes, eligibility will depend upon the quality of the questions we ask because it is this quality that "determines the nature of the answers we recover from the past" (ibid.).
Nominations The first recommended nominations of properties associated with the "Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground" consist of one trading post The Hewitt-Olmsted Trading Post) and the Turkey River Subagency complex Site represents the context "Administration of the Neutral Ground, Trading: 1840-1848". Site reflects the "Administration of the Neutral Ground, Turkey River Subagency: 1840-1848" historic context This MPDF was written with the intention that future studies will nominate these and other properties associated with the Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground, with landowner concent. This MPDF should be expanded and amended as needed to better reflect additional contexts. Likewise, additional property types will be added by future studies. NPS Form 10-90O-a OMB Approval Ho. 1020-0019 [9-8 6t i United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number I Page 61 Northeast Iowa
I. Major Bibliographical References
Alexander, W. E, 1S82 History of Winneshiek and Allamakee Counties, Iowa, n.p Anderson, Paul, submitter 1996 GIS Research to Digitize Maps of Iowa 1832-1859 Vegetation from General Land Office Township Plat Maps. Department of Landscape Architecture and Department of Agronomy, Iowa State University, Ames. Andreas, Alfred T. 1970 Illustrated Historical Atlas of the State of Iowa, Reprinted. State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa City. Originally published 1875, Andreas Atlas, Chicago. Andros, Frederic 1845 Autobiography and Reminiscences of Frederic Andros, M.D. Typewritten copy. Two-page ms on file, Sigurd Reque collection, 1930+, Preuss Library, Luther College, Decorah, Iowa. - Anonymous n.d. Strawberry Point, Iowa. One-page typeset document of town history, provided by Myles Kupka, Fort Atkinson. Copy on file, Office of the State Archaeologist, The University of Iowa, Iowa City. Bailey, Edwin C. 1913 Past and Present of Winneshiek County, Iowa. S.J. Clarke, Chicago. Bieder, Robert E. 1995 Native American Communities in Wisconsin, 1600-1960; A Study of Tradition and Change. The University of Wisconsin Press, Madison. Blair, Emma H., editor 1911 The Indian Tribes of the Upper Mississippi Valley and Region of the Great Lakes, as Described by Nicolas Perrot, French Commandant in the Northwest, Bacqueville de la Potherie, French Royal Commissioner to Canada, Morrell Marston, American Army Officer, and Thomas Forsyth, United States Agent at Fort Armstrong. Arthur H. Clark, Cleveland. Burnett, Mary Wilcox 1994 Child of the Sun. ed. Edward Dudley Berwick and Megan Berwick. Sum-each Publishing, Los Altos, California. Castile, George Pierre 1981 Issue in the Analysis of Enduring Cultural Systems, pps. xv-xxii. In Persistent Peoples: Cultural Enclaves in Perspective. Ed. George Pierre Castile and Gilbert Kushner. University of Arizone Press, Tucson. Church, Els a 2000 Letter to Cindy Peterson. December 20. Details contents of Hewitt family bible, including divorce proceedings between Joseph and Sarah Hewitt, Letter on file, Office of the State Archaeologist, The University of Iowa, Iowa City. Clayton, James Leroy 1964 The American Fur Company: The Final Years. Unpublished Ph.D Thesis. Cornell University, Ithaca, New York. 1966 The Growth and Economic Significance of the AmericanFur Trade, 1790-1890. Minnesota History 40:210-220. Colton, Kenneth E. 1938 Father Mazzuchelli's Iowa Mission. Annals of Iowa 21:297-315. Diedrich, Mark, compiler 1991 Winnebago Oratory: Great Moments in the Recorded Speech of the Hochungra, 1742-1887. Coyote Books, Rochester, Minnesota. Douglass, Truman O. 1911 Pilgrims of Iowa. The Pilgrim Press, Boston. Finchford Community Bible Church Ladies Aid, distributors 1954 Over 100 Years In and Around Finchford. Finchford, Iowa, MPS Form 10-900-B 0M8 Approval NO. 1024-0018 (S-B61 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number Page 62 Northeast Iowa
Fletcher, J. E., Subagent 1847 Letter to Major Thomas H. Harvey, Superintendent of Indian Affairs, St. Louis. June 20. Typewritten copy on file Reque Collection, Presus Library, Luther College, Decorah, Iowa. Friedrich, Judith M., compiler 1980 And So They Came...to Bloomfield Township. Bloomfield Township Historical Society. Copy on file, State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines. Friend, The 1843 Tribes of Indians West of the Mississippi. The Friend, 23 December. Galland, I. 1840 Gotland's Iowa Emigrant: Containing a Map, and General Descriptions of Iowa Territory. Wm. C. Jones, Chillicothe, Ohio. Reprinted by the State Historical Society of Iowa. Goddard, A. L. 1921 Biography of Josiah Goddard, Sr., and a Sketch of Pioneer Days. Manuscript dated 1 March 1921. Copy on file, State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines, Fort Atkinson State Park Papers. n.d. Ft. Atkinson History and Biographies of Josiah and Hannah Goddard. The Ossian Bee. Copy on file, Reque Collection, Presus Library, Luther College, Decorah, Iowa. Probably dates to ca. 1920. Goddard, H. J. 1905 Washington Township: Some of the Trials of Pioneering. In Atlas of Winneshiek County, Iowa. Anderson and Goodwin, Davenport, Iowa, Section 11:9-10. 1923a Discription of Fort Atkinson, Iowa. Manuscript dated 12 December. Original on file, State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines, Fort Atkinson State Park Papers. 1923b Reminiscences of Fort Atkinson Back to 1849. The Decorah Journal, December 1. Green, William, editor 1988 Archaeological and Paleoenvironmental Studies in the Turkey River Valley, Northeastern Iowa. Research Papers Vol. 13, No. 1. Office of the State Archaeologist, University of Iowa, Iowa City. Green, William, and Carl A. Merry 1988 The Location of the Turkey River Winnebago Agency Complex. In Archaeological and Paleoenvironmental Studies in the Turkey River Valley, Northeastern Iowa, edited by W. Green, pp. 228-248. Research Papers Vol. 13, No. 1. Office of the State Archaeologist, University of Iowa, Iowa City. Hancock, J. W. 1842 Annual Report of the Winnebago Census. August 30. Microcopy pages 89-90. In The United States Department of State, Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, the Turkey River Agency. Microcopy 23'4, Roll 862. U.S. National Archives and Records Service, Washington, D.C. Hewitt, Elizabeth 1856 Typewritten copy of Quit Claim Deed, relinquishing rights of dower to Joseph Hewitt. Original in Book A:91, Cerro Gordo County Court House, Mason City, Iowa. Copy on file, Office of the State Archaeologist, The University of Iowa. Hexom, Charles Philip 1913 Indian History of Winneshiek County, Iowa. A. K. Bailey, Decorah, Iowa. Hill, Edward E. 1974 The Office of Indian Affairs, 1824-1880: Historical Sketches. Clearwater, New York. Hovde, David M. 1979 A Study of the Development and Maintenance of Legends Concerning the Neutral Ground Period in Northeast Iowa. M.A. Thesis, Department of Anthropology, Wichita State University. NFSForm 10-900-a OMB Approval No. 1024-0013 18-861 United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number I Page 63 Northeast Iowa
| Howe, Henry 1848 Historical Collections of Ohio. Derby, Bradley, and Company, Cincinnati. Huber, G. H. 1924 History of Old Mission. Reprinted in Saint Anthony of Padua Chapel Newsletter, June 1993. Inter-State Publishing 1882 History of Clayton County, Iowa. Inter-State Publishing, Chicago. IMACS 1992 Jntermountain Antiquities Computer System Users Guide. Prepared jointly by the University of Utah, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, and the U.S. Forest Service. Ms. on file, Department of Anthropology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City. I Iowaz 2001a Fayette and Westfield Iowa: Time-Line of History, 1830-1849. http://wvw.angelfire.com/ia/fayette2/fayettel830.htm 2001b The Mission Road, 1940. http://www.angelfire.conVia/fayette2/nussionroad.htm r 2001c Rlyria Township, Fayette County,lowa:1878 History. http://vAvw.angeLfiTe.coni/ia/fayette2/1878iIlyria.htm 2001d Chats with Old Timers, http://www.angelfire.conVia/favette2/chatstimeline.htm#a Jacobson, Edna 1921 History of the Log Cabin. In Our Thomas and Goddard Families in America: Part II Our Goddard Family, pp, 42-43, by I W. Markham Morton and Marie E, Covington, 1971. Jones, George Wallace 1845 Sketch of the Public Surveys in Iowa Territory. Smith and McCelland. On file, State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa City. Kappler, Charles J., editor 1904 Indian Affairs: Laws and Treaties. U. S. Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C. Kay, Jeanne f 1985 Native Americans in the Fur Trade and Wildlife Depletion. Environmental Review 9(2): 118-130. Kearney, S. W. 1845 Map of the March of Company B, 1" Dragoons from Fort Atkinson to Fort Snelling and Return in July and August, 1844. National Archives Cartographic Division, Records of the War Department, Office of the Chief Engineer, Civil Works Map File, RG 77, File Q22. Reproduced in Archeological Investigation of the Fort Atkinson Locality Associated with a Proposed Wastewater Treatment Facility, City of Fort Atkinson, Winneshiek County, Iowa, pp. 127, edited by David G. Stanley, BCA 85. Bear Creek Archeology, Decorah, Iowa. Kittleson, Kenneth K., and Raymond I. Dideriksen 1968 Soil Survey of Winneshiek County, Iowa. Soil Conservation Service, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C. Klimesh, Cy 2000 E-mail correspondence "More on madhouse." December 7. Pertaining to letters between Klimesh and Frank Kapler. Copy of e-mail on file, Office of the State Archaeologist, The University of Iowa, Iowa City. Kucera, Stephen J. n.d. History of St. John's Church, Fort Atkmsori, Iowa. PampMet. Copy on ^ Lawson, Publius V. 1907 The Winnebago Tribe of Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Archeologist (o.s.)12 (l):l-79. Lewis, Oscar 1966 The Effects of White Contact upon Blackfoot Culture with Special Reference to the Role of the Fur Trade. Monographs of the American Ethnological Society No. 6. University of Washington Press, Seattle.
t :}f.' NPSForm 1O-90O-a OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 (8-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number \ Page 64 Northeast Iowa
Lucas, Robert 1840 Annual Report to Commission of Indian Affairs. October. Ms. on file. Manuscripts Division, State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa City. Lurie, Nancy Oestreich 1960 Winnebago Protohistory. In Culture and History: Essays in Honor of Paul Radin, edited by Stanley Diamond, pp. 790-808. Columbia University Press, New York. 1966 A Check List of Treaty Signers by Clan Affiliation. Journal of the Wisconsin Indians Research Institute 2(l):50-79. 1978 Winnebago. In Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 15, Northeast, edited by Brace G. Trigger, pp. 690-707. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, D. C. Mahan, Bruce E. 1922 The School on Yellow River. The Palimpsest 5:446-452. 1926 Old Fort Crawford and the Frontier. Athens, Iowa City. Merry, Carl A. 1988 Pioneer Agricultural Settlement in Jackson and Washington Townships, Winneshiek County. In Archaeological and Paleoenvironmental Studies in the Turkey River Valley, Northeastern Iowa, edited by William Green, pp. 217-228. Research Papers 13(1). Office of the State Archaeologist, The University of Iowa, Iowa City. Merry, Carl A., and William Green 1989 Sources for Winnebago History in Northeastern Iowa, 1837-1848. Journal of the Iowa Archaeological Society 36:1-8. Messerly, Lila, and Robert Messerly 1969 The Turkey Foot: An Indian, Pioneer, and Natural History. No publisher Usted. Mitchell, Susan L. 1989 The Hewitts of Athens County, Ohio. S. L. Mitchell, Westland, Michigan. Morton, W. Markham, and Marie E. Covington 1971 Our Thomas and Goddard Families in America: Part II Our Goddard Family. No publisher Usted. Partial copy on file at Office of the State Archaeologist, The University of Iowa. Possibly from a Goddard Family newsletter entitled "Mort's Relations" 5(3). Morton, W. Markham .•••" '.r' 1971 What is Ginseng? In Our Thomas and Goddard Families in America: Part II Our Goddard Family, pp 46-47, by W. Markham Morton and Marie E. Covington, 1971. Nichols, Roger L. 1965 The Founding of Fort Atkinson. The Annals of Iowa 37:589-597. ;...• Office of the Secretary of State 1981 Plat maps. Secretary of State, Land Office. WPA copy of original survey plat maps (3 volumes), State Archives, Iowa State Historical Department, Division of Historical Museum and Archives;, Des Moines. Microfilm on file, Office of the State Archaeologist, The University of Iowa, Iowa City. Olmsted, David n.d. David Olmsted papers, bibliography, 1843-1854. Transcribed from the Minnesota Historical Museum by Sigurd Reque. Copy on file, Reque Collection, Presus Library, Luther College, Decorah, Iowa. Orr, ElUson 1935 Diaries, Maps of Indian Trails, and Early Settlement Trails. Orr Collection. Box 13, Folder 16. Manuscripts Division, State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa City. 1940 The Neutral Ground, The Old Military Road, and The Half-Way House: A Tale of Cause and Effect. 5 pg. manuscript in Sundry Historical Papers, March 21, 1940. Copy on file, State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa City. Microfilm 35, Reel 2, Volume 9. n.d. Map of Yellow River. Orr Collection. Box 2, Folder 10. Manuscripts Division, State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa City. NPSForm1C-900-a OMB Approval No. 1Q24-001S I8-B6) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet i- Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number I Page 65 Northeast Iowa
Oslund, Jerome R. 1940 League Notes. Decorah Journal July 4. Otting, Loras C. 2001 Subject: Winnebago Mission. February 16. E-mail communication to Cindy Peterson. Two postings, same day. On file, Office of the State Archaeologist, The University of Iowa, Iowa City. Peske, G. Richard 1971 Winnebago Cultural Adaptation to the Fox River Waterway. Wisconsin Archeologist 52(2): 62—70. Peterman, T. S. 1902a Fayette County in the Fifties. The West Union Argo. October 1, 1902b Joe Hewitt, Pioneer7. The Clear Lake Mirror. October 16. Petersen, William J. 1960a Moving the Winnebago into Iowa. Iowa Journal of History 58:357—376. 1960b The Winnebago. The Palimpsest 16(7):338. Peterson, Cynthia L. 1995 The Turkey River Winnebago Subagency (I3WH111), 1840-1848: An Archaeological Investigation of Locus A and Surrounding Subagency-Era Sites. Contract Completion Report 441. Office of the State Archaeologist, The University of Iowa, Iowa City. 1997 Sand Road Heritage Corridor, Johnson County, Iowa: Archaeology and History of Indian and Pioneer Settlement. Contract Completion Report 492. Office of the State Archaeologist, The University of Iowa, Iowa City. 1999 The Hewitt-Olmsted Trading Post and Goddard Farmstead, Site I3WH160, Winneshiek County, Iowa. Copy on file, Fort Atkinson City Museum, Fort Atkinson, Iowa. Peterson, Cynthia L., and Alan Becker 2001 Neutral Ground Archaeology: GIS Predictive Modeling, Historic Document Microfilm Indexing, and Field Investigations at I840s-era Sites in Winneshiek County, Iowa. Contract Completion Report 805. Office of the State Archaeologist, The v University of Iowa, Iowa City. Price, Eliphalet 1870 Scene in the Early History of Iowa: The Conquest of Sodom. The Annals of Iowa %{4)\109—315. Radin, Paul 1923 The Winnebago Tribe. In The 37th Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology for the Years I91S-I9I6. pp. 33- 550. Library of Congress, Washington, D. C. Reque, Sigurd 1944 History of Old Fort Atkinson. Fort Atkinson Research File, Ms. 173. Ms. on file, Library Archives Bureau, State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa City. 1938 The Early History of Winneshiek County. Decorah Public Opinion and The Decorah Journal, joint special issue. August .v. 25. 1930+ Assorted typewritten transcriptions from National Archives documents. Series Hi, Boxes 3-4. Preuss Library, Luther College, Decorah, Iowa. Richards, Patricia B. 1993 Winnebago Subsistence—Change and Continuity. Wisconsin Archeologist 1A (I-4):272-289.
.,
7 This article is a verbatim reproduction of Peterman 1902a. NPSForm 10-900-a OMB Approval No. 1024-0018 18-86) United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places ' Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Meutral Ground Section number I Page 66 Northeast Iowa
Rogers, Leah D. 1993 Archaeological and Historical Survey of the Turkey River Subagency Site (13WH111) and Vicinity, Winneshiek County, Iowa. Contract Completion Report 379. Office of the State Archaeologist, The University of Iowa, Iowa City. j 2000 Early Settlement and Ethnic Archeological and Architectural Properties of Linn County, Iowa. National Register of Historic | Places, Multiple Property Documentation Form. On file, State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines. Rogers, Leah D., and Robert C. Vogel j 1989 Allamakee County, Iowa, Historic Archeology Overview. Bear Creek Archeology 6. Bear Creek Archeology, Decorah, Iowa. 1 Russell, Terry, editor 1985 Messages from the President on the State of the Fur Trade, 1824-1832. Ye Galleon Press, Fairfield, Washington. Sagard-Theodat, Gabriel j 1939 Father Gabriel Sagard: The Long Journey to the Country of the Hurons [1632]. George M. Wrong, editor. Champlain i Society, Toronto. Schoolcraft, Henry R. f. 1847 Information Respecting the History, Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States. Volume 3, [ Ethnological Research Respecting the Red Man in America. Lippincott, Grambo, Philadelphia. 1854 Information Respecting the History, Condition and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United States. Volume 4, f Ethnological Research Respecting the Red Man in America. Lippincott, Grambo, Philadelphia. j Smith, David Lee, and Betsy Feldkamp-Price ' 1994 Winnebago Myths and Legends: A Cultural Guide. Nebraska Indian Community College, Winnebago, Nebraska. Sparks, Charles H. J 1877 History of Winneshiek County, Iowa. James Alexander Leonard, Decorah. { Spector, Janet D. 1974 Winnebago Indians, 1634-1829: An Archeological and Ethnohistoric Investigation. Ph.D. Dissertation, Department of i Anthropology, University of Wisconsin. I 1975 Crabapple Point (Je93): An Historic Winnebago Indian Site in Jefferson County, Wisconsin. The Wisconsin Archeologist 56(4):270-346. Spicer, Edward H. I 1962 Cycles of Conquest: The Impact of Spain, Mexico, and the United States on the Indians of the Southwest, 1533-1960. 5 University of Arizona Press, Tucson. 1980 The Yaquis: A Cultural History. University of Arizona Press, Tucson. . I Stanley, David G. { 1998 Phase I Cultural Researce Survey of the X20 Road Realignment Project in Union City Township and French Creek Township, Allamakee County, Iowa. BCA 682. Bear Creek Archeology, Decorah, Iowa * j Stanley, David G., editor { 1992 Archeological Investigation of the Fort Atkinson Locality Associated with a Proposed Wastewater Treatment Facility, City of Fort Atkinson, Winneshiek County, Iowa.BC A 85. BearCreekArcheology, Decorah, Iowa. 1993 National Register Nomination Form: Fort Atkinson, Iowa On file, State Historical Society of Iowa, Des Moines. Stanley, David G., and Robert Vogel 1990 The Archeology of Clayton County, Iowa: An Overview and Research Guide. Vol. I. BCA 6. Bear Creek Archeology, Decorah, Iowa. j Stanley, Lori A., and David G. Stanley | 1986 The Archeology of Allamakee County, Iowa: An Overview and Research Guide. Vol. I/II. Project HCRC 92. Highland Cultural Research Center. Highlandville, Iowa. NFS Form 10-9OO-a QMS Approval Wo. 1024-OOre (8-E6J i • United States Department of the Interior National Park Service
National Register of Historic Places Continuation Sheet Historic Archaeological Resources of the Neutral Ground Section number I Page 67 Northeast Iowa
Street, Ida M. 1899 A Chapter of Indian History Annals of Iowa. 3(8):601-623. Trennert, Richard A. 1981 Indian Traders on the Middle Border: The House of Ewing. University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln. Turner, Katherine C. 1951 Red Men Calling on the Great White Father. University of Oklahoma, Norman. United States Department of State. n.d. Documents Relating to the Negotiation of Ratified and Unratified Treaties with Various Indian Tribes, 1801-1869. Record Group 75, T494, Roll 4. U. S. National Archives and Records Service, Washington, D. C. 1967a Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, the Turkey River Agency. Microcopy 234, Roll 862. U.S. National Archives and Records Service, Washington, D.C. 1967b Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, the Turkey River Agency. Microcopy 234, Roll 863. U.S. National Archives and Records Service, Washington, D.C. Van der Zee, Jacob 1915 The Neutral Ground. Iowa Journal of History and Politics 13(3):3Il-348. Western Historical 1878 The History of Fayette County, Iowa. Western Historical, Chicago. Wheeler, J. H. 1910 History of Cerro Gordo County, Iowa. Lewis Publishing, Chicago. Williams, John Fletcher 1880 Memoir of Hon. David Olmsted. Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul. Project Summary and Recommendations
The Fort Atkinson Historic Preservation Commission and the Office of the State Archaeologist of Iowa conducted a multifaceted research project related to the archaeological and archival resources of Iowa's Neutral Ground. Indexing of 1840s governmental correspondence was begun (see Appendix II). A total of 553 pages from two microcopy rolls of correspondence entitled, "Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, the Turkey River Agency" (United States Department of State 1967a, 1967b) was subjected to indexing. This undertaking is seen as only a first step in making this valuable research tool more accessible to all persons interested in this period of Iowa's history. Indexing allows a quick sort or filter by keyword, personal name, or place name. For example, should a thorough study of efforts to move the Winnebagos into Minnesota be researched, the keyword "removal" would list all pertinent documents. Likewise, the indexing may be used for research into specific people or events, such as governmental efforts to destroy canoes (keyword "canoe"), in an attempt to prevent Winnebagos from returning to Wisconsin. Continued indexing is recommended. In addition to the microcopy rolls, two additional sources of information were identified and could not be reviewed for the purposes of this investigation. Perusal for Neutral Ground information is recommended. The Minnesota Historical Society holds the following items, which are not available for Interlibrary Loan: • Olmsted/1843-1860 David Olmsted Papers, manuscriptions collection microfilm A/M 051 • Ewing/1847-1882 William G. Ewing and George W. Ewing papers, manuscript collection microflim A/M E95 Additionally, the Indiana State Library, Indianapolis has an extensive Ewing collection. The Ewings had several trading posts within the Neutral Ground, one of which was managed by David Olmsted. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data layers were created (ArcView GIS ver. 3.2) and contain predicted site locations related to the Winnebago occupation of Iowa (see Appendix VII). These layers are available from the OSA and are compatible with Iowa Site File data. Predicted site locations of legal and illegal trading posts, villages, Winnebago maple sugaring camps, burials, and other related sites are included. Archaeological investigation, beginning with pedestrian survey, is recommended at all predicted Winnebago-era locations as shown in the GIS. As more predicted site locations are uncovered through continued microfilm indexing and other archival research, additions or modifications should be made to this database. Several sites were subjected to archaeological survey, including the Hewitt-Olmsted Trading Post (site 13WH160), an early settler's cellar (site 13WH174), and several probable Winnebago villages and/or their components (sites 13WH157-158, 13WH173). Field methodologies within the 1.47-ha (3.63-acre) project area ranged from surface collection to test unit excavation. Sites 13WH160 and 13WH173 were found to contain in situ subsurface remains. Given the integrity of the sites and their importance to local, regional, and national history issues, both sites are recommended eligible to the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion D. In addition, site 13WH160 is recommended eligible under Criterion B, due to its relationship to David Olmsted, an 1860s Minnesota political leader. Further work is recommended at sites 13WH157, 13WH158, and 13WH174, to determine if in situ deposits are present. However, based on the presence of Neutral-Ground era cultural materials at these sites, all three are recommended potentially eligible to the NRHP under Criterion D and their potential to yield significant new information regarding Winnebago lifeways during the 1840s. Acknowledgments
This project could not have occurred without the commitment of the Fort Atkinson Historic Preservation Commission to understanding and preserving the history of the area. Alan Becker of the Commission was on-site almost daily. He provided historic information, mobilized and organized large-scale volunteer support, and is an endless source of contagious enthusiasm. Other members of the Commission were equally supportive with volunteer time to the project. These included Commission Chairperson Myles Kupka, Mary Moser, LuAnne Becker, Marie Riha, and Janet Reis. The City of Fort Atkinson provided use of the City Museum/Library meeting room for evening lectures, and the basement of the fire station for cleaning of the artifacts. City maintenance personnel, Al and Sue Blong, made sure the facilities were ready each day for use by the class. The landowners of each site were gracious in allowing large numbers of people to excavate in their pastures and cultivated fields. Ted Schmitt owns the trading post site, and provided much useful information about the history of his property. Carol and Roger Riehle own the property on which sites 13WH157, 13WH173, and 13WH174 are located. Shane Riehle, son of Carol and Roger, farms these site areas and was happily tolerant of our extended intrusion. Mrs. Phil (Eleanor) Huber owns the site 13WH158-project area. Elsa Church, Susan Mitchell, and Molly Keally have all conducted extensive research on the Hewitt family. W. Markham Morton and Marie E. Covington have documented the Goddard family genealogy. Cy Klimesh graciously furnished historical information about the area around site 13WH173. Other volunteers assisted with field excavations and artifact processing. Volunteers included Kelly Baumler, Lisa Becker, Amanda Best, Brady Billiet, Nancy Bolson, John Burns, Dean Byerly, Phyllis Byerly, Brian Carthey, Nicole Dunkee, Jason Emerson, Nan Fox, Megan Hagenauer, Marcia Hampton, Harvey Houck, Lorrain Houck, Susan Jacobsen, Leah Johanfeabrul, Gabe Klimesh, Mary Klimesh, Peg Klimesh, Alois Kovarik, Marcelle Kovarik, Allyson Lane, Amanda Lensing, Jennifer Lensing, Natalie Lensing, Craig Malvern, John McLure, Matt McLure, Bob Meyer, Sara Nelson, Brian Nymeyer, Andrew Reicks, Donald Riha, Calla Sarnek, Amy Satrom, Austin Satrom, Cole Satrom, Jared Satrom, Jan Siefken, Amber Smith, Erica Smith, Ann Thomas, Maria Upmeyer, Nancy Upmeyer, Marie Worstad, and Michelle Wyss. A large volume of local media coverage was generated by this project, a portion of which is reproduced here in Appendix VI. Students enrolled in the course "Archaeological Field Methods and American Indian Concerns" through the Department of Anthropology and the American Indian and Native Studies Program at The University of Iowa conducted much of the fieldwork. These students included Kristin Carthey, Kyla Christensen-Szalanski, Sam Dowd, Howard Fan, Steve Graham, Jenelle Groza, Lisa Kelley, Clare Kernek, David Lee, Luther Leith, Gary Oppenheim, Joanna Noyer, and Katie Swank. Kristin Carthey and Lisa Kelley assisted in artifact cataloguing long after the fieldwork was completed. Appendix I
National Archeological Data Base Form Appendix II
National Archives Microfilm Indexing Indexing of Roll 862 (United States Department of State, 1967a; "Letters Received by the Office of Indian Affairs, the Turkey River Agency"). Pg Trans- Date Date of To: From: Personal Names Place Names Keywords Synopsis criber Document ^ ^ 3-4 CCP 6/23/00 Dec. 19, John G. William But!?v ••one none petition Committee on Indian Affairs wants more information on petition 1842 Sh , member of
Related Project Correspondence THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA
November 17, 2000
Nancy Lurie 3317 West Colony Drive Milwaukee, WI 53221-2111
Dear Dr. Lurie:
I am writing on behalf of myself and Bill Green to thank you for the 1859 Cerro Gordo Press clipping that pertains to the life of trader Joseph Hewitt and his interactions with the Winnebagos. This clipping will be added to the OSA Neutral Ground archives, for use in future research.
I was also interested in your source. Would it be appropriate for me to contact Ms. Molly Keally? This past summer, the University of Iowa conducted an archaeological field school at the site of Joseph Hewitt's trading post near Fort Atkinson. I thought she might be interested in our findings. Additionally, I would appreciate any familial information she could provide about Hewitt. Please let me know the best way to contact Ms. Keally.
Thank you again.
Sincerely,
Cindy Peterson Project Archaeologist [email protected]
Office of the State Archaeologist 700 Clinton St. Bldg. Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1030 319/384-0724 FAX 319/384-0768 General Contracts Program 2525 South Shore Drive, #3-F, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53207 Tel. (414) 769-6623
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From: [email protected] X-PH: [email protected] Date: Wed, 29 Nov 2000 23:53:31 EST Subject: Re: Hewitt Trading Post To: [email protected] X-Mailer: Windows AOL sub 115
In a message dated 11/29/2000 1:45:54 PM Central Standard Time, [email protected] writes:
«e » You already know much more than I! But check with Elsa Church after you get the material which I'll get to the post office tomorrow. (Thursday). I have been to Ft. Atkinson. Guess I had just assumed Hewitt's farm remained in one location but it did strike me as a long way from the Ft. and his trading customers. Sounds like he got tired of the trading post! I wonder what year the govt, survey was made in those parts. That may have something to do with his resettlement in Clayton Cty
I look forward to your report in the spring. Fascinating to reconstruct the past! Molly.
Printed for Cindy Peterson
To: [email protected] From: Cindy Peterson
Dear Molly,
Thank you so much for the clippings. I presume you would like them returned. The other option is, after I am finished, they could be donated to the Fort Atkinson Historical Society, which maintains a small library related to NE Iowa historical research.
The will of Moses Hewitt was new to me, as was one of the newspaper articles, and the 1848 Ohio history. These provided quite a bit of useful information. Joseph Hewitt was quite a character.
Again, I will reserve a copy of our final report for you.
Cindy Peterson
Printed for Cindy Peterson
From: [email protected] X-PH: [email protected] Date: Mon, 4 Dec 2000 14:42:08 EST Subject: Re: Hewitt clippings To: [email protected] X-Mailer: Windows AOL sub 115
Glad you found a few useful tidbits re Hewitt. I would be very glad if you would donate the clippings to wherever you think best. Elsa Church, trying to trim down her genealogy files, send them to me. ;She was hoping I could find the rest of the Peterman articles on Iowa history, which were apparently published in various local newspapers around 1900.1 told her I could not but would look for a suitable place for the ones she had saved over the years. I guess you have it!
As I think about that trading post I wonder if it was not in a downhill slide by 1843. Surely the Turkey and Volga Rivers must have been picked pretty clean of beavers by then! I wonder what else Hewitt might have been trading for. I'll have to ask my friend Nancy Lurie! He may not have cared for farming (as my grandmother said) but the Yankee tradition of real estate appreciation did not escape his notice! He died with a number of lots in the city of Clear Lake, as well as farmland. I cannot recall if I sent you a copy of the inventory of his estate. If not, I'd be glad to. Molly
Printed for Cindy Peterson
November 28, 2000
Elsa Church 1116 Femwood Drive Schenectady, NY 12309
Dear Ms. Church:
Molly Kealy suggested I contact you regarding the Hewitt family. This past summer I taught the University of Iowa archaeological field school at the site of Joseph Hewitt's 1840 to 1843 trading post near Fort Atkinson, Iowa. I am hoping to acquire more information about Mr. Hewitt during his time in Iowa. I have copies of the various county history books, but very little in the way of genealogy, newspaper clippings, or correspondence.
I have just mailed a letter to Susan Mitchell requesting a copy of her book. I understand you contributed a great deal to this book. If you could direct me to any pertinent information related to Hewitt's trading post prior to his arrival in Clear Lake that is not covered in the Mitchell book, I would be most appreciative. I am happy to pay for photocopy costs and to provide you a copy of my finished report, as well as to provide accurate and appropriate citation for any information provided. The report is scheduled for completion in March.
Our excavations at the Hewitt trading post were very successful. Although no structures remain above the ground, foundations are present below ground. We had 13 students and many volunteers from across the state and country conducting excavations at the trading post for three weeks. Our artifact analysis is not yet complete, but I estimate we will catalogue over 14,000 artifacts from the site. These are mostly broken pieces of dishes, glass, and metal. Some of the more interesting items are flintlock gun parts and glass trade beads.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Cindy Peterson Project Archaeologist
Office of the State Archaeologist 700 Clinton St. Bldg. Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1030 319/384-0724 FAX 319/384-0768 General Contracts Proeram 1116 Fernwood Drive Schenectady, NY 12309-2708 Tel. 518-37^5965
December 20, 2000
Ms. Cindy Peterson Project Archaeologist 700 Clinton St. Bldg Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1030
Dear Ms. Peterson:
I was delighted to hear from you November 28, and a bit apologetic for not having answered sooner. For years I have been pursuing old Joe Hewit (Hewitt), my husband's great grandfather. When Susan Mitchell was writing her book, I gave her all the hard facts in my posession. By now, you probably have aal that Molly's mother told me.
From my husband's Aunt Ethel (Elder) White, I received the following; * A partial Bible... printed in Philadelphia, n.d. She called it the Hewitt Bible... Old and new Testament... old (with huge holed leather cover. I discarded half of its innards, after carefully examining each page for possible notations. I kept 2pp of Family Records (customarily in the center of most Bibles). The entries of births and deaths were in various handwritings proving Morley-Hickman- Hewitt relationships. * Loose in the Bible was a page of Morley entries: David Morley's children and Matthew Marvin Morley's children. t A marriage certification of Joseph Hewitt and Harriett K. Morley, 12 October 1857 signed by J. W. Rogers, County Judge, Fayette Co. la. * A^yped^ivofce of Joseph Hewitt and his wife Sarah at Mason City* la. 19 June I857. Gase before Samuel Murdock, Judge. * Half a sheetof resignation of Joseph Hewit, signed in Amej^sville, 24 Jan. 1829. from Ohio State Militia. * Warranty deed Hewitt to Harton and Hale. Clear Lake. $1500. * Portrait of Joseph Hewitt; portrait of son Joseph Carper Hewitt. Thia ^pmplrtes my holdings, except for clippings, which I'll mail as soon as I find time to duplicate them. Christmas takes my free time! 1116 Fernwood Drive Schenectady, New York 12309-2708 Tel. 318-37^5965
January 9, 2001
Ms. Cindy Peterson Project Archaeologist 700 Clinton St. Bldge Ibway City, Iowa 52242-1030
Dear Ms. Peterson: FINALLy - The clippings I promised you. You may keep all of them, incomplete though some of them are. I have duplicated a set for Molly and one for myself. If I lived in Iowa, I would pursue the missing issues, etc. etc. Also I would read up on Joe Hewitt's contemporaries fpr possible fragments.
All of the clippings came from Ethel Elder White, granddaughter of Joe Hewitt, by his 3rd wife, ZhnxlKllKvJUxLkitKx Harriet King Morley. Ethel was born 8 Feb. 1880; m. 20 Feb. 1907, d. ca 1973. Gifted to me years ago.
Two front pages of Gordo Press and Clear Lake Mirror, I859 and 1902 remain to be sent to you. They have a lot of "holes" but I no longer have the originals. Just fell apart when reproducaed by me, I guess.
Clippings identified: Cerro Gordo Press - I859 Clear Lake Reporter - 1951 Clear Lake Mirror - 1940 Mason City Globe - 1928 Pioneer Days - 1910 (Mason City) Tiny Tales from Mason City's Past - 1928 Little Stories from Cerro Gordon's Past - 192fi I hope the material will be helpful to you. It certainly makes me want to put together my own thumb nail sketch of "Old Joe Hewitt." Meanwhile, you no doubt have bought fhe Hewitts of Athens County, Ohio by Susan L. Mitchell. THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA EH November 28, 2000
Susan L. Mitchell 34233 Shawnee Trail Westland,MI 48185
Dear Ms. Mitchell:
I am writing in hopes that you could direct me to a copy of your book The Hewitts of Athens County, Ohio. This past summer I taught the University of Iowa archaeological field school at the site of Joseph Hewitt's trading post near Fort Atkinson, Iowa. I am happy to share any information about the site that you might be interested in.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Cindy Peterson Project Archaeologist
Office of the State Archaeologist 700 Clinton St. Bldg. Iowa City, Iowa 52242-1030 319/384-0724 FAX 319/384-0768 General Contracts Program [email protected], 12:32 PM 01/03/01, Re: hewitt info
From: [email protected] X-PH: [email protected] Date: Thu, 1 Mar 2001 12:32:56 EST Subject: Re: hewitt info To: [email protected] X-Mailer: AOL 5.0 for Windows sub 117
Dear Cindy:
You are welcome to include any of our e-mail correspondence in your report,for whatever value it might have. As for the 1846 divorce in Ohio between Joseph Hewitt and Jane, I have no proof but would suppose that Jane was his first wife, mother of his son Moses and a daughter referrred to in a 1902 artlicle in the West Union Argo. You probably have a copy of that article. I might have sent it to you already but I will xerox it and put it into the mail, just in case.
>From what I have read about Joseph's father, Moses (Sr.) Joseph was kind of a chip off the old block; father had many frontier adventures, including capture by Indians and his eventual escape. This took place in the SE corner of Ohio in its very early settlement days. I think you will find an account about Moses in the material sent to you by Elsa Church. I get the feeling Joseph succombed to the lure of the frontier. (My grandmother was probably right and echoing her mothers feelings that Joseph "didn't care for farming." and preferred to hunt and fish.)
So, according to the Argo article, he abandoned his wife and children and eloped with district schoolteacher on the back of his horse, headed west. It seems probable to me that his wife might well have eventually divorced him. The idea of divorce seems improbable in the mid-19th century but perhaps it occurred more often than we realize. As a practical matter, Jane may have needed to be restored to the marriage market, so that she could re-marry, as a matter of self support.
So I assume Jane was wife No. 1. The Argo article says that after a few years in Iowa the schoolteacher wanted to go home, so Joseph Hewitt took her as close to home as seemed advisable and dropped her off.
I do not know, but if the story about him going to Washington to seek reimbursement for the costs of feeding the Winnebago Indians during a hard winter is true, maybe he dropped off the school teacher on the way to Washington. I certainly wonder where the photo Elsa has supplied you was taken. He looks to be no more than 50 years old, if that, which would date the photo in the mid- 1840s. I don't know when photographs would have been available, even daguerrotypes. Maybe made in Washington???
Printed for Cindy Peterson
According to what we know, the Mormon woman he befriended on his way back to Iowa and eventually married, "Big Lib" was his second wife, but she divorced him. It was probably difficult to find a farm -raised wife who wished to share the joys of a hunting and fishing life. But soon after "Big Lib" departed, he met, at age 63 or so my 19 year old great-grandmother, Harriet Morley. She stayed unil his death in 1865, eight years later. I will send you a copy of a photo of her taken in Washington, D.C. (where she was raised) as a very young lady - an unlikely companion for an old frontiersman. Maybe he had settled down in old age and bowed to the advancing settlement, becoming a founder of a pleasant lakeshore town and selling off town lots. He was getting a little old to farm anyway! The fishing would still have been good, and there were those 12 steel traps in his estate inventory! Certainly an interesting man.
I have probably repeated what I have related earlier and alot of it is speculation, but exise it to suit your purposes. I look forward to reading your report. If the site is viewable when warm weather comes my husband and I would like to drive over and see it, so we would appreciate knowing its location. Your project must now be nearly over. You are to be applauded for tieing together bits of history before they are lost to obscurity. Carry on! Sincerely, Molly Kealy
Printed for Cindy Peterson
COPY •cntory of Joseph Hewitt S3tate retaining original spoiling* This inventory was written " JUI poncil apparently later copied. Both copies are included in the closing papers of the estate. Wo the unckr eined do givs an cstimats of the property of tho discars Josoph Hwet One team and waggon ono cow one gun one bed and bedding ono table stove one lounco 3 chair crockery snd tin wars 6 In number 2 barrels 2 Rags one heating stove 2 stands 1 looking glae^ 1 table end cover one family blbls 3 trunks one lamp and candlestick - ono hoffr 3 yoars old one steer one year old ono calf ^ months old ono watch 2 feather beds b pillows one bolster — 2 qullta ono comforter 2 straw ticks 2 pillow cases «. 2 tablo cloaths 6 bed sheet3 12 steel traps
On file in tho Corro Gordo County Court House, Ilason City, Iowa [email protected], 09:00 AM 27/11/00, Winnebago site
To: [email protected] From: Cindy Peterson
Mr. Klimesh,
Thank you for your interest and information regarding the Univ. of Iowa field school near Fort Atkinson. I am particularly interested in the marriage of Frank Kapler's parents. Do you know approximately when they were married and a rough location for the roadhouse? I have never heard of this place either. You are correct about the village location—south of a draw, not too far south from the church.
We are hoping to have the University field school at the same location next summer, pending funding. We very much welcome volunteers. This past summer, we had over 100 volunteers who assisted with both digging and artifact washing in the Fort Atkinson fire station. Let me know if you are interested. Our summer was productive, and some university students are finishing up identifying artifacts. Looks like we have about 15,000 items, mostly broken, from the village and a trading post.
Cindy
Printed for Cindy Peterson
Bro. Samuel—
I believe this is the third time that I have within three months past commenced writing a letter to you but I gave it up on each occasion as a dry subject inasmuch as I had nothing to communicate that I believed would be interesting either to yourself or other of my Vermont friends. I suppose that Mother will barely know how to account for my long continued silence, But I can assure her that it is not because I am forgetful or because I have failed to be interested in the welfare of a parent, that I have so long neglected to write to her, but because I supposed you were all tired of reading long letters containing nothing but accounts of good health, good climate, good country, and expressions of good wishes. I have set down this time however, determined to write you a few lines, no so much to interest you as to clear my own conscience and if possible to obtain an answer. My health is very good and I have not been unwell a day since I wrote you last. Page has likewise been blessed with good health. As to my circumstances I shall not trouble you with an account of them as I expect (illegible first name of person) will move here in the spring and you may then learn from him all you may wish to know. Suffice it to say we have enough of the accessories of life which is about as much as the present hard times will admit. There is at present a great scarcity of money in this part of the country occasioned principally by the great depreciation of the paper currency in the western States and territories. The Bank of Mineral Point, the Mineral Bank of Dubuque, the Bank of Cairo, and the State Banks of Illinois and Indians whose notes furnished us with our principal currency, have all failed within the year past and left little but specie in circulation. The withdrawal of so much money from circulation has had the effect of reducing the prices of produce in proportion so that where pork was selling five years since for $12.00 per hundred it can now be bought for $1.50 or 2.00. Corn is now selling for 20 or 25 center per bushel. Wheat for 50, beans 60, oats 18 3A and other produce in proportion. Most kinds of dry goods can now be obtained as cheap here as in Vermont. The reduction in prices is not to be attributed wholly to the cause above mentioned but in part to the fact that the market is now much better supplied than in former times. There never has been since my residence here so good an opportunity for emigrants. I hope that (same first name as previously illegiuie) will by no means fail to come here this spring. My word for it he will never regret coming. If he was once situated in Iowa I do not believe he would be willing to remove to Vt. For any of your Fairfax (illegible word). Page seems to have no doubts of his coming and I anxiously hope he may not be disappointed. I wish you to tell him for me when you next see him that I am very anxious that he should come as soon as navigation opens and we will furnish him good quarters until he can better situate himself. I must reprove you for not sending me more papers of late. I hear of but little that is transpiring in Vermont nowadays except from the N.Y. and western papers, cannot you send me a paper as often as twice a month if you will you shall receive my hearty thanks. Mother, I can hardly redeem my promises that I would return to Vt. within 5 years—but if Providence continues to rain me with bodily health I will see you as soon as I can arrange my business so that I can leave without making too great a sacrifice.
1 Photocopy of original letters on file in the "David Olmsted" folder, Special Collections, State Historical Society of Iowa, Iowa City. The only modifications made to these transcripts are the addition of paragraph spacing by the present author, in an effort to make the letters more readable. In original format, the letters are each written as one long paragraph. Till then Dear Parent believe me as Your Ever Affectionate Son,
David Olmsted
Clayton Co.2 Feby 12th, A.D. 1844
Brother Samuel,
I received yours of July 23rd in 11 days from the time it was mailed and have delayed answering it as long as negligence could find an excuse. My health has been better for the year past than it has been at any other time since my abode in the west. The summer of 43 was a very healthy season throughout the valley of the Mississippi. This winter however the Small Pox is raging extensively in the lead mines. At Platteville it has been very fatal. It had not yet made it's appearance in this Co, but the inhabitants have mostly prepared for it by vaccination, I have been vaccinated for the 6th time without effect. We have had an unusually agreeable winter so far. The snow is about 8 inches deep and affords excellent sleighing. Last summer was a very dry season. From the 10th of June till the 5th of Sept. we had no rain and scarcely a cloudy day. Crops however were too far advanced to be injured much by the drought, and we had a plentiful harvest. The times have (illegible word) improved since I wrote you last. Prices have advanced, and good money is plentier since the downfall of our Rotten Banks. Corn is selling for cast at 37 Vz cts per bush wheat 62 Vi oats 25. Pork for $3.00 per cwt and other produce in proportion. Last spring we had a visit from Mr. J. Foster Brother in-law to R. B. Olmsted. He staid with us F. after he left but have not heard from Rufus since. Page had an attached of the ague last Sept which lasted him more than two months, but I am happy to say that he has entirely regained his health, and after I turn a leaf I will tell you that he is married and has thereby left me the only unmarried one out of a little (illegible word) than a score of Brothers & Sisters. The last Rose of Summer hangs blooming alone. Page is married to Widow Hannah Cummins of Clayton County Iowa and I will add, that he has in my opinion made a very good choice. Although amongst the paraphernalia there are three small children. I have been acquainted with Mrs. Cummins-No-Mrs. Olmsted for more than three years, and have always considered her as a very amiable woman. She emigrated from the State of N. York and was a widow a little more than a year. Her age I do not know but she looks some years younger than Page. She had some property which of course did not prove unacceptable. Mother wanted I should write more particular concerning my circumstances. I have lately made claims with Page, the claim which I now possess consists of 40 acres of timber and V* Sec. Of smooth prairie adjoining. There are two beautiful springs on the edge of the prairie. I have but 6 acres under cultivation which is 6 acres less than the claim I traded, though I have the rail to fence and shall break in the spring 14 acres more. I have about 60 small apple trees of my own raising. My stock consists of
This letter was obtained from the same source as the previously letter. A transcription of this letter is also found in the Reque Collection, Presus Library, Luther College. Reque's transcription (which follows this letter) gives an excellent example of the literary license the professor took, probably because he was viewing a massive amount of primary source data in the 1930s, when summarizing would have been necessary to expedite his research. Reques transcription should be used to obtain general knowledge, but not specific facts. 2 large yoke of oxen some hogs chickens etc. I have a new ox wagon a prairie plough and various other utensils not worth mentioning. I owe but little and have made a tolerable fair start so that I hope with the blessing of Providence to be able to provide something for a rainy day—I do not work very hard but this I need not have told you. You said in your last that hard work was wearing upon you or that Mother thought so, and Mother certainly ought to know. This reminded me how much easier you might be situated if you would sell your property in Vermont and purchase an estate in Iowa and how much better you might prepare for your children. Instead of wearing yourself out in cultivating an ungrateful soil you (illegible word) have abundance, with one fourth the labor which you bestow upon your cold and stoney ground. But enough of this, I was about to discourse a little to your but I will forbear, as I suppose it is of no use. There are no Indians at this time nearer to us than Fort Atkinson 36 miles, so that the timid souls who dare not venture onto the frontier for fear of the scalping knife may be relieved from all apprehension. We have preaching in our neighborhood once in two weeks. Methodist and Presbyterian alternately. The cause of Religion has not met with great success in this part of the country for the year past. There have been extensive revivals in almost every town. And Temperance, the handmaid of piety, has relaimed its thousands. Revd. Enos Wood formerly of N. Fairfax is stationed at Prairie du Chien. His brother R. R. Wood is preaching at Elgin 111. And Henry at Lancaster W. T. (Wisconsin Territory?). I have not heard from Vt. by letter since I received yours. But I have received a good many papers from you for which you will please accept my thanks. I have also received from Sisters Sarah and Eliza Ann. I hope you will continue to send them and if convenient increase the number. You wrote that Sanford Louie talked of paying us another visit. I shall expect him next spring and if he makes his appearance I shall take care that he does not leave me again so unceremoniously as he did in 1840. Neither do I think that he would be satisfied to make so short a stay as he did then. If convenient you may let him read this, and tell him to write me as soon as convenient. Tell Huldah to write too, and between them both send me all the items of interest that they can collect concerning my Fairfield acquaintances. Also, my Brothers Olmsted and Sister Baberek (?) and their families, as I have not heard from them for 4 years I hope that you and Mother will both write soon. Give my love to Sister Mary and Remember me to all such friends as have not forgotten me.
Adieu, David Olmsted
(Reque 1930+ transcription of the previous letter)
Clayton County February 12, 1844 Brother Samuel,
Received yours of July 23 in 11 days (from the time it was mailed). Health very fine in the summer of 1843—very healthy season in the Mississippi Valley. This winter, however, Small Pox is ragin in the Lead Mines. At. Plattville very fatal. Has not reached Clayton County yet. Inhabitants are prepared for it. Olmsted had been vaccinated 6 times without effect. Unusually agreeable winter. About 8 inces of snow. Excellent sleighing. Summer of 1843 was a very dry season. From June 10 to Sept. 5 there was no rain. Crops so advanced, however. Not injured much. Times improved since downfall of Rotten banks. Corn 3714, wheat 62Yz, Oats 25, Pork $3 cwt. Phineas P. Omsted is married. To a widow Hannah Cummins of Clayton County, la. In my opinion a very good choice. Although amongst the paraphernalia are three small children. Have known her for more than 3 years. A very amiable woman. From New York state. A widow a little more than a year. Her age I do not know. Looks some years younger than Page. She had some property which of course did not prove unacceptable. Troubled claims with Page. The claim I now have 40 acres of timber with %-section of smooth prairie adjoining. Two beautiful springs on the edge of the prairie. Have but 6 acres under cultivation. Have rails to fence. Shall break in spring 14 acres more. Have about 60 small apple trees of my own raising. 2 large yoke of oxen, some hogs, chickens, etc. I have a new ox wagon, a prairie plough and other utensils. I owe but little. Urges friends to come to Iowa. Quite different from ungrateful soil of Vermont, lA the labor. There are no Indians at this time nearer to us than Fort Atkinson, 35 miles away. So that the timid souls who dare not venture onto the frontier for fear of the scalping knife may be relieved from all apprehension. We have preaching every 2 weeks. Methodist and Presbyterian alternating. Rev. E. B. Wood, Methodist stationed at Prairie du Chien. Temperance the hand maid of piety has reclaimed its thousands.
Washington City3 July 7th 1848
Dear Mother, Brother, & Sister (in Fairfax, Franklin County, Vermont),
I believe that I dated my last letter to you from this city and you will no doubt be surprised that I should write from here so soon again. I left Iowa on the 26th and arrived here yesterday morning. I came for the purpose of having my license to trade with the Indians in their new country. The prospect is that I shall have it all properly arranged with the Department tomorrow when I have leave directly for home. I came via Chicago, Buffalo, & N. York & shall probably return via Cincinnati and Saint Louis. At N York I called on the Hoyts & saw W. K.(illegible last name), Hannah, Fanny, and William. I also called at Cousin Phinus (?) in Baltimore. I saw his wife, but found that he was absent with his oldest son, on a visit to Vermont, where you will no doubt meet him. I suppose that Brother Page is now with you, and I deeply regret that (remainder of paragraph difficult to read). Mississippi, about 140 miles above Prairie du Chien. I was with them eighteen days. From Wabashaw I took a steamboat to Galena and from thence stage to Chicago.
(Cannot read last two sentences)
Your affectionate Son and Brother,
David Olmsted
3 Another photocopy of original letter available at the State Historical Society of Iowa (SHSI). No additional letters are available at the SHSI.
Appendix V
Memorandum of Agreement between the Ewings and Olmsted-Rhodes Oct. 14, 18474
Memorandum of an agreement made this fourteenth day of October, A.D. one thousand eight hundred and forty seven between W.G. and G.W. Ewing by their agent and lawful attorney Richard Chute of the one part and David Olmsted and Henry C. Rhodes of the other part. Witnesseth:
That the said Ewings hereby agree to give to said Olmsted and Rhodes an interest in the profit and loss of their Fort Atkinson Outfit, located among, and engaged in trade with the Winnebago tribe of Indians, upon the following terms and conditions, to wit:
1st. The present stock of goods on hand, except such as are not suited to, or required for, the ensuing year's trade, are to be invoiced at 25% advance on their original first cost in America; on which amount 8% advance is further to be added, which amount is to be assumed as the cost of the goods to the new outfit or concern, all loose property and silver works are to be retained at the post and to be invoiced as above, except articles in actual use which can be put in at their actual value.
2nd. On the total amount of the Invoice of Goods determined as above, W G. and G.W. Ewing are to charge interest at the rate of 6% per annum from the first day of March next.
3rd. The said Ewings are to furnish all the goods that may be deemed requisite for the prosecution of the trade of said outfit, at their original cost in America, with an advance of 25% added thereto, they paying all items of commission, insurance, cost of buying and transportation to, and charges at St. Louis, Mo. and the outfit, or joint interest hereby created, paying the insurance and transportation from St. Louis up the Mississippi River to the Trading Posts. Said Ewings to buy the Goods on the same terms and in the same manner they buy for their other Outfits; Cloths, Blankets, Worsted Yarn, North West Guns, and Knives, to be imported, general Dry Goods supplies to be bought in the eastern cities, and Groceries and in St. Louis; Olmsted and Rhodes to purchase nothing except horses and provisions such as have hitherto been purchased in Iowa or Prairie du Chien.
4th. W.G. and G.W. Ewing to open an account against the joint interest on their books at St. Louis, Mo., on which they are to charge the invoice of goods now on hand with interest after the first of March next as aforesaid; all invoices of goods purchased with 25% added; and all other amounts they pay out on account of said Outfit, except herein expressed, on which they are to charge interest at the rate of 6% annum from the date of the invoices of the goods bought and the time the other amounts are paid out.
5th. All returns or amounts of cash received at said outfit excepting only what is necessary to defray the ordinary expenses of the concern, buy provisions etc., shall be sent to said Ewings by said Olmsted and Rhodes at the joint expense to Saint Louis; all Furs and Skins and Buffalo Robes, if more are bought than can be sold at the outfit to Indians, collected, are also to be sent to said Ewings at St. Louis, where they are to receive them, and either allow the joint concern the St. Louis market price for the same at the time received; or sell them in that market and credit the outfit with the proceeds:—and all items of cash received, or Furs and Skins sent to them, they are to credit the concern with the same, in interest account at the rate of 6% per annum from the receipt thereof (or the proceeds) in St. Louis, -
4 This MOA was transcribed by Regue (1930+). It is presumed that the original is located with the W.G. and G.W. Ewing Papers, Indiana State Library, Indianapolis, or fromth e Minnesota Historical Society. —Yearly settlements of the affairs of the outfit to be made in St. Louis, say, after the fall payments, and any balance found due to said Ewings, shall be carried to a new account.
6th. W.G. and G.W. Ewing to determine the amount of goods to be furnished, the amount of credits to be made prior to the collection of their old debt due from said Indians, and the time of giving the same; and until said old debt is paid, and the removal contract executed the business of the outfit is to be done in their name as at present, and the goods to be sent under the same marks as heretofore.
7th. The contract for the removal of said Indians and the profits thereon reserved to said Ewings and their associates; and are not embraced in this agreement; and the said Olmsted and Rhodes hereby agree to further by their influence and proper endeavors, said Ewings interest in this regard; and also to assist in the collection of their debts due from the said Indians, their $700 claim and all other amounts that may be due to them through their former transactions at Fort Atkinson outfit, or ? from said removal contract, and to correctly account to, and pay over when received, and monies collected for them.
8th. If W.G. and G.W. Ewing should furnish funds to buy horses, or for other purposes connected with said outfit, they are to be allowed an advance on all such amounts of 20% annum from the time they furnish the same until refunded.
9th. W.G. and G.W. Ewing to pay a fair proportion of "Simeo's" wages for his aid, in collecting their Winnebago claims.
10th. The entire management of the trade generally (the foregoing reservation excepted) to be left to the said Olmsted and Rhodes; W.G. and G.W. Ewing reserving the right to control only when it would conflict with their interest in the Removal and Provision contract, or the collection of their old claims against the Winnebagoes~and it is understood that the outfit is to be conducted in as economical a manner as practicable, consistent with the successful prosecution of the trade.
11th. During the continuance of this agreement, the said Olmsted and Rhodes, or either of them, are not to embark in any trade or speculation not connected with the joint interest and strictly appertaining to the business of the outfit, without the concurrence of all parties hereto; but are to devote their entire time to the trade of the outfit,--01msted to go East this winter, or at any other time when he thinks that he can be spared from the outfit.
12th. Strict and accurate accounts, Cash, Memorandum, and all other Books and papers, necessary to show full and complete statements of all business done by each party hereto, are to be kept, and at all times to be open to the inspection of all interested or their authorized agents.
13th. Profit and loss, after paying all liabilities to said Ewings and others, shall be shared as follows; 1/3 to W.G. and G.W. Ewing, 1/3 to David Olmsted, and 1/3 to Henry C. Rhodes.
14th. This arrangement to continue three years from the 1st day of Dec. next, unless losses should be sustained in actual trade, in that case, either party could, at, or within one month after the annual settlements, demand a settlement of the affairs of the Outfit, which should then be made, and thereupon this agreement be canceled, if upon such settlement, or at the expiration hereof losses are sustained, W.G. and G.W. Ewing shall take back the remaining goods at a fair value proportioned to their cost at the outfit; but if a profit is made and it consist in Merchandise, each party shall take their proportion (vix. one third) Volunteers welcome on archaeological dig
What would you think of digging up July 3,5 and 6. with them to the site. If intending to an artifact from an 1840's trading post No digging will occur July 7. stay over the lunch period, lunches site located here in northeast Iowa? Volunteers are welcome to join the should be brought along. There are no It could be pipe bowl, a trade bead, class from 9-11:30 a.m. and/or from restroom facilities at the site. or a bone button. Or maybe ceramic 12:30-3:30 p.m. pieces of dishes and bowls ...or gun Others volunteers are needed to work The 1840's trading post site is lo shot. in the basement of the Fort Atkinson cated on the Ted Schmitt farm two fire station to clean artifacts. All these items and many more con miles southwest of Fort Atkinson along tinue to be found by students partici highway 24. The dig site is on the north pating in the University of Iowa Field These participants will sit in chairs side of the road, on the east side of the around tables, and will utilize wash School that is finishing up its second area bridge. week of in-the-field class work at a site basins and toothbrushes to scrub down near Fort Atkinson. During the following week, volun the previous artifacts found, sacked, and Area volunteers are now invited to teers may participate in the dig July 10, labeled by the class. Those who desire join in with the archaeological digging 11, 13 and 14. There will be no digging to wash artifacts may work from ap July 12. proximately 9-11:30 a.m. They should make prior arrangements by calling Al Participants might want to bring Becker, Fort Atkinson, at 319-534- gloves, bug lotion and bottled water 7502.
Calmar Courier, June 13, 2000 II (I II II II I « I Fort Atkinson 'digs' discussed
The Winneshiek County Historical dian and Native Studies program and the Society is giving the public a chance to State Preserves Advisory Board will learn more about two archaeological conduct field schools in the region dur investigations that will be done this ing the months of June and July. summer in the Fort Atkinson area. Both investigations will focus on an Al Becker, secretary of the Fort At 1840 era Winnebago village site and an kinson Historic Preservation Commis 1840s historic trading post, which ate sion and fonner Turkey Valley teacher, located within several miles of Fort will speak to the group Monday, June Atkinson. 19, at 7 p.m. Becker also will share information on The meeting will be held in the the 1999 dig of the Josiah Goddard lower level of the Decorah Public Li homestead conducted by Turkey Valley brary. students. The University of Iowa American In
Decorah Journal, June 15, 2000 A-10 Decorah (Iowa) Journal Thur., June 15, 2000 NEWS
Myies Kupka, chAlrperson ol You can dig into history around Fort Atkinson ; the Fort IBuJ Atkinson Some people really "dig" the area pant', will interact with Native Amen- Historic around Fon Atkinson cant and be involved in conducting his BaaW^aaaai Preservation Dig into it, that is, literally into the torical, archival research in suppon of Commission, earth, to learn more about the people the aichaeologica) investigations who used to live in the area stands in front A number of Native American guest of (he State The Fort Atkinson Historic Preserva speakers, including some who are histo Historical tion Commission reports an archaeo rians and archaeologists, will visit the Building In Des logical field school will be held in the Held school. Moines holding area will begin Monday, June 19, and the $5544 run through July 28 The HoChunk Nation (Winnebago) check Coordinators of the investigation is planning cooperative activities, in cluding field application of their ground- flit "£•-*.* jMttKftia'pW fiwtC. v presented to will be Larry Zimmerman, American Indian and Native Studies Program, the penetrating radar equipment and in him and Al University of Iowa, and William Green, volvement of Ho-Chunk high school Becker by Lt Office of the Suie Archeologist. age students. Gov. Salty Six hours of college credit is offered Pederson May to undergraduate and graduate students 16*. (Submitted From July 9-15. another cultural ic- interested in the archaeological field photo) soerces held school, sponsored by the methods and American Indian concerns. State Preserves Advisory Board, Iowa Instructors of the field school wilt be Department of Natural Resources, will John Doershuk and Cynthia Peterson, be held in the Fort Atkinson area and both from the Office of the State Ar wixi interact with the University of Iowa City of Fort Atkinson chaeologist. Turkey VaJtey students sift through the cart for oW 1840a trading post American Indian and Native Studies Peterson led a previous archaeologi artifacts. The Hewitt-Olmstead trading post site, located on the Ted receives historic grant cal investigation in the Fon Atkinson Schmitt farm two miles from Fort Atkinson, was investigated by the lowa region thai included an extensive "dig" Field school directors will include history students last year. The site will be a primary area for archaeologi ai the 1840s Turkey River Indian Suba- The city of fon Atkinson has been standards in its local preservation Rebecca Conrad, associate professor of cal investigation this summer. (Submitted photo) gency, located three miles south of Fon awarded a $5,544 Certified Local efforts. history at Middle Tennessee State Urti- Government (CLG) program grant for Atkinson, in the summers of 1994-96. The program is administered by the vcttity; Jan Nash, managing partner of its historic preservation project. State' Historical Society of Iowa. Beginning in July, the upcoming TalLrass Historians L.C., a historical field school program will be open to and- cultural resource consulting firm Fort Atkinson lecture is set The city wilt use the matching gram CLG participants are eligible for area volunteer participants who can basml in Iowa City; Kathy Gourlcy, to continue the long term Fon Atkinson matching grants thai can be used to work at the excavation sties or at the field services historian. State Historical area archaeological survey and support various local projects. for June 23 on 1837 loway map Fort Atkinson Community Center with Sookiy of Iowa; and Shirley Schermer, evaluation project Since 1983, participating Iowa cities the artifacts as they are brought in burb.l program director for the Office of jnd counties have received over $1 As part of a six-week archaeological field study to be conducted al Fort Atkinson The field school will focus on the ar the date Archaeologist. The award was announced at the million in matching grants. cheology of the Fort Atkinson area with in June and July, the public is invited to a free public lecture title. "The I837 loway National Prescnation Week ceremonies "Fori Atkinson's keen interest in emphasis on excavation at two Winne There is a participation fee of 3250 Map." at the Iowa Historic*! Building in Des their heritage has been fueled by two bago Indian village sites (Chief Whirl for those taking pan in the field school. Moines on May 16. It will be given by William Green, University of Iowa state archaeologist. Friday, previous and highly successful CLG ing Thunder and Trout Run villages) and The ceremonies were hosted b> Guv June 23. from 5-6 pm grant-funded projects," said CLG the He wilt-01 instead trading post. Area citizens interested in participat Tom Vilsack and Lt. Guv. SJIl> The loway Indians lived in Northeast Iowa dunng the late IbOOs. Forced to move administrator Kerry McGrauY ing in the archaeological field work, Pederson. One year ago the Turkey Valley Iowa west and south, they occupied various parts of lowa and adjaceni states in the l?00s beginning in early July, at the 1840s history class, with instructor Al Becker, andlSOOs The Fort Atkinson area Indi.iu village site or trading post site. Mylcs Kupl;i chair per son of the spent a day doing an arcbeoiogical cii*/ at atchartiliapical survey-and evaluation Foil Atkinson Historic Preservation the old trading post site, which is lo The Inbt now lives on reservations in Kansas and Oklahoma Dunng treaty nego project, which will take place in June should contact Al Becker ol Fun Atkin Commission, and AI Becker, cated wilhin the school district tiations tn IK37, an loway Indian named No Heart presented a map showing the loca and July, will focus on several too inr mote details at (319) 534-7502 commission secretary, were presenicd tions and movements of his people Winnebago villages of the IK40s and an The initial investigation by the stu the award for the city at tru lowa IK40S historic trading post. dents turned up a large amount of 1840s Afurif Mho, member of the Fon Ai- The map serves as a record of the "historical memory" of the loway tribe Using artifacts thai included ceramic pipe kbtotn Historic Preservation Commis hisioncal and archaeological evidence, it is possible to identify many of the places The CLG program is u national The Historic Preservation stems and howls, an oxen shoe, ax head sion provided infnrmaiwn fur this arti Shown on the map and to determine when many of these sites were occupied certification system lor local Commission will be releasing the inient and other trading post artilacts from the cle When used togeihei. oral history, written records and archaeological evidence shed governments that have historic and scope of their upcoming summer lime period. new light on the people for whom the sure of lowa is named preservation piugrams project in the near future This summer, in addition to training In participate, a local government in field archaeology methods, partici nitiM tierce to meet national an J Mate
Decorah Journal, June 15, 2000 (fill Native American High School Students Visit Fort Atkinson
Twenty-two Native American students from around the country pose in front of the State Museum at the Fort grounds in Fort Atkinson. (lnset)Navaho, Puehio, Oglala Lakota, Wahpeton Sioux, Zuni, Lumhee, and Meskwaki teens examine 1840s artifacts from the Fort Atkinson military post and Indian Subagency while touring the Fort Atkinson City Museum. M.R. Fort Atkinson had some very spe son are from various tribes across cial visitors to the city on Monday, the country that include the Navajo, June 21, 2000. Twenty-three Native Pueblo, Oglala Lakota, Wahpeton American high school students from Sioux, Zuni, Lumbee, Meskwaki/ New Mexico, South Dakota, Iowa, Araphao/Apache, and Meskwaki. North Carolina, and Colorado spent Upon arrival to Fort Atkinson, the the afternoon in the Fort Atkinson students were taken to the Ted area. The 23 students are participat Schmitt farm two miles southwest of ing in a Science Enrichment program Fort Atkinson. The Schmitt farm targeted towards Native American serves as the location for the 1840s High School Students across the Hewitt/Olmsted trading post that ex country. The program is sponsored isted in the neutral ground while the by the University of Iowa's Opportu area was occupied by the Win nity at Iowa program which runs from nebago. June 11th - 30th. The Native Ameri The Native American teens inter can students that came to Fort Atkin acted with the members of the Ar chaeological Field Methods/American Indian Concern Class and partici pated in excavation activities. Later that same day, the Native American students were presented a history of the military post of Fort Atkinson and the Winnebago occupa tion in the neutral ground in the 1840s by Al Becker, secretary of the Fort Atkinson Historical Preservation. Commission. The students then viewed the military post artifacts housed in the- city museum, and toured the Fort grounds. Photo graphs of the Native American stu dents can be viewed on the internet ! at: www.uiowa.edu/Hanafion M.R.
Calmar Courier, June 27, 2000 Zimmerman discussed the contro "Respect for the Dead" versial elements that often occur between American Indians and ar Presentation Held At Fort chaeologists. Native Americans are Atkinson very concerned with the respect for the past; archaeologists seek to learn about the past. Dr. Zimmerman indi cated that Native Americans feel archaeologists cannot structure their history by examining artifacts from another culture, and that it is the right of contemporary Indian people to tell their own story about their past. Iowa archaeolooiiit'i nrp*rao"r,nii""1
l' Twenty-two Native American students from around the country pose in front of the State Museum at the Fort grounds in Fort Atkinson. (Inset)Navaho, Puehio, Oglala Lakota, Wahpeton Sioux, Zuni, Lumhee, and Meskwaki teens examine 1840s artifacts from the Fort Atkinson military post and Indian Subagency while touring the Fort Atkinson City Museum. M.R. Fort Atkinson had some very spe son are from various tribes across cial visitors to the city on Monday, the country that include the Navajo, June 21, 2000. Twenty-three Native Pueblo, Oglala Lakota, Wahpeton American high school students from Sioux, Zuni, Lumbee, Meskwaki/ New Mexico, South Dakota, Iowa, Araphao/Apache, and Meskwaki. North Carolina, and Colorado spent Upon arrival to Fort Atkinson, the the afternoon in the Fort Atkinson students were taken to the Ted area. The 23 students are participat Schmitt farm two miles southwest of ing in a Science Enrichment program Fort Atkinson. The Schmitt farm targeted towards Native American serves as the location for the 1840s High School Students across the Hewitt/QImsted trading post that ex country. The program is sponsored isted in the neutral ground while the by the University of Iowa's Opportu area was occupied by the Win nity at Iowa program which runs from nebago. June 11th - 30th. The Native Ameri The Native American teens inter can students that came to Fort Atkin- acted with the members of the Ar chaeological Field Methods/American Indian Concern Class and partici pated in excavation activities. Later that same day, the Native American students were presented a history of the military post of Fort Atkinson and the Winnebago occupa tion in the neutral ground in the 11840s by Al Becker, secretary of the I Fort Atkinson Historical Preservation. Commission. The students then viewed the military post artifacts housed in the city museum, and toured the Fort grounds. Photo graphs of the Native American stu dents can be viewed on the internet at: www.uiowa.edu/~ianafion M.R. Calmar Courier, June 27, 2000 Zimmerman discussed the contro ' 'Respect for the Dead'' versial elements that often occur between American Indians and ar Presentation Held At Fort chaeologists. Native Americans are very concerned with the respect for the past; archaeologists seek to learn about the past. Dr. Zimmerman indi cated that Native Americans feel archaeologists cannot structure their history by examining artifacts from another culture, and that it is the right of contemporary Indian people to tell their own story about their past. Iowa archaeologists areVecognized by many Native Americans for their respect in conducting archaeological investigations where American Indi ans have resided in the past. For the next several weeks, the U of I archaeological field school stu dents will be investigating an 1840s Winnebago village site located be tween Fort Atkinson and Spillville. Archival records from the agent at ; the Turkey River Indian Subagency Pictured above, during Fort Atkin-. ! in the 1840s indicate that the site son's presentation, are Dr. Larry being investigated was a Winnebago Zimmerman, Research Associate in band under Chief Whirling Thunder. the Office of the State Archaeolo- j Members of the village consisted of gist of Iowa, and Dr. John Doer 50 Winnebago men, 64 women, and 63 children. shuk, General Contacts Program The former village site is located director at the Office of the State 4 on the Roger Riehle farm. The Rie- •;'• Archaeologist M.R. hle's have graciously consented to allow the class to investigate the Forty community members and ar- ! village area on their property. chaeological field class students at-, 1 The thirteen - member field school tended a presentation held in the city class is under the direction of Dr. library/museum meeting room on the ' John Doershuk, adjunct assistant evening of July 6th, 2000. Dr. Larry professor of American Indian and Zimmerman, Department Executive Native Studies Program at the Uni Officer of the American Indian's and versity of Iowa, and General Con- j Native Studies Program at the Uni tracts Program director at the Office i versity of Iowa, presented the pro of the State Archaeologist, and Cyn gram which was titled "Indians, Ar thia Peterson, Project Archaeologist chaeology, and Bones: Science and with the Office of the State Archae- j Respect for the Dead" ologist. M.R. Calmar Courier, July 11, 2000 Illlllllllllfltll U Of I Field School Ends Study On Ted Schmitt Farm Ted Schmitt, owner of the land tioned in available Fort Atkinson area where the 1840s trading post site historical records. was located, visits with archaeolo Last week the field school class gist Cindy Peterson about the type concluded their investigation at the of artifacts being found at the trading post site. They then moved their equipment to the Whirling Thun archaeological dig conducted on his der Winnebago Village site located property. M.R. on the Roger Riehle farm where they The University of Iowa archaeologi will excavate during the next two cal field school excavations on Ted weeks. Schmitt's property southwest of Fort Special thanks was extended to Atkinson have yielded considerable Ted Schmitt for allowing the class to 1840s era artifact material including investigate and conduct the archaeo domestic and trade goods. Examples logical study on his land. Ted often found are plate and cup fragments, stopped by to observe the progress buttons, glass beads, pipe-stems and that the students were making. M.R. bowls, lead shot, and British and French gunflint. Two structure foun dation remnants and possibly a third have also been identified. University of Iowa archaeologist Cindy Peterson is confident that this location corresponds to the Hewitt- Olmsted trading post location men- Calmar Courier, July 18, 2000 I'iif;c 12. Calmur Courier, July IH, 2000 USD Field School Students Visit Fort Atkinson Area Three field school students from England learn about the 1840s history of Brian Molyneaux, director of the the Fort Atkinson area in the City Museum as shared bv Al Becker. The USD field school, discusses ''re English students left to right are, Sarah Foster, Kathryn Stack and spect" between archaeologist seek standing next to Al, Nicci Rees. M.R. ing to learn the past through exca vations, and Native Americans who On July 13, the University of South on the importance of respect be seek to protect and show respect to tween archaeologists studying the Dakota Archaeological Field School the areas where their ancestors past, and Native Americans who are visited the Fort Atkinson area to leam lived. Pictured with Molyneaux is about the area's history and see the descendants of these past peoples. Cindy Peterson, U of Iowa Arche- University of Iowa archaeological ex Special guests at the "Sacred Sites cavations at the Hewitt-Olmsted trad & Archaeological Investigations" pre ologist M.R ing post and Chief Whirling Thunder sentation included three field school Village sites. students from England. The three Brian Molyneaux, director of the English students were participating in USD field school, presented a public an archaeological exchange program lecture Thursday evening at the Fort and had been excavating a bison Atkinson library meeting room on bone bed on the bluff of the Vermi archaeological investigations at sa llion River in South Dakota. The cred sites. Also visiting was Leonard exchange student from the United Bruguier (Yankton Sioux), Director of States is doing an archaeological the University of South Dakota study in Yorkshire, Northern En American Indian Studies program. gland. All three of the English stu Bruguier spoke to the combined field dents attend the University of South study schools and to the area visitors hampton, England. M.R. Calmar Courier, July 18, 2000 and techniques like surveying:, setting up .1 Digging Deep grid system, conducting surface sweeps, excavating, and cleaning and documenting A unique archaeology field course uncovers ancient artifacts ami new understanding. their finds. But the course .list) teaches diet, by Tina Owen offered through the Ul Center for Credit about respecting other people, cultures, .iiu; traditions,They learn to understand con c looks like an ordinary, dire-smeared Programs. It's the only one in the country to look at archaeological investigations from cerns about sacred sites and human re piece of broken glass. Buc when I drop mains, to appreciate the significance of on ic into che outstretched hand or" Cindy the perspective of Nanve Americans. I Jt was set up two years ago by Larry history, how to work on reservation lands, Peterson, a remarkable transformation and co operate within ethical codes, regard occurs. It becomes a small piece of history Zimmerman. 69BA. 71MA. Ul visiting professor of American Indian and Native less of where their work cakes them. linking us with the people who played out The chance to meet and learn from their lives more than a century ago on the Studio, and William Green, adjunct associ ate professor in both the Department of the descendants of che culture they're land where we stand. unearthing probably makes che strongest "See how the glass is faintly colored Anthropology and che American Indian and Native Studies Program, as well ^s director 'impact, chough. It's easy co think, especiali\ and quite thick? That telLs me it's a piece of in light of the way archaeological remains a trading mirror. The people of this Winne of Iowa's Office of the State Archaeologist. Believing that descendant populations and are usually exhibited in museums, that bago village lived in windowless huts so it Indian civilizations died out centuries ago. couldn't have been a piece of window- living communities should be involved and have a voice in archaeological work, chey "But Indians are still here." says Zim glass." says Peterson, an archaeologist and a 1 invited a number of American Indians to merman. "They're from the 'now not the UI adjunct instructor in anthropology and 'chen.'Their culture has continued and American Indian and Native Studies. help them develop che curriculum for the field school. moved on. and what we do as scientists has Suddenly, the past comes alive. We stand not an impact on their lives. But it's easy even "We're trying to im in jn Iowa Held— ^-. -. ^.-:=:.: for archaeologists to forget that." prove che way the Ameri archaeological site To reinforce that message, students visit designation I3WH157— HOMEWORK can Indian story is told by us as scientists, and to in contemporary Indian settlements like che with its long, straight rows Meskwaki settlemenc and casino near Tama. of soybeans stretching off If you'd like to learn more corporate where we can about this complex issue, che concerns Indians Iowa, and the Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) to the horizon, but in the Nation in Wisconsin. American Indian 19th century Chief Larry Zimmerman have." explains Zimmer recommends these books man. historians and archaeologists are among the Whirling Thunder village. guest speakers who explore the reasons whv and websites: Two instructors— All afternoon, as we many Native Americans rind archaeology so Peterson and John Doer- toil up and down che controversial and disturbing. For many Skull Wars: Kennewkk shuk. adjunct assistant rows of beans, bent students, meeting Native Americans and Man, Archaeology, and the professor in anchropology double in our search for hearing whac they have to say can be a Battle for Native American and American Indian and potential artifacts, students challenging, even in uncomfortable, Identity Native Studies, both also call Peterson over to experience."Its hard co hear chat some by David Hurst Thomas from the Office of the identity their latest dis people hate what you love," says Zimmer State Archaeologist—lead coveries. Hefting a large, man. "We get a lot of frowns from our Red Earth. White Lies: che daily field crips and heavy black stone with a students." curious indentation, Native Americans and the sice excavations. The He admits that che dilemma caused him Peterson explains that it's Myth of Scientific Fact course is restricted to 15 similar problems in che pasc and led him to a nutting stone used in by Vine Deloriajr. students, and it attracts re-evaluate his beliefs and professional prehistoric times to crack them from institutions practices. "If you sure viewing Indians as open nutshells. An un Native Americans and like Yale and Harvard, as part of the contemporary world, you can't distinguished-looking Archaeologists: Stepping well as che Universicy of help but change your views about piece of rock turns out to Stones to Common Ground Iowa. English and history archaeology. Its all about respecting other be a prehistoric hearth by Nina Swidler, students mingle with che people—their rights, ways of life, and stone. Broken shards of Kurt E. Dongoske, and archaeology and anthro beliefs." pottery and glass beads Roger Anyon (Editors) pology majors. They The treacmenc of human remains is one also speak eloquendy of endure back-to-basics of che most controversial and well-publi earlier rimes and people Archaeological Field Methods camping conditions and cized aspects of American Indian concerns long gone. and American Indian sweaty; backbreaking work for the chance to about archaeology, but the course also Learning about those Concerns website learn about new ways of examines wider issues. people—and their www. uiowa.edu/ exploring the pasc—and "Its not just jbouc handling remains— descendants—is the focus ~ainsp/fschool their own atneudes. although chats a focal point." explains of the UIs six-week www. indianz. com The students receive Zimmerman. "The whole archaeological Archaeological Field story of who Indians are has literally been Methods and American www.na tiveculture. com chorough instruction in archaeological methods shoved down cheir chroacs. Some archae Indian Concerns course ologists say it's cheir job to use archaeolo- 12 • Iowa Alumni Magazine Iowa Alumni Magazine, October 2000 "Oral histon.' is all about the lives of people." says Bruguier. "When you study history in books you usually read about wars, but there was more to it than that.You have to hear the whole story, not just parts of it." Last summer's field course investigated areas around the Loess Hills in western Iowa. This year, with the help of the Fort Atkinson Historical Society, the course took students to northeastern Iowa, with emphasis on excavation at two Winnebago Indian village sites and the Hewitt-Olmstead trading post. All were important components of the Neutral Ground buffer zone set up by the U.S. government in 1840 to control regional indigenous populations. The bean field site where the students and I toil is the first excavation of a Winnebago village in Iowa. During the excavations, students measure out square- meter plots of earth and then Archaeology students get their hands dirty carefully sift the dirt through a excavating on the site of a Winnebago village in northeastern Iowa. As well as the remnants of fine sieve. They're looking for times past like pottery, glass, and nails (left), small artifacts that may have they're digging for a greater understanding of been missed before. Put them contemporary Native American culture. together and all those seemingly insignificant broken pieces don't want archaeologists could offer a clearer picture of the past. Add digging around. These are issues in the oral traditions of the Native that students need to explore Americans, and another piece of the puzzle and be aware of. We try to slots into place. But. like a jigsaw that's make them aware of all these missing a few pieces, our understanding of ramifications" the past will inevitably remain tantalizingly Students also learn about incomplete. alternative approaches to "The problem with archaeology in preserving and understanding general is that we know there was a past— history. In one lecture, guest we have material evidence of it. But speaker Leonard Bruguier. practically everything else is pretty unclear." .rieal evidence ro debunk Indian cultural director of the University of South Dakota says Zimmerman. "For instance, we can myths and belief systems, but that's arro American Indian Studies Program, explains read the historic records from the trading gant, unthinking, and terribly cruel. It's the significance of the Native American post and then find some artifacts to verify .mother nail in the coffin of their cultural tradition of oral history. At the University of those facts. But we still don't know what identity. South Dakota, archive-- in the Oral History those artifacts really meant to the people "Also, the information \vc discover m.i\ Center contain more than 5,2'"' recorded who lived there. It's best to think of the past :K important for archaeologists, but not interviews, many o: them with Native as being multiple-threaded; sometimes the iKvessarilv lor Indians.You haw ro weigh Americans. Those voices are living pieces of threads cross each other and give you some the information YOU get against the con- history.And its histon that hasn't been measure of verification. But archaeology, terns of die native people. Some Indian filtered through another culture's beliefs or and what it finds, is selective, so we have to tribes, as in Iowa, want to know more about reinterpreted to fit in with someone else's be careful when we say we're uncovering their past and heritage a* long as the a tien da. the truth " remains are treated respectfully. Bur others »«OTOi CHUCK KALQUJTIAN October 2000 • 13 Iowa Alumni Magazine, October 2000 Can you dig it? Work and play and discovery at Fort Atkinson By Lisa Brainard 1*1 not everyday the Ihmcrjily of Iowa lickla pro- ••flm i- .... I. . ..f-rn ..I Itrlil .rt.-ilw-.l- ;.iM lilalll«i llHJIJII UHISCMIS '"' M« »l\L\ in JtiM "nl July They hope 10 return in llir MIKIXHI til JIMI. atmrding loolga iu/rr\ \ M*t""tl ptogram was .ntcupt.-.l l>v tt«- S1.1K- deserves Advis.*) it h-l |M*a through ihe Iowa (INK HII-V.IKI IMK have enough p4nn.111.-1ni'. hi inn tlie program, but have revamped the one- John Doershuk, head 0' the University of Iowa field school at Fori Atkin week program and will offer it again son along with Cindy Peterson, shares discoveries Irom the dig to the neti summer. Rlehle boys, Irom left. Chase. Mason and Shane The Winnebago Indian village was discovered on the farm of their parents. Roger and Carol Learning from the past Rlehle. (Decorah Newspapers photo by Lisa Brainard) )ehn Doershuk was one of two Uni versity of Iowa professors leading daily site excavations last summer Holding up a knifeWade in his hand. he smiled as another artifact of life in an IMO's Indian Village between Fori At- km Neutral Ground 11»- NfiitT.il r.iotmd where iliev mt« up 1.' ]"•''<-> 1 Muling lnih.111 it.be* by M-I itinj: .mother inlic i" between metu Inf. nutation from the Slate Preserves Advisory Iloatdnf Iowa (SPAW) ex plains the history: Johanna Noyer of Cornell College. Ml. Vernon, left and Linda Nauhap- The stirs in rfce Fart Atkinson area P9t ol the University ol Wisconsin-Milwaukee do a screening - sifting dirt through a screen - to see what "prizes" remain. (Decorah Newspapers Ft. Atkinson photo by Lisa Brainard) Continued on page A-8 Decorah Journal, October 26, 2000 Ft. Atkinson Continued from front page are im/stumt > ttmpimfMi of the Nrutiui In meeting thai need, members i>f Ground, , rrutrdl'v the I iwted State* inlic\ including Mo Chunk. Meskwaki. government in Iff lit to separate the l\t- Yankton Sinus and I JC du Flambeau kota Stout from the Metkwnki (Fox) met with ihe group at the sites. and Saui tribes In a report he made in August. Doer The IK40 establishment of the Fort shuk stated. "(They) provided significant Alkimon military pou nrul forced relo Indian perspectives on archaeological cation of the Ho Chunk I Winnebago) efforts and really helped the srudents from Witrnn%in to Neutral Ground (in understand the complexities of working the WinnebagoSuhagearv)treatedn with indigenous descendant populations thort lived, hut complex ctdturtil html- wiili interests to the past." •ictipe that nitnested Mined inu-i at turns Joanna Noyer. a Cornell College so between the native groupsand United ciology/anthropology major from towa Slate t military and subagemv person Otv. Mint she liked the focus of the nel, at welt as uibsequent poUmititarx tcseatili in the I '1 field school Oteuptllton* of the Fort Atlm.ion ure,i "At first 1 had a pretty scathing view ol anthropologists Mm) their lack of The agency .mil vuh-iKciH ir^ weir e\ resort I fur what *« found). Bui then I lahlished l" help the Winnebago learn in ft* interested in the power structure of Ceramic shards In the hand of John Doershuk. farm and assimilate ihe white nun's academra and Indians today." she said. culture of America. The Iowa program seemed to have a much-desired blending of archaeological A knife blade discovered at Learning reaped field methods seasoned with input from the Chief Whirling Thunder The UI program is unique in that it today's Indian tribes who requested re teaches respect for the Indians. vilage site Is displayed by spect - as well as ownership of relics TOoershuk explained. "We talked with John Doershuk. and proper reburial of remains. tlte Winnebago to make sure our pro gram meets their interests. We want to Storage pit (each archaeological methods and open the students' eyes to show them the Al Becker, an enthusiastic Fort At connection to the present. kinson Historic Preservation Commis sion member and retired Turkey Valley "We need to realize we are not doing School teacher, also enjoyed the UI field this in a vacuum." school, Me helped wiih initul findings in the area sis to seven seats ago with UI pro- Ct.nn fo-drm tm ( iml> I'rtcrvon M iti.it IIIIH- %llf tt.is WIMllllL' "» 111'' liiaslt'i's Hrtkt'i also lias .n limes uken his •.iiitliniM'iit i« He noted lab analysis from both the village and the trading post site continue at the Office of the State A rchaeologut in Iowa City. Becker said he understood all the find ings should be processed by sometime in June. He looks forward to future field pro grams and said brief details of t>e State Preserves program were announced at ihe stale archaeology conference held at tuther College Sept. 23. The program Now program offered The SPABI field ached t t>ianc Pord-Shivvers. a volunteer co training in irchieoloticaJ and haawriral ordinator for ihe Iowa DNR with advi research methods. sory functions to the State Preserves Similar to the proposed six-week UI Advisory Board of Iowa (SPABI) referred program, it cites among its overall to their proposed program and said. goals "to address issues of coootra for "Were sure planning onto it happen local and regional native people*, de ing." scendant populations, and living com This program is ihe Fort Atkinson munities by encouraging these groups Cultural Resources Field School. It is to become involved in site lueardfc. planned lor June 17-2.1 at Port Atkinson inierpre tauon and curriculum develop itself ment." This is something new that will There are r« details on the coat of the provide hands-on learning," she said. prognm yet. but Ford-Shivvers acid she Continuing, she noted. "We would welcomes questions and can offer a reg like to use it as a pilot (program) to istration form. Call her at (513) 3fl- lake to other areas - both in disciplines 0878 or use this email address: and in physical areas." ttane.rxiro^Shivverswdnrjoaeie.ai While the field school will offer The time to plan is now. You caa teacher certification credit through Key- "play" in the dirt - right in your m» SIIWK Area Education Agency. Pord- backyard. Learn about long-ago cutanea Shivvers stressed it is open to anyone. and talk to their descendants today. Who She said she hopes to see local people knows what you might discover? lake part. Decorah Journal, October 26, 2000 Appendix VII Geographic Information Systems Modeling The Historical Division of the Department of Cultural Affairs STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF IOWA Where past meets future September 11, 2001 American Cxothic House M A|an Q Becker Eldon BOX 161 Fort Atkinson, lowa 52144 Blood Run NHL Larchwood RE: CITY OF FORT ATKINSON - GRANT-IN-AID (NO. 20-00.003) FOR AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL-HISTORICAL SURVEY AND EVALUATION PROJECT OF Centennial Building PROPERTIES ASSOCIATED WITH THE NEUTRAL GROUND IN WINNISHIEK COUNTY- Iowa City APPROVAL OF FINAL PRODUCTS Matthew Edel Blacksmith Shop Dear Mr. Becker: Marshalltown This letter is to acknowledge receipt of submitted final products for the Abbie Gardner cabin above referenced project. We have had an opportunity to review them, Arnolds Park while some do not comply with the grant-in-aid Agreement and program requirements, we will accept them. Iowa Historical Building Des Moines The problematic products are the final report and the digital images. The final report, although in the appropriate format, does not meet the Montauk Governor's Home stipulations for a historic context and will require revision. Photographic, union Sunday-scho&i not-di.CHt^J,-documentation, is required for all survey and evaluation grant cieimontMuseum funded projects, in addition, the reason for requesting photographs is • ciermont project and resource documentation. Thus, we ask for a set of a[l photographs taken in conjunction with the project. In the case of the Fort pium Grove Governor's Home Atkinson's project, the consultant only submitted copies of the iowa city photographs that appeared in the final report. Tooiesboro Indian Mounds Please be advised that in the future, when Fort Atkinson applies for CLG Tooiesboro grants, the city will have to identify the problems associated with this project and indicate how they will be remedied. Basically, the problems western Historic Trails center were administrative in nature: informing the consultant of the Agreement council Bluffs schedule and product requirements, insuring that final products meet Agreement standards, and insuring that requests for changes in the Agreement are made in advance rather than after the fact. Administrative issues aside, it is a pleasure to see the large amount of work accomplished under this modest grant. This was a good City project and we appreciate your participation, worthwhile results, and public interest. We look forward to working with you on future National register nominations for the properties and urge that you pursue ideas for other activities associated with surviving historic places in the City of Fort Atkinson. IOWA HISTORICAL BUILDING 600 East Locust • Des Moines, Iowa 50319-0290 Phone: (515) 281-6412 • Fax: (515) 242-6498 or (515) 282-0502 www.iowahistory. org - 2- Accordingly, this completes the work contemplated under this project and I recommend approval of payment for the final request for reimPursement. Should you have any questions or if we can Pe of further assistance to you, please contact me at (515) 281-6826 or email at [email protected] sincerely, Kerry C. McGrath Local Government/CLG Program coordinator cc: John Doershuk, Consultant-OSA Lowell soike, DSHPO-SHSI Cynthia NieP, Grants Manger-SHSI The Historical Division of the Department of Cultural Affairs STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF IOWA Where past meets future August 28, 2001 John Doershuk Office of the state Archaeologist 700 Clinton st Building lowa City, IA 52242-1030 American Gothic House RE: submittal of Final Products for Completion of Ft. Atkinson CLC Grant contract No. 20-00.003 Blood Run NHL np-r inhn. Larchwood uearjonn. This is in regard to submission of the final grant products for Centennial Building , „,. ., . . . iowa city the above referenced project, in order to close this project, OSA should prepare and submit on behalf of the City of Fort Atkinson Matthew Edei Blacksmith shop the following items: Marshalltown One completed, typed lowa Site Inventory form with black and Abbie Gardner Cabinwhite (or color print) photos in Print-File plastic sleeves for Arnolds Park13WH160 needs to be send to the STATE. The maps attached to lowa Archaeological site forms for iowa Historical Building13WH157, 13WH174, 13WH173, 13WH158, 13WH160 too light and DesMoines the map showing 13WH157,13WH173, and 13WH174 shows vegetation, submit new maps for each of these sites, use uses Sn^nd°7™hooiHome 7-5 topographic quadrangles without vegetation as base maps. Clermont Museum/• submit One contact sheet and negatives, filed in print file and ciermontnegative preservers, for each roll of black and white film or color print film taken for the project. Hum Grove GSubmit a copy of each color slide taken for the project. Each roll of black and white print film, color print film and slide film submitt must be accompanied a typed, completed Tooiesboro Ind'Photographic/Catelog Field Sheet identifying each frame of film or slide. western Historic Trails center '• Submit six Bound Copies of a final report that will include: council Bluffs Multiple Property Documentation Form Summary and Recommendations from the draft report Acknowledgements from the draft report ^ - —^ Appendices I, II, III, IV, V, VI, and;2Jfrom the draft report A completed Historic-Architectural Data Base (HADB) encoding form for summarizing report information. IOWA HISTORICAL BUILDING 600 East Locust • Des Moines, Iowa 50319-0290 Phone: (515) 281-6412 • Fax: (515) 242-6498 or (515) 282-0502 www.iowahistory.org - 2- The Project Director, Al Becker, should prepare and suPmit the following: • one copy of the final standardized index to selected documents from the Sigurd Reque collection, Luther college, Decorah, lowa, prepared Py OSA or a letter explaining why the collection was not accessed and requesting a change in the Grant-in-Aid-Agreement. • One copy of the one-page report, summarizing project results. • A completed request for reimPursement form, hearing the original signature of the Mayor and accompanied Py documentation of expenditures and match. Upon receipt and review of the aPove products and the request for reimPursement, we can process the request for reimPursement and close the project. Also please be advised that although we will be accepting the typed multiple property documentation form as a final report and product for this grant project, this MPD/proposed historic context will require substantial additional work before it can be submitted to the State for review and recommendation of forwarding to the Keeper of the National Register. We anticipate that revision will be done in the future when Fort Atkinson wishes to nominate these properties to the National Register. To repeat, the MPD does not have to be revised now. For the record and future reference, here are the areas that will need revision: - Regarding section E, a clear statement of the significance and significance level (local, regional/state, national) of the Neutral Ground, is needed. For each of the suPcontexts, the discussion and information should relate to the suPcontext. The periods of significance will need to Pe explained and justified. Summary statements of the significance and significance level for each suPcontext should Pe included. - A review of National Register Bulletin 15, is recommended Pefore revising section F., Associated Property Types, of the documentation form. Fort Atkinson should Pe included. The discussions of the suPcontexts mention a variety of associated property types; yet none of these are recognized in the discussion of property types. Please rememPer that the archaeological sites, a property, located during these investigations represent the remains of different property types such as the suPagency, missions, winnePago villages/settlments, euroamerican farmsteads (all of which are potential districts) as well as roads, trails, communal fields (sites). The significance statements in section F. are too general. The statements must Pe far more detailed, identify which criterion or criteria apply, relate the property to the context through an explanation of how the property meets the significance criteria/criterion. Also, specify level of significance for the property types. The property registration requirements are far too general. These need to be elaborated by identifying specific conditions such relating to preservation, data categories, presence of features, types of disturbance or lack of disturbance, etc. Typically, a list of examples of property types located during the identification phase and found within the geographic limits of the context are included. - Section c, requires revision, particularly a more precise expression of the proposed boundaries for the context area and justification of them. - Section H, Evaluation, should be deleted as it is a rehash of the contents of National Register Bulletin 15. What is wanted is a discussion of the application of the significance criteria to the context, subcontexts, and properties and an analysis of how and why the properties meet the criteria and represent the context. The City of Fort Atkinson's long term commitment to this project is tremendous. Not only is each phase of the investigation adding to our understanding of Iowa's historic development but the public involvement in each phase is increasing local and state wide appreciation of history. Thank you for undertaking this project. if you have any questions or l can be of assistance, please do not hesitate to call be at 515/281-6826 or email me at [email protected]. Sincerely, kerry C. Mccrath Project Manager cc; Mr. Alan Becker, Ft. Atkinson Historic Preservation commission Ms. Cindy Peterson, Office of the State Archaeologist Mr. Lowell soike, Deputy State Historic Preservation Officer Ms. Cynthia Nieb, SHSl Grants Manager