Blood Run from Above, 1964

Dale R. Henning

In the summer of 1964, Blood Run was our last scheduled excavation and, from my perspective, the most interesting and absolutely the most fun. I was part of a small team of archaeologists engaged in an NSF-funded project “Climate, Ecology, and the Oneota Culture”, conducted by the Center for Climatic Research, University of Wisconsin - Madison. Amy Henning, Bob Clark, Bill James and I were engaged in collecting data from four Oneota village sites, hoping to contribute information about the effects of climate changes that took place in the Midwest A.D. 1300-1700. When we rolled onto the Blood Run site, we had just completed work on three Oneota sites; two in Missouri, Guthrey and Dowell, and Dixon, located along the Little Sioux River about 10 miles downstream from Correctionville, Iowa. Each of those sites was fascinating to us; it was terribly tempting to stay on each one ‘just a few days longer’ than our schedule allowed. But we persisted and were only one day off schedule (late, of course), in making our appearance at Blood Run. Two eager volunteers, Roger Banks and David Lillie, both farmers near Sioux City, had been waiting - actively. They had cleared the area we wanted to investigate and were ready to ‘get going’.

As things were winding down, Carl Dieters suggested that we take a ride in his airplane to see the whole of Blood Run. That sounded like a great idea; Amy and I were told we would go the following evening. The plane would be in the field very near where we were working. So, sure enough, the next day, there was the plane, Carl with Tracy and eight Dieters children all waiting to see us off. I was prepared to take pictures and Bob Clark sent me off with his camera so he would have a few photos as well. We loaded up as Carl warned us that the takeoff might be a bit slow because the ground was soft. He tried to start the engine; it did not cooperate. “Don’t worry! - I can start it by hand.” Carl then got out, spun the propeller a couple of times, the engine caught and roared. We turned into the wind, received waves from Tracey and all those left on the ground and were off, rolling (so slow, yet how fast the trees at the field edge were coming at us, while we seemed glued to the ground), then suddenly the plane popped up, cleared the trees and we were in the air! What a relief!!!

We camped on-site in the Donald Decker (the old Johnson place) farmyard very near where we did the excavations. All prior arrangements for the work had been facilitated through good friends; Carl and Tracy Dieters, who farmed just north of where we were to work. They and their children helped us often while we were there. For instance, our mail was brought daily by horseback (I was surprised that we got any) by one or two juvenile riders on a very patient mount.

We did not lack for visitors at any time and, for some, this was entertainment from early morning until we quit in the evening. We were a local event, well-advertised in advance throughout Lyon County and were visited by a number of Iowa Archaeology Society members as well. Many questions were posed, but our visitors visited among themselves while observing the ongoing work. One woman was overheard saying; “I wish they would hurry up and finish; I haven’t done any housework since this began.” And we thought we were hurrying right along.

I suppose we flew up at least several hundred feet, perhaps higher, where we could almost see the whole site. Carl pointed out their farm below, then pointed the plane North toward the Leuthold farmstead, stating that there was the northern end of the site. We flew over that location, then turned and followed the Big Sioux River downstream, back over Dieters’, over our campsite, while Carl gestured across the River to the South Dakota side toward the Decker farm located on a high terrace that slopes toward the Big Sioux. “The site is also there on the South Dakota side of the Big Sioux, too, and covers a lot of space.” We circled around the lower Blood Run Creek and Carl continued; “See this big terrace with the south end cut through by the railroad. There are the Ruud and Long farms, both with site material showing up on the surfaces. The Long farm extends south to A18, the east-west blacktop road, and the site even extends a several hundred feet south of the road.” We were mightily impressed with the scope of this site which extends along both sides of the Big Sioux River for about five miles, which is hard to comprehend, even from the air. We flew higher and back and forth, North to South, taking photos and commenting on what we were seeing. What an adventure! We landed, without incident, back in the field, somewhat (my thoughts; more than somewhat) relieved to be back on the ground. I must have been awfully excited by this trip, realizing much too late that I had taken photos with Bob’s camera with the lens cap on! He was forgiving.

This, for me, was a truly memorable experience. I was literally introduced to the Blood Run site from the air, by far the best way to see it in its entirety. My deepest appreciation goes to Carl and Tracy Dieters and their wonderful family for this and so many other contributions of help and encouragement to all of us engaged in research and promotion of the Blood Run National Historic Landmark site.

This article appeared in the summer of 2022 in the “Newsletter of the Iowa Archeological Society” Vol. 72, No. 2 and is reprinted here with the author’s permission.