Journal of the Iowa Archeological Society
Volume 1, Number 1; October 1951
Wilfred D. Logan, Editor
"With the publication of the first issue of the Journal of the Iowa Archeological Society, it is a great pleasure for me to greet the membership of this new association and to welcome each and every member to the fellowship that our organization offers. I hope that as time passes we will all get better acquainted so that we may know who and where the members of this select group are...."
"Historical and Prefatory Note: On this occasion of the publication of the first issue of the Journal of the Iowa Archeological Society, we should take time to consider achievements already made in this field in Iowa, and to point out some of the trends that future research may take. Iowa Archeology has had a history similar to that in other areas of the Eastern United States, in that the bulk of the information has been gathered during the last few decades. It has only been within this period of time that constructive and worthwhile contributions have been made, with, of course, a few exceptions...."
"Iowa lost an outstanding archeologist and naturalist when Dr. Ellison Orr of Waukon passed away on January 25, 1951. Dr. Orr's lifetime spanned a period of almost a century. Born in a pioneer log cabin near McGregor on June 14, 1857, and reared as a typical pioneer boy, he lived on into the atomic age. Indeed, a year or two before his death, Dr. Orr secured a series of large photographs of the "mushroom" clouds produced by atomic blasts. These he studied with great interest and curiosity. Until his very last days, his mind continued to probe and search for the truth which lies wrapped within the tangled skein of science...."
"Dr. Charles Reuben Keyes, Director of the Iowa State Archaeological Survey since 1922 and Professor Emeritus at Cornell College, died at his home in Mount Vernon on July 23, 1951. Memorial services were held in the Mount Vernon Methodist Church Thursday afternoon, July 26th.
Although he was Professor of German language and literature at Cornell College for 38 years, Dr. Keyes also conducted extensive studies in Iowa archeology, ornithology, and the German language. He became widely known in all three fields, but it was his work on the prehistoric Indian of Iowa that won him special recognition...."
Volume 1, Number 2; January, 1952
Wilfred D. Logan, Editor
"This is the second number of Volume 1 of the Journal of the Iowa Archeological Society. Our next issue will contain a paper by Mr. Paul Rowe of Glenwood, Iowa, on early material found there. There are several problems involved in the publication of a paper such as that of Mr. Rowe. For one thing, it will probably be somewhat longer than any of the previous issues of the Journal. Of necessity, there will have to be several illustrations, which, as you all well know, are quite expensive. Dr. Field, our Vice-President, has suggested that the Society start a regular fund to pay for illustrations in the Journal so that we do not have to defray such expenses from our regular Treasury. The cost of printing the Journal, of course, comes from the Treasury. At our present membership, we have accumulated enough money to publish the Newsletter and four issues of the Journal, with one or two illustrations. The cuts which will go with Mr. Rowe's paper are an integral part of it, and one which is very necessary, since the cuts show the typical artifact types of Early Man and Archaic sites in Southwest Iowa...."
"Among the many old Indian village sites along the Little Sioux River and its tributaries, none is more important to the archeologist than the Brooke Creek site. Reverend F. L. Van Voorhis, a retired clergyman who excavated the site several years ago, named it "Chan Ya Ta," a Sioux Indian word meaning, "at the woods." At this site he dug up two separate and complete dwellings, one a ceremonial lodge 40 feet wide by 60 feet long. Sixteen pits used for storage, refuse and fire were uncovered in this dwelling. Samples of the weapons, tools, cooking utensils and carved ornaments are included in the Van Voorhis Indian Collection, now at the Storm Lake High School...."
"The prehistoric Indians of Northeast Iowa enjoyed a diet which, on the whole, probably was adequate and plentiful. There is no evidence that during ordinary seasons they were reduced to the desperate straits which, according to Cabeza de Vaca, constantly beset the Indians of the arid Southwest and compelled them to subsist on near-starvation diets. The forests which covered much of Northeast Iowa furnished food and fuel and helped to shelter the Indians from the storms of winter which made life on the open prairies further west a severe ordeal to primitive man...."
[38 publications spanning 1893 through 1951 by Charles Rueben Keyes are listed with biliographic detail.]
Volume 1, Number 3; April, 1952
Wilfred D. Logan, Editor
"As this issue of the Journal of the Iowa Archeological Society goes to press, plans are being made for the spring meeting of the Society. On May 18 we will gather about 10 a.m. at the Sanford Museum in Cherokee where Mr. W. D. Frankforter, the Director of the Museum, and a valued member of our Society, has invited us to meet.
Plans for the meeting include the adoption of a constitution for the Iowa Archeological Society and the election of officers for the coming year. In addition, there will be a program of interest to all Iowans who take an interest in archeology...."
"In May and June 1950, only a few months after the establishment of Effigy Mounds National Monument near McGregor, a few representative mounds were archeologically investigated by the National Park Service to provide basic information needed for an interpretive program at the area. The six mounds selected for testing, one linear, one bear effigy, and four conical mounds, were located just north of the Yellow River and near the Mississippi...."
"During the summer of 1897, while looking at a new road fill with my father, I found my first arrowhead. By 1915, I had found some twenty-five complete arrowpoints and a few other artifacts. Where I lived there were no arrow and spear points found, but forces of erosion were beginning work in our county. The earth soon began to give evidences of the antiquities which eventually caused Mills County to be marked on the archaeologist's map of North America...."
"According to an article in the Palimpsest, a publication of the State Historical Society of Iowa, the late Dr. Charles Keyes has estimated there exist fifteen archeological remains of the once populous and mysterious Mill Creek Indians who once inhabited Northwest Iowa. Twelve of these villages are located in the adjoining areas of the three counties of Buena Vista, O'Brien, and Cherokee. Four of these sites are located on the Waterman Creek, a tributary of the Little Sioux River, and these four ancient villages indicate that at one time several hundred Indians inhabited the area between the towns of Peterson and Sutherland, Iowa...."
Journal of the Iowa Archeological Society
Webpage by Heidi M. Thunhorst, September 3, 2002.