Looking upstream from the Hwy. 169 bridge, Humboldt.

The ice of the Des Moines Lobe glacier carved the river valley through ancient rock.  Some of the  limestone bluffs along the river in SE Iowa are 300 million  years old.  The river valley is at least a half million years old. 

The present river channel was carved by the glacier, which receded and left the river as it is about 30,000 years ago. 

Native Americans called this river Moingona.  It did not come under U.S. control until 1846. The name was changed by the Wisconsin territorial government, which could not pronounce Moingona.  (so much better than Des Moines). 

In his Notes on the Wisconsin Territory, Lt. Albert Lea wrote of the pure water in the river, and of the abundant wildlife that lived in the forests that extended for several mile along the banks of the river at the time of the Dragoon expedition in 1835. 

The spirits of the ancient river cry out to us in the flood waters that swallow up towns and farms.  The prairie and the forest that absorbed the heavy rains  have been removed.  The water unchecked carries the ancient soil into the river, choking it at too many places along its length. 

After 150 years, we have put in peril a river that has flourished for eons.  If you paddle the river trail, you will commune with the spirits of the ancient Moingona that call out for rescue. 

Fortunately, much of the riverbank has been restored to timber.  There is much more to be done, however, before the river is out of danger.  Ron and Phyllis Warren, together with Iowa Trees Forever, have established that conservation practices that save the soil also increase productivity.  Please read his observations on saving the land and water for the generations that follow.