Page 11 - RAGBRAI2010

MANCHESTER TO DUBUQUE

MINES OF SPAIN

Julien Dubuque Just south of our final destination town of Dubuque is the Mines of Spain Rec-
Monument reation Area, a National Historic Landmark that encompasses 1380 acres along the
Mississippi River. “Mines of Spain” was the name specified for the area in the land
grant received in1796 by Julien Dubuque from the Governor of New Spain. Prior to
that, Dubuque had obtained permission to mine lead from the Meskwaki Indians, who
inhabited in the area at the time. Julien Dubuque is credited as the first European to
have settled on what is now Iowa soil. He died in 1810 and a monument to him stands
in the park, high on a bluff overlooking the river.

The Mines of Spain has a rich cultural history that dates back at least 8,000 years
ago, and is the home to over 240 prehistoric and historic archaeological sites. Num-

bered among them are
burial mounds, rock
shelters, and habita-

tion sites, as well as
early historic mine
pits and archaeo-
logical evidence for
logging.

NATIVE AMERICAN TOYS AND GAMES

The majority of the artifacts recovered in archaeological excavations, arrowheads, spear points, grinding
stones, bone hoes, bones and seeds, tell us about what people ate and how they obtained it. Some less
common artifacts, however, are clues to the other dimensions of these people’s
lives. Round stone disks, called “Chunkee Stones”, pottery and shell disks used
as gaming pieces, and perforated deer foot bones found in archaeological sites all
match items used for games by historic Native Americans. These artifacts have
been found in sites that are up to 1,000 years old. Even in the prehistoric past
we know that men, women, and children enjoyed the challenge
and fun of playing games.