Iowa Tribe of KS and NE Loop Tour

A loop tour of some of the historic, cultural and natural highlights on the Iowa Reservation.

Tour Information
Tour Map
Tour Stops
Comments

Iowa Tribe of KS and NE Loop Tour

White Cloud, Kansas 66094, United States

Created By: Baxoje Wosgaci

Tour Information

A loop tour of some of the historic, cultural and natural highlights on the Iowa Reservation. The tour begins at Casino White Cloud, and features the Baxoje Wosgaci (Ioway Museum and Culture Center), service station, Chief James Whitecloud House, Powwow Grounds, Leary Site National Historic Landmark, Oak Grove Schoolhouse, Happy Hollow, River Road, Dupuis Hollow, Cast Iron Monument trail, Glacial Byways, Hopewell archaeological site, Lewis and Clark pavilion, the town of White Cloud, the Four State Lookout, Tesson Cemetery, and then the loop returns to the Casino.

THPO Lance Foster created this tour app for the enjoyment of tribal members and visitors. Suggestions are welcomed for future versions. You can contact the THPO Lance Foster at 728-595-3258 or at lfoster@iowas.org


Tour Map

Loading Tour

 

What You'll See on the Tour

The starting point for the loop tour is the parking lot at the tribal casino, Casino Whitecloud. The Traditional Clans of the tribe are on the outside of the building, including the Bear, the Buffalo, Thunder-Eagle, Elk, Beaver, Wolf, Pigeo... Read more
This stone is set at the corner between the entrance to the police station and the health clinic. Each side has a plaque, one with a horse and soldier and the other with the names of Ioway veterans of the Civil War.
This building was built by Iowa tribal members using stone from a local quarry in 1940, as part of the CCC-Indian Division program of the WPA. Chief James Whitecloud laid the cornerstone the same year he died at the age of 100. Over the yea... Read more
This is the tribal gas station and convenience store with snacks, drinks, and other items. Recently added is a fresh pizza oven, with pizza by the hunk or as a whole pizza. The cabins on the right can be rented out by contacting the Casino.... Read more
This reconstruction of the house of Chief James Whitecloud, built on the original site in 1984 on his allotment, is an example of the early types of frame house built during the allotment period. It was the site of the last traditional ba... Read more
Part of Chief James Whitecloud's allotment, the tribal powwow grounds have served as a location for ball games, rodeos, and powwows since at least the 1920s. The creek beyond the grounds and along the road is Roy's Creek, named for the Fren... Read more
The Leary Site National Historic Landmark is a nationally-significant archaeological site, occupied most intensively from 1200-1400 AD, and was part of the prehistoric pipestone trading network, one of the connecting sites where red pipest... Read more
The Franklin Cemetery was established as a family cemetery during the Allotment Period (1887) on the Laura Franklin Allotment. Other families who lived nearby also put to rest their loved ones here, including the Briens and Robidouxs. You ... Read more
Oak Grove Schoolhouse is the oldest structure still standing on the Iowa Reservation, and was built in 1860. It served the families that lived on the Nebraska side of the boundary. It operated until the late 1950s, and then was moved from i... Read more
Turn left when you get to the paved road, which is now called Thrasher Road (after the bird) but was originally called Happy Hollow Road. On the left is the Iowa Tribal Learning Center, originally the location of the Oak Grove School and th... Read more
Nyimaha Xanye (NYEE-mah-hah KHAH-nyay), the Big Muddy River, the Ioways called it (our Otoe kin used the term Xanje). It has been drained by towns and farms along its length, and its looping meanders channeled for use by humans, beginning i... Read more
Under the terms of the Treaty of 1830 at Prairie du Chien, the Otoe tribe ceded the land on this side of the Nemaha River for the use of the mixed-blood children of the Otoe-Missouria, Ioway, Omaha, and Yankton/Santee Sioux. These children... Read more
You are following a scenic road with the bluffs on one side, and the Missouri River bottoms on the other. The road was built along a route first created for the railroad that ran along the river, through White Cloud and Rulo.  The name for... Read more
Rulo Bluffs Preserve is the property of The Nature Conservancy: "Rulo Bluffs is a 444-acre eastern deciduous forest that intermingles with Loess Hills prairie overlooking the Missouri River. Two major ecosystems meet on these rugged hillsâ€... Read more
Dupuis Hollow was the location of a trading post belonging to Frank Dupuis, an early French-Indian horse trader. Frank and Jesse James are said to have traded horses here in the 1860s. Up on the hilltops, prehistoric Indian tribes buried t... Read more
The Treaty of 1854 removed most of the Iowa tribe's "forever reservation" of 1836. This was in preparation to create the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. The Kansas-Nebraska Act of May 30, 1854 created the territories of Nebraska an... Read more
It is unknown as to how this creek got its former name, Squaw Creek, though the term is offensive to many Native Americans today. Urged by tribal elders, the process was undertaken to change it back to its older name as listed in the 1854 ... Read more
This pavilion and stone marker interprets the passage here of the Lewis and Clark Expedition of 1804-1806, as well as the Indian culture which occupied this land before 1836, the Kansa or Kaw Tribe, who ceded this land in 1825, prior to its... Read more
The first post office at White Cloud was established in July, 1855. In 1857, the town site was purchased by John Utt and Enoch Spaulding, two land promoters from Oregon, Missouri, who then sold lots in the town. It was named after the Iowa... Read more
In the early 1900’s, a ten year-old boy, impressed by a traveling missionary’s sermon about lepers, decided to raise money to help a boy suffering from the disease. Raising a pig named Pete, Wilbur Chapman, sold the pig, donating the $2... Read more
The Four State Lookout is located on White Cloud Hill, where you can see parts of Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa in a sweeping vista. The awesome view is on a raised deck which places you above the tree tops looking out over the la... Read more
Built in 1872-1873 as a school for the area's children, it served primary grades through high school. It closed in the late 1960s, as rural populations dwindled and roads improved so that rural children were sent to school in nearby towns.... Read more
The brick houses you passed on your left and the apartments on your right (marked by the big blue water "White Cloud" tower) were built in the 1970s and 1980s as part of the Iowa tribal housing program, although they are not within the res... Read more
This rural road runs through a peaceful wooded valley formed by the upper reaches of Squaw Creek (which you crossed earlier down on the Missouri River), with cattle operations and cornfields dominating the landscape. Eventually you will com... Read more
This tract was allotted to Joseph Tesson, who, although not Iowa, but instead French-Sauk (Sac & Fox), gained land by marrying two sisters of Chief James White Cloud. The cemetery is the resting place for many of their relations, includ... Read more
Partlow Cemetery is on the highest point on the reservation, and has a commanding view of much of the horizon. It lies right on the state line of Kansas and Nebraska. It may be the oldest historic cemetery on the reservation, dating from a... Read more
Continued cessions of land by the Iowa resulted in several changes to their agencies and locations. The Ioway Subagency, was in the Platte Country of northwestern Missouri, in the Blacksnake Hills, which would become St. Joseph. Then they w... Read more
Brick marker for Will and Della Deroin Ogden Homesite, built by a descendant; 14 children were raised on this 60 acre tract. If you follow this road, you will pass the historic archaeological sites of the Iowa Industrial School and Missio... Read more
This is the headquarters of the Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska. The buildings from left to right are: Tribal Administration George Ogden Jr. Community Building Health Center The flagpole flies the tribal flag with tribal seal, and at the... Read more
You are back where you started! Casino Whitecloud! Relax by playing some gaming machines or relaxing with a refreshment or buffet meal. We hope you enjoyed your tour. Come back anytime, and bring family and friends! THPO Lance Foster create... Read more

 

Leave a Comment

 

 

Download the App

Download the PocketSights Tour Guide mobile app to take this self-guided tour on your GPS-enabled mobile device.

iOS Tour Guide Android Tour Guide

 

 

Updates and Corrections

Please send change requests to changerequest@pocketsights.com.