Inspired Media

Iowa’s only National Monument is Better than Ever

Text and Photos by Lauren Kraus

Oirginally printed in the October/November 2009 issue of Inspire(d)

The Driftless Region is home to many great things – one being the only National Monument in the entire state of Iowa.

Effigy Mounds National Monument, located on highway 76 three miles north of Marquette and 17 miles southeast of Waukon, is also one of over 390 parks in the National Park System. The only other National Park in the state is the Herbert Hoover National Historic Site in West Branch.

Since October 25 marks the 60th anniversary of the day President Harry Truman signed a proclamation and established Effigy Mounds as a National Monument, we thought you might like to learn a little more about the place – and we encourage you to take a trip and check it out yourself.

According to the National Parks Service website, the “Effigy Mound Region” is located in Southern Wisconsin and Northeastern Iowa. Around 1,400 years ago, earthen effigy mounds – areas of dirt often shaped into effigies of animals – began to appear from just west of the Upper Mississippi River to Lake Michigan’s western shore. They were built by people known as Woodland Indians, but nobody really knows why they began, and no one knows why they stopped. Native American legends portray the mounds as ceremonial and sacred sites.

A man named Theodore H. Lewis was one of the earliest surveyors in the upper Mississippi Valley. Another man, Ellison Orr, from McGregor, was also an accomplished surveyor and mapped mound groups and other archaeological areas in northeast Iowa. Both studied the Effigy Mounds region. Thanks to their detailed recordkeeping, treasured information about Iowa archaeology is available today.

But to truly understand all of the work that went into these mounds and the history behind them, you simply must visit! Being centrally located and nestled in the Upper Mississippi Valley makes Effigy Mounds an easy day trip from wherever you’re starting. The Visitor Center located off of highway 76 is a nice starting point full of great information, a 15-minute video on the mound builders, a museum with American Indian artifacts from the area, and a bookstore. A $3 entry fee is required. The now 2,526 acre National Monument consists of a North Unit and a South Unit divided by the Yellow River, each containing impressive mound groups and amazing overlooks of the great Mississippi River. The overlooks in the North Unit provide views of Pikes Peak State Park, Prairie du Chien, various ponds, the Yellow River marshlands, and islands that make up the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge. During the autumn months, the river valley speckled with yellow and red clusters of changing oak, maple, walnut, birch and aspen makes for a picturesque time to be out and exploring this monument.

Roughly 14 miles of wide, meandering trails run through Effigy Mounds providing access to the various mound groups as well as the overlooks. Get out for a relaxing, scenic trail walk, try a trail run or head back during the winter for an adventurous snowshoe or tromp-in-the snow hike. The park does not groom the trails for cross country skiing, but remains open year-round. After a good visit in the park, don’t forget to look into other awesome area attractions like Yellow River State Forest, Pikes Peak State Park and the river towns of Marquette and McGregor. A cold brew (or house made root beer) at the Old Man River Brewery in McGregor is prefect after a hike at the Mounds.

The Upper Mississippi River valley provides an incredible landscape and unique historical features like the Effigy Mounds. Wherever you are, get out there and take advantage of these great places. Help Effigy Mounds celebrate its 60th anniversary by exploring the area and learning more!

Helpful web links:
http://www.nps.gov/efmo/index.htm
http://www.iowadnr.gov/forestry/yellowriver.html
http://www.iowadnr.gov/parks/state_park_list/pikes_peak.html
http://www.oldmanriverbrewery.com/

Lauren Kraus loves exploring new places, the crunching of fall-colored leaves while walking and really good root beer. She was also excited by Iowa’s only National Monument and the beginning of the beautiful season that is autumn.

Interview and foreword by Karen Kerndt

I met Mary Henry in 1988 when I started working with Winneshiek County Public Health. She has been a wonderful co-worker and friend ever since. At the time I met Mary she was working as a home care aide, taking care of clients who were younger than her! The funny thing about this was that Mary had to have a physical signed by an MD every year to make sure she was in good enough health to work. She retired when she was 77. Since that time Mary has been very busy helping family, friends and her neighbors where she lives. Mary is now 92, still active, drives daily, cooks daily, and makes Sunday dinner for several of her neighbors in her apartment complex – every Sunday!

What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?
My mother told me when I married Jim, “You can’t come back.” Mary laughs and told me she knew she had to stick with him.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
A nurse

What did you do?
I was born on a farm near Jackson Junction and graduated from Waucoma high school in 1936. I married Jim Henry in 1938 and raised four children – two boys and two girls. I went back to school to be a nurse, a LPN in 1970, and worked at Aase Haugen and then Winneshiek Public Health until I retired in 1977. I still go out daily and to church three to four times per week. I enjoy helping others.

If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things would you want with you?
My family picture (with her husband and her four children), my Rosary, and of course my medicine! (Spoken like a true nurse).

Try to describe yourself in one sentence:
“Old,” she laughs, “but I have a good attitude and I’m happy!”

If you could eat anything everyday for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Goulash

Name one thing that you could not live without?
Money

Tell us about your wedding day:
“I wore a blue dress, my Aunt was my maid of honor and she wore a pink dress. We had flowers in our hair. We were married at St. Mary’s in Waucoma at 9 am by Father Falin. My mom served a brunch for about 30 people – close family and friends. That night we had a wedding dance at Breezy Corners and lots of people attended. Our honeymoon was in a motel in Waukon, we wanted to go to La Crosse but we were too tired to drive so we stayed there. We did spend a week in Wisconsin, but came back to this little hotel in La Crosse every night.

What is your favorite memory:
“I have so many,” but she does tell me, “When we picked up our four children (Mary and Jim adopted their four kids). I can still remember how happy we were and how glad we were to have them. We were only supposed to go and see them, and I always took them home the same day.”

Gale Ludeking, 84, is an army veteran with a lot of great tales and a great memory to store them!

Interview and foreword by Ron Henning (Aryn’s dad)

I volunteer to drive the VA van to Iowa City and back on a fairly regular basis, and I meet and talk to a lot of wonderful veterans in the process. So when my daughter, Aryn, asked if I wanted to interview one of them for Inspire(d), I said, “Yes, I’d love to.” I was impressed with Gale – he has a very good memory and is interesting to talk to. He seems like a content guy, and has a lot of good life stories that he’ll talk to you about if you ask.

What the best advice anyone ever gave you?
Don’t run up big debts.

What did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a good farmer/cattle man.

What did you do?
I was born in Waukon and was raised on a farm in the Frankville area until 1943, when I joined the army. I had basic training at Camp Dodge in Des Moines and after was sent to the Philippines. Later I was a part of the Occupational Forces of Japan. When I returned home in 1946, I became a buyer for Oscar Meyer Meat Packing in Viola, Wisconsin. They wanted me to move to Illinois, but my wife didn’t want to, so I began working for Fairbanks Morris building locomotives until 1954, when I bought a farm in Iowa. I raised tobacco and milked – after a fire in 1964, I switched to tobacco and sheep, then started also selling Mormon’s Feed, and finally I went full-time raising beef, hogs, and grain. I retired in 1992 and moved back to Waukon.

What meant the most to you as a veteran?
I helped save the country in a time of need, and am now a lifetime member of the VFW. We were welcomed home as heroes.

What was the worst thing about being a veteran?
Losing friends and seeing what you see.

If you were stranded on a desert island, what three things would you want with you?
Water, food, and books.

Try to describe yourself in one sentence.
Happy and content with what I have.

If you could eat anything every day for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Good fish.

Name one thing you could not live without.
A warm house.

Tell us about…your wedding day.
We had been going together for quite awhile, so we decided to get married over a long weekend. We couldn’t get married in the church because it was such short notice.

I married Helen over the Christmas holiday vacation in 1948  – it was New Year’s Eve and a long weekend and they were visiting their families. Our parents came and we got married at East Salem Church Parsonage with a small party at my parents’ house, then we went back to Wisconsin to live. (the same church Ron’s parents and grandparents attended).

Tell us about…your favorite memory.
When I was about 7 or 8 years old, my grandpa gave me a pony – which was a pretty big deal for someone my age to get. It was an older horse, but I just really loved to ride it!