Page 9 - RAGBRAI2012

THE DAY 5 - MARSHALLTOWN TO CEDAR RAPIDS
MESKWAKI

VILLAGE
The location of the 1846
Meskwaki Village is just
northwest of the current
Meskwaki Settlement in sec-
tions 9 and 17, T83N-R16W
(Indian Village Township).
The first written account of
this village comes from the
General Land Office (GLO) surveyor. When mapped, Indian settlements are depicted
as “teepee” shapes. The quantity of teepees does not correlate to the actual number of
wickiups present; the surveyor just mapped as many teepees as he thought reflected
the population or size of the settlement. The “Indian Village” was mapped in October
and November, 1846 with Samuel W. Durham was the lead surveyor.

DIG AT WICKIUP HILL OUTDOOR LEARNING
CENTER, LINN COUNTY

More than 30 Iowa Archeological Society members participated in a two
week-long archaeological investigation at Wickiup Hill during the summer of 2011.
Site 13LN85, which previously yielded evidence in the form of pot sherds and stone
spear points, was further sampled with an emphasis placed on determining if a village
had ever existed at this location. The participants, young and old, learned how to
record archaeological data in systematic fashion. Careful excavation and recording of
the soil layers and artifact associations revealed that the site area was a favorite place
for small camps rather than one large long-term occupation. These briefly occupied
camps were probably created and used by American Indian ancestors from differing
cultures through time.

Iowa Archeological Society member Fred Gee
contemplating soil stratigraphy at 13LN85 Wickiup Hill.

Matanzas point
from13LN85
Wickiup Hill.