Some Iowans are pushing to further recognize the Blood Run National Historic Landmark in northwestern Iowa. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
LYON COUNTY – In the far northwest corner of Iowa, a mown trail winds among burial mounds and artifacts of the Oneota people, a cultural grouping of Native American nations who lived, farmed and traded along the Big Sioux River for centuries.
Despite the well-documented, significant history of the place, most Iowans would be hard pressed to find the Blood Run National Historic Landmark, or even know it exists.
The site is dotted with large earthen mounds known to hold Oneota remains and artifacts. About 200 of the estimated over 1,000 acres of cultural significance are protected by the state, and marked with brown and yellow signs from the Department of Natural Resources that read, “Removal or disturbance of any cultural resource is prohibited.”
But, just beyond the sign and a barbed-wire fence, the same mounds can be seen on private property, under the stubby remains of a just-harvested corn field.
Jim Zangger, who voluntarily mows the paths in the site and is part of a group of Iowans advocating to better preserve Blood Run, looked across the fence on a windy, October afternoon.
“You could probably walk over to that mound right now and find artifacts,” Zangger said.
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Zangger grew up in the area and has been around the project for years, including the period when then-Gov. Terry Branstad was working with former South Dakota Gov. Dennis Daugaard to establish a bistate park across the Big Sioux River to preserve the site.
South Dakota followed through with its plan and opened Good Earth State park in 2013. It has a visitor’s center with Oneota archives on display and informational displays throughout its trails about the people who lived, traded and farmed on the land just outside of present-day Sioux Falls.
On the Iowa side, visitors might find the trail down a rough gravel road, or a single historical landmark sign, despite years of Lyon County natives pushing for something better.
“We were pretty much just relying on the state to do everything, and the state hasn’t done it,” Zangger said.
Now, Zangger, other community members, archeologists, tribal nations and history enthusiasts are pushing to establish something more significant on the Iowa site.
Left, a sign describing the Blood Run National Historic Landmark in Lyon County was dedicated in 2022. Right, Good Earth State Park in South Dakota offers visitors an understanding of the Oneota cultural history at the Blood Run site. (Photos by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
History of the site
Oneota refers to a group of tribes who held similar beliefs and followed similar ways of doing things. Oneota culture is often identified by a style of pottery that has shells ground into the clay, according to the State Historical Society of Iowa.
Oneota cultural nations include: Winnebago, Ioway, Oto, Missouria, Omaha, Ponca, Kansa and Osage. Traces of this culture have been found across the Midwest as large, typically unfortified villages, though the Blood Run site is regarded as one of the largest, and one of just a handful with mounds.
It is estimated that occupation at Blood Run began around the year 1500 and swelled to populations as high as 6,000 of primarily Omaha and Ioway people, according to the book, “Blood Run the ‘Silent City’” written by archaeologist Dale Henning and Gerry Schnepf, founder of the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation.
The village was popular for trade between nations. An informational video shown at Good Earth State Park said songs, goods and pipes made of stone from red catlinite found at quarries in Pipestone, Minnesota were commonly traded items.
It is believed, according to the book, that pressure from the Sioux caused the village to disband and move further west into South Dakota in the early 1700s.
Published accounts of the site date back as early as 1860, though the most notable account comes from South Dakota’s first U.S. senator, Richard Pettigrew. He and his brother mapped out traces of nearly 80 homes nestled between mounds, shortly before many of the stones were removed for quarrying to build the Rock Island Railroad.
“Quarrying over the past century has unearthed many artifacts while destroying considerable archaeological evidence,” the State Historical Society of Iowa document reads. “Thousands of artifacts have been dug out and then spread along with gravel over county roads, destroying forever the stories those objects could have told.”
There are many mysteries about the people who lived at Blood Run. Historians, tribal leaders and archaeologists are still perplexed by the massive, divot-covered boulders around the site.
No one is sure why boulders at Blood Run were carved with hundreds of small divots. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Gravel quarrying at Blood Run in the mid-1980s uncovered artifacts which spurred several archaeological digs, and eventually, the State Historical Society purchased around 200 acres of the site in 1987.
It had previously been listed as a National Historic Landmark in 1970 and in 2000, the National Park Service conducted a feasibility study, and according to Schnepf, determined it would be suitable for a national park, stretching across the river into both states.
According to Schnepf, this is when the states became more motivated to expand the project and build a bistate park, with the long term goal of gaining national park status.
Former Iowa governor still interested in preserving site
Branstad said he was, and remains, very interested in seeing the Blood Run site and the “tremendous” Native American history preserved.
“When I was governor, I actually recommended money to purchase more of that land,” Branstad said.
But opposition from local landowners effectively squashed the initiative on the Iowa side, while South Dakota was successful in building Good Earth.
“I give them credit for what they’ve done, and I’d like to see us do more,” Branstad said. “I also understand and respect the viewpoint of the landowners … I know the importance of preserving farmland, but I also think this is a very significant historical site.”
Branstad continues to work with Schnepf on his efforts to recognize the site and the archives of Oneota culture.
A trail at Good Earth State Park in South Dakota leads to an overlook over the Sioux River, and out to part of the Blood Run site in Iowa. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Rediscovering the ‘Silent City’
The current push, led by Schnepf and the Friends of Blood Run and supported by Branstad, is to build an Oneota Archival and Research Center.
This would help to bring displaced Oneota artifacts from around the country to a central location at Blood Run. Schnepf said it would work “like a bank” that would allow for research, preservation and tribal nations to access certain archives for events.
This solves a problem Zangger mentioned while walking through the site. Without a headquarters, artifacts discovered on the site end up in the archives at the University of Iowa, scattered about at various tribal nation’s archival centers, or in a landowner’s private collection.
The archive center would also have an agricultural research portion to study and demonstrate the farming techniques of the Oneota nations.
Schnepf presented the project at an October Iowa Natural Resource Commission meeting and asked commissioners what they want their role in this project to be.
“I don’t have an answer, I’m just saying we’re ready to sit down and talk,” Schnepf said.
From the state-owned property at the Blood Run National Historic Landmark, earthen mounds suspected to hold burial remains and Oneota artifacts can be seen under a freshly harvested corn field. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
His presented documents estimate a total project cost of $9.7 million, raised by both public and private funds. Schnepf additionally has support from nine tribal nations and three casinos.
The ongoing struggle with the site has been finding willing landowners, but Schnepf said the council is in the process of buying a 300-acre tract of land within the National Historic Landmark boundaries of Blood Run.
Steve Simons is part of Friends of Blood Run and helps advocate for the historical preservation of the site. (Photo by Cami Koons/Iowa Capital Dispatch)
Commissioner Laura Foell expressed interest in the project at the Oct. 10 meeting and said she planned to make a trip to visit the site. A decision by the commission was not made on the informational item.
In the meantime, folks like Zangger and Steve Simons, both members of Friends of Blood Run, are doing their part to protect and promote the historical and archeological landmarks in their community.
They host community events like an annual race on the trails, regular school visits out to the site and voluntarily maintain the site. It’s in their backyards, so it’s hard to forget about the assets at Blood Run.
“We’re the people that keep the state agencies coordinated and remind them, ‘Hey, we’re still up here, let’s get something done,’” Zangger said.
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